If you haven’t heard of the term “social inflammation”, it’s probably because I made it up! It was after witnessing certain scenarios in the workplace, that I felt compelled to come up with an analogy to demonstrate its damaging effects. Don’t worry, it’s not a physical condition, but it certainly is mental!
What is “social inflammation”?
The root cause of this condition is a lack of open communication. We’ve all been a part of change, and our country is in the midst of some serious change right now. Whenever change takes place in the workplace, at school or in society – the worst thing that can happen is to under-communicate. A lack of communication in times of change can lead to:
- Panic – What’s happening? Am I safe? Will I lose my job? How does this affect me?
- Gossip – Why did he just change to a new vendor? She doesn’t even care what we (the front-line workers) think?
- Questioning the effectiveness of leadership – They don’t know what they’re doing. These people don’t know what they’re doing.
- Venting – This is a load of **you know what**. Clients are asking questions and I don’t know what to tell them.
- Creating possible scenarios – I bet they are doing this to cut jobs. I heard that they are cutting our division. I heard global doesn’t care about our affiliate.
If there is significant change occurring and the above scenarios are happening, this is something that leadership should accept accountability for.
Why “inflammation”?
Once our immune system detects a foreign invader in our blood, our defense system starts out slowly to protect the body. The first cells to identify said invader – e.g. pollen, bacteria, virus – will attempt to get rid of the invader on their own. If they are overwhelmed by the unwanted guest, they will blow their “immunological whistle” to call for more inflammatory cells. This “whistle” is good news, as it will help to protect you! The unfortunate news is that this increase in inflammation will bring on symptoms like: redness, itching, soreness, pain, etc. Once inflammation is rampant, it’s tough to get it under control.
Let’s compare this to a situation at work. If there is a change that will take a number of weeks to complete at work, and leadership is proactive to communicate and alleviate the anxiety of their team, then “social inflammation” will be limited. If they continue to “over-communicate” to ensure anxieties are managed, this will limit the scenarios listed above from occurring e.g. panic, gossip, questioning leadership, venting, creating possible scenarios.
If the opposite occurs, and significant change at work takes place and there is a lack of communication, then panic, gossip and questioning leadership, venting, creating possible scenarios will be rampant. Like horses let out of a barn… good luck getting it back under control.
How can SOCIAL INFLAMMATION be managed?
- Over-communicate & be available. This could mean that you send daily emails and/or have a Zoom/Skype call every single day to ensure everyone feels “in the loop” and have an opportunity to provide their input. Seeing Justin Trudeau, Doug Ford and chief medical officers address Canadians every day is a terrific example of controlling social inflammation!
- Be vulnerable. “But what if I have nothing to update?”. Not a problem… just be honest. “What if someone asks a question that you don’t know the answer to?”… that’s cool. Just admit that you don’t know. People will appreciate being kept in the loop and feeling valued.
Why does SOCIAL INFLAMMATION need to be managed?
If people are unhappy, do not feel valued, are calling each other to vent, are questioning leadership with rumours aplenty – this means that they are not feeling safe and are less likely to be productive in their roles. I know when I’m unproductive, this creates stress and starts to bleed into my homelife, even though I try to manage that.
The few extra minutes it takes to send an email to the team, jump on a quick Zoom/Skype call, send a text or pick up the phone to call someone to give them an update will be well-received, let people feel valued and will be appreciated by all. And besides, it will feel good to support your team. 🙂
Let’s chat!
I’m happy to discuss any successes, challenges and areas of need of enhancement that you may have in your workplace, including gossip in the workplace. Give me a shout at: 905-481-2734, or email: mike@humanscaffold.com