Reflect on an experience in which you were directly involved or witnessed incivility in the workplace and answer all questions/criteria with explanations and detail.
Provide a brief synopsis of the situation.
Describe how the situation made you feel. Discuss your response or the response of others involved.
What were the consequences of this situation? Provide an example of how this affected the work environment and outcomes.
How could the situation have been prevented? Discuss evidence-based strategies to support a healthy work environment.
Consequences and Impact on the Work Environment
The consequences of this public shaming were significant and far-reaching. The primary outcome was a breakdown of psychological safety within the team. The junior colleague's confidence was shattered, and their work quality began to suffer as they became more afraid to make decisions or ask for help. This led to a vicious cycle of more errors and more criticism. The incident also created a climate of fear among the rest of the team. Collaboration decreased, and people became less willing to offer creative ideas or take risks, as they were worried about being publicly reprimanded. The overall work environment became tense and less productive, as everyone was walking on eggshells.
Prevention and Evidence-Based Strategies
This situation could have been prevented with better leadership and the implementation of evidence-based strategies for fostering a healthy work environment.
Promote a Culture of Respect: The manager should have been a role model for respectful communication. Instead of resorting to public shaming, they could have addressed the issue privately and professionally. Evidence-based strategies, such as leadership training on emotional intelligence and constructive feedback, can help prevent such incidents.
Establish Clear Communication Protocols: The team should have had a protocol for handling mistakes. A healthy work environment encourages private, one-on-one feedback for individual errors. This prevents public embarrassment and allows for a more constructive conversation.
Encourage Psychological Safety: Organizations can use strategies to foster psychological safety, a term coined by Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson. Psychological safety is the belief that one will not be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes. The manager's email directly undermined this. A good leader would instead encourage a culture where mistakes are seen as learning opportunities, not as a reason for public humiliation. This encourages transparency and allows the team to learn from its errors.
Sample Answer
My Feelings and Response
The situation made me feel deeply uncomfortable and anxious. I felt a sense of dread, not only for the junior colleague but also for myself, thinking that I could be the next target. This incident created a palpable tension in the office. The junior colleague's response was to become withdrawn and less communicative. They stopped asking questions and seemed to avoid the manager and the team as a whole. No one on the team responded to the email directly, as a collective fear of retaliation seemed to prevent anyone from stepping in. The overall response was one of passive avoidance and suppressed discomfort.