Dr. Christine Porath, associate professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, shares her research that shows how experiencing or observing uncivil behaviors at work can have major, negative impact on wellbeing, creativity, productivity, and performance.
A number of studies have shown that incivility robs cognitive resources and disrupts attention, whether someone is the direct subject or just a bystander. Incivility interferes with information processing and recall and impacts the ability to make decisions. In the workplace incivility can lead to profound consequences like major medical mistakes. On the flip side, civility makes work better, leading to great gains for organizations.
I am currently experiencing some ‘uncivil’ behaviour from a more senior staff member in my workplace and I found this video very helpful in taking a stand against their behaviour. I think that this person is potentially feeling like they are loosing control because I have come into the workspace with a great deal of passion and enthusiasm for my work and they possibly feel threatened. As I was told by another manager, lots of people forget that we are all working towards one common goal “to make learning a great experience for our members”…not competing against one another.
I thought I’d share this video, as I could really resonate with some of the things Dr. Porath talked about. I found that I was wasting a great deal of time worrying about why I was being treated this way and it was starting to have an effect on my performance.
Dr. Porath states “Incivility robs cognitive resources, hijacking performance and creativity. So even if you wanted to perform at your best, you couldn’t. Civility lifts people. You will get people to give more and function at their best if you’re civil. You’ll also build a culture that helps make the world better. So in every interaction, think, who do you want to be?“
