How to Get Rid of Negativity in the Workplace

The Management Tip of the Day offers quick, practical management tips and ideas from Harvard Business Review and HBR.org (www.hbr.org). Any opinions expressed are not endorsed by Reuters.

Every organization, unit, or team has both good and bad. As a boss, is it your job to accentuate the positive or eliminate the negative?

You should try to do both, but studies have shown that negative information, experiences, and people have a far deeper impact than positive ones.

It is a better use of your time and energy to focus on clearing your organization of the negatives as much as you can. This may mean tearing down frustrating obstacles or shielding people from destructive behavior.

Grumpiness, laziness, and nastiness are contagious and by reducing those types of negativity you give your people a better chance to shine."

-Today's management tip was adapted from "Bad Is Stronger Than Good: Evidence-Based Advice For Bosses" by Robert I. Sutton.