The main reason for toxic communication is unsolved issues between leaders and employees. As seen in the research of Skynova, recurring unsolved issues between employees and leaders get a share of %38, and recurring unsolved issues among employees get a share of %37 when it comes to toxic communication.
Toxic communication impacts employees and employers intensely yet differently. The most common impact on employees can be listed as in seen; low morale, burnout, and decreased work quality. Toxic communication is a vicious circle. It is starting with a lack of clarity during texting or mailing. Remote work areas are lacking gestures and mimics. In other words, they are impersonal areas. People tend to understand each other through their perspectives. And if one is feeling down they might interpret other’s behaviors in a bad way. That guesses might be wrong yet they are still harmful. So, the second step of toxic communication is completing gaps with aim reading assumptions. When a person starts to believe a thought of their imagination, they also start acting in the direction of that thought. That creates a passive-aggressive manner. This is the place where another part of the communication starts drawn into the vortex of toxic communication.
Problems that could get solved easily become complicated. Due to mind refreshing difficulties, problems get bigger in mind. Because everybody is working from home, it starts to be harder to put distance between you and problems. That is because your home and office lives are intertwined. By not having the chance to take a rest, the next day you open your laptop with continuous bad thoughts. If one of the sides isn’t mindful, the vortex starts to suck both sides. Both sides of the conflict would think they are right. They’ll gossip between teams and leveraging negative energy for the other days to prove that they are right and another side is wrong. That goes on and on. So, you easily get exhausted.
How can you prevent yourself from Burnout?
Workplace issues must get left in the workplace. Right now, because you are working from home you can’t get away from your disturbing workplace problems. The first piece of advice we could give to you is; you can separate your working spot from the other places of your home. Thus, you’ll have the opportunity to move away from workplace issues. Secondly, you can encourage yourself and your coworkers to use emojis to reveal emotions. Then, you can seek help from the HR professionals of your company or your employers. It is very important to ask for help before things blow out.
In conclusion, the digital workplace is not an easy place when it comes to open communication. Mimics and gestures are lacking. So, you have to be extra careful before you jump to conclusions. You can use emojis more effectively, be proactive and talk to your managers regularly. Also, you can try to empathize more. Maybe just like you, your troubler coworker is dealing with their problematic issues and that is why they can’t be positive towards you…