What is bullying?
Are you a bully?
With research showing that almost 80% managers admit that
bullying occurs in their organisations, could you be called a
bully? Check out our suggestions on how to turn bullying behaviour
into best practice:
Firm but fair
Being a boss isn't a popularity contest. Everyone needs a telling
off at some point. Do not scold people severely with a dressing
down; just make your point firmly without intimidating or
frightening your employees.
Take a deep breath
Don't shout every time
you feel the temperature rising. Do your best to restrain yourself
and take a step back. If you get a reputation as a tantrum king or
queen then you will automatically get the bully label.
Communicate
Find time to sit down and communicate with your team or assistant,
no matter how busy you are. Thrashing out the week's priorities
over a coffee will reduce stress levels and any potential conflict
when the going gets tough.
Measure yourself
If you have a problem with one of your team then address it in the
right manner. Do not rant or bitch about their shortcomings behind
their back as this will undermine them and ultimately make them
feel inferior and excluded. It might also make them a target for
others.
Keep a level playing field
While people
deserve praise when they have done a good job, make sure you play
fair. Letting 'favourites' develop is a dangerous game that can
upset office politics and make people feel excluded.
Don't be a mirror
If you don't like the way your boss treats you, don't act like
them. Think about how you feel when someone treats you badly. Just
because you've been managed badly, doesn't mean you have the right
to dish it out further down the line.
Listen to ideas
If someone challenges you,
don't bite their head off. Think about what they have to say, make
a note and let them know how their idea may work next time.
Don't leave people out
When you organise the company get-together, make sure everyone is
involved. Try and encourage everyone to attend if they can, and
don't let anyone feel that they are being excluded or left out.
Am I being bullied?
Because workplace bullying is badly understood it is helpful to
have a working definition. Below is how we define workplace
bullying:
Persistent, offensive, abusive, intimidating, malicious or
insulting behaviour, abuse of power or unfair penal sanctions,
which makes the recipient feel upset, threatened, humiliated or
vulnerable, which undermines their self-confidence and which may
cause them to suffer stress.
As with harassment, bullying is defined largely by the impact of
the behaviour on the recipient, not its intention. Bullying at work
can take many forms. The following are just some of the most common
ways:
- Bullies may use terror tactics, open aggression, threats,
shouting, abuse, and obscenities towards their target
- Bullies may subject their target to constant humiliation or
ridicule, belittling their efforts, often in front of others
- Bullies may subject their target to excessive supervision,
monitoring everything they do and being excessively critical about
minor things
- Bullies may take the credit for other people's work but never
take the blame when things go wrong
- Bullies may constantly override the person's authority
- Bullies may remove whole areas of work responsibility from the
person, reducing their job to routine tasks that are well below
their skills and capabilities
- Bullies may set the person what they know to be impossible
objectives, or constantly change the work remit without telling the
person, and then criticise or reprimand the person for not meeting
their demands
- Bullies may ostracise and marginalise their target, dealing
with the person only through a third party, excluding the person
from discussions, decisions etc
- Bullies may spread malicious rumours about the individual
- Bullies may refuse reasonable requests for leave, training etc,
or block a person's promotion.
If any of these sorts of things are going on in your workplace,
you are perfectly justified to take matters further - they are all
examples of behaviour that is totally unacceptable, no matter what
the reasons for it are. Maybe it's not happening to you, but you
see it going on. The bully might not even realise that they are a
bully. But if bullying is allowed to carry on over time it can be
very damaging, not only to the victim but also to their colleagues
too.
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