Riding my bike to work recently, a fellow rider looked over and said, “Hey! When was the last time you checked your tires? They look low.”
“Now that you mention it, my bike has been getting harder to ride lately.”
We both pulled over.
Sure enough, my tires were squishy. My friend said, “Wow, your tires are really low! Let’s get them pumped up.”
Back on my bike with re-inflated tires I felt like I had new, stronger legs. It was so easy and fun to pedal to my office.
On the way, I started to think about the kinds of challenges our company helps teams with, when it hit me: drama at work is just like having problems while riding a bike!
Stay with me here…
When we talk about ‘drama at work’, we often imagine people who are quick to get angry, blow things out of proportion, sigh loudly and roll their eyes. People who argue, threaten, and storm out of the room.
This big fighting drama is like when a chain comes off a bike. It’s confusing and brings things to a screeching halt! It can be a pain to put the chain back on. We might have to push the bike to the shop to get help. It’s messy and inconvenient.
Luckily, losing a chain doesn’t happen very often - and neither does big drama at work.
What happens more often is a quieter kind of drama which is more like a slow leak in your tires. Maybe you’ve had an experience of riding along, complaining “this is a lot of work!” and not knowing why.
Quiet drama happens in the background, letting a little air out of our tires and slowly robbing us of our efficiency and even fun at work.
I’ll share a few examples of quiet drama -- see if any of these sound familiar:
A team member only says nice things and doesn’t engage in conflict. But they don’t really let it go, they just avoid those other people on the team. [fsss- a little air leaks out]
A gossip group can always be counted on to commiserate - especially when someone feels wronged. They nod along in agreement, encouraging each other to vent. [fsss]
Co-workers complain about how their boss just doesn’t get it, how he gives them more work than they can possibly accomplish. They never talk to the boss about their overwhelming workload, just gripe to each other. [fsss]
A person is frustrated that their team member has missed their commitment to complete a task AGAIN. She quietly sighs, finishes the task herself, and resolves not to count on that team mate in the future. [fsss]
A leader isn’t happy with the quality of a team member’s work. Instead of talking to her directly, he just redoes the work himself because he doesn’t want to upset her or make her feel bad. And the person the boss isn’t talking to is feeling resentful that he delegated work to her but then took it back. [fssssss]
If you’ve experienced anything like these examples, you know each of these quiet dramas lets a little more air out of your organization’s tires and makes everyone’s work harder.
But there is hope! Trebuchet Group is always looking for ways to help people work together better because we want everyone to be able to thrive at work. We are excited to share that one of our mentors, Caitlin Walker, is coming to Fort Collins in August to lead some community workshops on reducing drama.
On Monday, August 12, you can join us to learn more from Caitlin about how to spot drama, and how to get out of it. It will be a little like getting your own tire gauge, patch kit and pump and learning how to use them to keep your organizational tires inflated.
Go to our website drama-free page to get more info and register. Bring a friend or a group for even more savings and fun.
I hope you will join us -- because friends don’t let friends ride around on squishy tires!
