Top 5 Signs Your Team is Stuck in a Toxic Culture (and How to Fix It)

Do your best employees seem constantly stressed, unmotivated, or are they even looking to jump ship?

Are your meetings filled with tension and negativity?

A toxic work culture cripples productivity, innovation, and employee morale. So today we're going to identify the top five signs that your team might be struggling with a toxic culture. Then we're going to equip you with some actionable steps to turn those things around on your team.

But before we get too far, I want to quickly introduce myself, for those of you who are new to the channel. I'm Doug Howard, and I help leaders unlock their full potential through soft skills development.

On this channel, we explore leadership through the lens of emotional intelligence, influence, and the human side of management. So if you're ready to level up your leadership skills, hit that subscribe button.

The Impact of a Toxic Team Culture

Before we dive in, let's first understand the impact of a toxic team culture and what it can lead to.

The first big area it can lead to is high turnover. Disgruntled employees leave and they take their skills and experience with them. Take a look at your team. Do the talented employees quit due to constant micromanagement and lack of growth opportunities?

A company culture of micromanagement and public criticism always sees a high turnover rate amongst its talented employees because those employees are easily recruited by competitors who offer a more positive work environment.

The second impact is low productivity. Demotivation and negativity stifles creativity and innovation. This is because team members become focused on surviving the work environment rather than pushing the boundaries and developing new ideas.

A team that's stressed by unrealistic deadlines and constant pressure produces uninspired work, and they're going to miss key milestones. They're going to fail to meet project goals.

The third impact is poor communication. Fear and distrust is going to lead to communication breakdowns. Fear and distrust is going to lead to communication breakdowns and missed opportunities because your team is going to be hesitant to share ideas or concerns during meetings, which leads to duplicated efforts, inefficient problem solving and missed opportunities.

The next impact is increased conflict. A hostile work environment breeds tension and unnecessary conflict. It drives team members to become territorial and unwilling to collaborate on projects, which obviously hinders progress in many areas. A team that has unclear roles and responsibilities is going to experience constant bickering over ownership of tasks and blame games whenever mistakes occur. Those are the impacts of a toxic work environment, but now let's identify the top five signs of a toxic work culture.

Top 5 Red Flags of a Toxic Work Culture

As I walk through each of these, I want you to consider your team and I want you to consider how many of these red flags are present on your team.

The first red flag is unhealthy competition.

This means a cutthroat environment where colleagues sabotage each other's success.

Here's some examples of this. People taking credit for other people's work. People bad mouthing colleagues to other people or superiors. Spreading misinformation to gain an advantage.

The second red flag is lack of respect.

Disrespectful communication, micromanagement, and just a general culture of fear.

Some examples of this would be publicly criticizing team members, making demeaning jokes, failing to acknowledge other people's contributions, excessive control over everybody's schedules and workflows.

The third red flag is gossip and negativity.

Constant negativity, complaining, and a general focus on other people's failures versus focusing on problem solving.

Some examples of this would be team meetings being dominated by negativity and blame games. Negativity spreading through informal channels like teams chats or slack channels. Focusing on problems without solutions.

The fourth red flag is unrealistic workload and burnout.

This means that demanding deadlines and long hours has become the norm, with no recognition or reward and with no end in sight.

Some examples of this are consistently allowing unforeseen project changes to create unrealistic workloads for the team. Managers applying pressure to work nights and weekends on a regular basis, and potentially without compensation for it. Lack of appreciation for exceeding expectations.

The fifth red flag is poor work life balance.

This means a constant pressure to always be available, even outside of working hours.

So some examples of this would be the expectation of immediate responses to emails and calls outside of work hours. Managers giving their team the guilt trip for taking vacation days that they're entitled to, or for using sick days when they're sick. Lack of flexibility in work schedules to accommodate people's personal needs.

Identifying the Root Cause of a Toxic Workplace

If you've noticed any of these red flags on your team, then there's a high probability that your team is stuck in a toxic culture. But once you recognize the signs, it's crucial to identify the source. So here are some potential culprits of what's causing and what's creating that toxic work culture.

The most common one is poor leadership.

This can mean a lot of things, but what it really all funnels up to is leaders who lack in two main areas, emotional intelligence and communication skills.

So some questions for you to consider are. Do your leaders create a safe space for open communication? Do they lead by example and demonstrate respect for other team members? Are they aware of the team's morale and the team's overall well being?

Next, we have unclear goals and expectations.

Confusion about priorities and objectives creates a lot of stress and frustration in these environments.

