Workplace Incivility: A Growing Challenge in Our Organization - Essay Sample

Introduction

Workplace incivility is a great challenge in many organizations, and our institution is no exception. It is an issue that is rapidly cementing itself in our organization whereby workers are showing rude and disrespectful behaviors towards others. Workers are increasingly developing a habit of verbally abusing others, and this has an adverse effect on workplace outcomes, particularly disturbing those that endure the negative behaviors which are reflected in poor delivery. As a team, we noted that incivility was affecting both the targets and the witnesses and noted that this in one way or the other contributed to negative behavioral and psychological effects (Garth, Todd, Byers & Kuiper, 2018).

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The reality, however, is that after conducting a survey among the workers on what they know about incivility and its effects; the majority did not even know what the term meant let alone its contribution. This prompted us to organize an educational intervention to this problem to let the workers understand how incivility was hurting to the organization, and this would instill them with a sense of respecting others even if they are their peers to create a productive environment. Our team had a member from each department. It was composed of a physician, a medical assistant, an accountant, a social worker, an administrative assistant, a dietitian, a tech, a therapist, a pharmacist, a human resource manager, and an executive. As a team, we had a better chance of succeeding as it would promote workplace synergy, improve efficiency and facilitate innovation for better accomplishment of goals.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths Weaknesses

Strong leadership-I have led several successful teams in this organization, and so has several members of this team. They have a strong character to influence the behaviors of workers to adopt respectful behaviors

Inclusivity-The team has a representative of every department, and this means that all workers will be inclined to follow the teachings because they will feel that they are involved.

Mutual support-every member has distinct knowledge from the others, and this means that we have a better chance of achieving because every member is determined to eliminate the vice of incivility. Lack of experience-Several members of our team have never engaged in such a project before, and this is likely to slow down the process.

Team members have not worked together before- it is a great weakness in our team that the majority of the team members have not previously worked in the same team. This is likely to slow down the project as it will take time for them to understand each other and get along smoothly.

Opportunities Threats

Greater creativity- Considering that our team is made up of individuals from different lines of work, it provides a key opportunity for exploitation as members can interact even more and not only generate ideas but also build on one another's ideas.

Increased motivation-the team is likely to generate a lot of energy which in turn will lead to increased motivation and subsequent success in our project. Miscommunication- Team members are interdependent and to accomplish team's goals, they have to work closely. Therefore, good communication is paramount to team success and this communication is threatened by the large size of our team. The team has more than ten members and this increases the threat of miscommunication.

Productivity decay- As team members work on a project, their productivity tends to weaken as time moves on and this can adversely affect the quality of work of our team.

Resistance-Incivility has developed in this organization to almost a culture and workers are likely to object to what they perceive as disruption of common norms in the workplace.

Risk Management

Contingency Plan to Address Threat

Resistance likely SignificantThe threat of resistance from the workers is imminent. The team might put a lot of effort to ensure that the project is a success. However, without the support of all the employees, the plan is doomed to fail. Unsupportive employees may jeopardize the plan simply because they are convinced that this change is disruptive and are therefore unwilling to accept this change (Zafar & Naveed, 2014). As a team, we have a contingency plan in place to solve this challenge in case it occurs. We have several considerations, including:

• Showing we care and understand the concerns of the resisters (Zafar & Naveed, 2014).
• Offer resources to these workers
• Open conversation where the one objected to change can air their views freely.

Miscommunication likely Significant Communication facilitates better working among team members who have to work together to accomplish project goals. However, it is likely that miscommunication will occur in the course of our team project mostly because the team has a large number of individuals. Miscommunication will adversely affect successful achievement of our group goals. To avoid the threat which could lead to failure, we have a contingency plan in place. This plan involves conducting regular team meetings. These meetings will result in personal connections, which will improve engagement and boost coordination thereby thwarting this threat.

Productivity decay Slightly likely Moderately significant It is likely that the team will experience productivity decline in the course of the project. It is therefore important to have a plan in place to prevent this from occurring to ensure that the work quality of the team is not adversely affected. A contingency plan in place is promoting team building exercises. These team building exercises will not only improve teamwork but also give the team members a break from job monotony which in turn motivates them to deliver for the team (Yi, 2015). These team building exercises will include:

• Field trips
• Shared meals
• Sport activities

Budget

Source of funding The project cannot be successful is it lacks adequate funding, and this is the reason that as a team, we have evaluated the potential sources of funding. These include:

• Business funding- Incivility is an issue that is affecting performance in the organization, and as a result, the institution is willing to offer financial support to this program.
• Volunteer funding- Top managers are willing to contribute to the success of this project. As a team member, I will lead by example by contributing financially to the success of this initiative.
• Donor funds- Our organization affect the lives of people in one way or the other, and therefore various entities and individuals would like to see that our institution will operate successfully. These donors will readily assist if we seek help from them.
• Expenses Team building expenses- team building activities; including team meals will need funding.
• Outsourcing- Expenses will also be incurred from outsourcing a renown professional to educate employees about incivility
• Refreshments-There will be costs that will be incurred to serve refreshments like snacks during meetings and education sessions.
• Learning materials-These will be costs incurred in providing notebooks and pens to facilitate learning.

References

Garth, K., Todd, D., Byers, D., & Kuiper, B. (2018). Incivility in the Emergency Department. JONA: The Journal of Nursing Administration, 48(1), 8-10. doi: 10.1097/nna.0000000000000563

Yi, Y. (2015). Effects of team-building on communication and teamwork. International Nursing Review, 63(1), 33-40. doi: 10.1111/inr.12224

Zafar, D., & Naveed, K. (2014). Organizational Change and Dealing with Employees' Resistance. International Journal of Management Excellence, 2(3), 237. doi: 10.17722/ijme.v2i3.101