Steps for Dealing with Workplace Pettiness

Every workplace, unfortunately, has workplace pettiness. Pettiness is unavoidable whether it is minor or full-blown out of control. Pettiness usually stems from feelings – feelings of being treated unfairly, favoritism, or just plain old insecurity.
While pettiness is a nuisance, it can cause discord amongst coworkers in a big way. There are several ways for dealing with and avoiding pettiness in the workplace.

Have a Daily Refocus Meeting
By incorporating a daily refocus meeting into your daily grind, you can get everyone on board to what the big picture really is. Focusing on the main goals of the day and the action plans to achieve them will keep employees focused on the main objective first thing in the morning.

Incorporate a Set of Action Steps
By incorporating a set of actions steps into the weekly or daily meeting, you offer the opportunity for employees to have a clear and specific set of goals. Without clear and specific goals, many employees have difficulty trying to figure out what is next.
When there is too much time on one’s hands, there is a tendency to leave room for unimportant and trivial details.

Be a Time Management Operator
When an employee or group of employees finds themselves with too much time and not enough to do, there is a prime opportunity for pettiness to grow. Make certain that your employees have enough to do, but are not overloaded. Make certain that there are enough projects flowing smoothly throughout the workday and that these projects are well spaced out.

Be the Bigger Person
While the concept of being the bigger person is not a new concept, there is a new twist on being the bigger person. It does not necessarily mean you are the better person; it simply means that you see the bigger picture.
Sometimes others have things from their pasts or even in their current lives going on that you are not even aware of and the pettiness is not about you.
Showing compassion and extending the olive branch is sometimes all that is necessary to make amends.
When it comes to pettiness, it is important to recognize the word itself. Pettiness means to give too much life to something that is trivial. It is often more about something bigger than the small issue at hand.

If you take a moment to stop and breathe and look inside yourself, you may just recognize that the small issue at hand really stems from something much bigger and deeper.
Reaching out to another person in order to dispel the pettiness may be all that is necessary for a little more peace and harmony in the workplace environment.

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