So here's some questions to consider. Do your team members have a clear understanding of the overall project goals and how their individual roles contribute to success? Are deadlines and priorities communicated clearly and consistently? Does your team have realistic goals and realistic expectations?

Next, we have lack of recognition and appreciation.

This is where employees feel undervalued and their contributions go unnoticed.

Some questions to consider for this are, do you, as the leader, take the time to acknowledge and appreciate individual and team achievements? Do your team members feel valued and respected for their contributions? Does your team know that you care about their professional development and their personal well being?

Last, we have unfair compensation and benefits.

This one might seem very obvious, but here's some questions to consider. Is your team's compensation and benefits package competitive with the market? Do employees feel fairly compensated for their skills and experience? Does your company proactively reevaluate and adjust compensation based on performance?

Which of these root causes apply to your team's work environment?

6 Ways to Turn Around a Toxic Culture on Your Team

Don't worry. I'm going to give you some action items for how you can turn things around.

The first thing you want to do is lead by example.

Demonstrate emotional intelligence, empathy, and respect. Actively listen to your team members concerns and ideas. Practice empathy by acknowledging their challenges and frustrations. Treat everyone with respect regardless of what their position or experience level is. Be mindful of your own communication style and avoid micromanaging or publicly criticizing people at all costs.

Second is open communication.

You want to create a safe space for honest feedback and dialogue throughout your team. So hold regular team meetings where everyone feels comfortable sharing their thoughts and their concerns. Encourage open communication by actively soliciting feedback and addressing it constructively. Implement anonymous surveys to gather honest opinions without fear or retribution.

Third is address conflicts early.

Mediate disagreements constructively and fairly. Create a clear process for addressing conflict within the team. Whenever conflicts or disagreements happen on a team, make sure you intervene early before they escalate. Facilitate open communication between team members to resolve issues directly. If your team really struggles in this area, you could provide conflict resolution training or perhaps have a workshop for your team to help them in this area.

For many managers, this one is easier said than done because let's face it, nobody enjoys delivering constructive feedback and nobody wants to be the bad guy either. Nobody wants to make someone else feel bad, right? But knowing how to effectively deliver constructive feedback in a way that drives positive changes in the other person is a critical skill, especially for leaders and managers.

If this is something you struggle with, I invite you to watch my mini masterclass on Mastering Constructive Feedback.

You'll learn a practical framework for delivering constructive feedback that you can adapt and apply to any situation, personally or professionally. You'll leave with all the tools and confidence you need for understanding the other person's perspective so that you can deliver your feedback in a way that resonates with them.

This training is less than an hour and it's 100 percent free. All you have to do is click on the link I included in the description of this episode. So go ahead and click that link right now before you forget.

The fourth action you can take is set clear goals and expectations.

You want to ensure that everyone on your team understands their roles and responsibilities. So work with your team to establish clear, measurable goals that are aligned with the overall project or department objectives. Define individual roles and responsibilities within the team. It's amazing how many teams don't do this. You want to make sure you're ensuring that everyone understands what is expected of them. Communicate deadlines and priorities clearly. Be open to adjustments if circumstances change along the way.

Number five is recognition and appreciation.

Publicly recognize major milestones, smaller wins, and individual achievements during team meetings or company wide announcements. Implement a system for peer to peer recognition where team members can acknowledge each other's efforts. Consider offering rewards or incentives for exceeding expectations or for demonstrating exceptional teamwork. That's a great way to reinforce this positive behavior throughout your team.

Six is promote work life balance.

You want to encourage healthy boundaries and respect employees personal time. You can start by leading by example. So avoid sending emails or calls outside of working hours unless it's absolutely necessary. Discourage the expectation of constant availability. Be flexible with work schedules whenever possible so that you can accommodate people's personal needs. Last but not least, encourage employees to take breaks and use their actual vacation time. Don't make them feel guilty about it.

Remember, building a positive team culture is an ongoing process. By consistently implementing these action steps and fostering an environment of trust and respect, you can create a thriving workplace where your team can reach their full potential. But what if your boss is the reason your workplace is toxic?

If that's the case for you, go check out my episode called How to Deal with a Toxic Boss Without Quitting.

check out my FREE pdf download - “OPTIMIZE ENGINEERING
TEAM EFFICIENCY”

Strategies to Dominate Productivity in Today's Shifting Landscape

Your company is tasking your team to produce more, with less - and you're struggling to figure out how to get it done.

Download this FREE handbook to gain insights into the 5
essential strategies engineering leaders and companies need to catapult your team's efficiency - even with limited resources!