WHAT YOU WANTED TO KNOW:

1. WHAT YOU WANTED TO KNOW: • What does toxicity even look like, especially indifference and passive aggressiveness? When is it toxic behavior vs. an unpleasant personality trait? Is it still a problem if they’re not consistently toxic? • How to handle high performing toxic team members. • How to find the bad apple on a toxic team. • How to deliver feedback to teammates who don’t take it well and get through to the toxic teammate. • When to rehabilitate versus when to let toxic team members go.

2. What does toxicity look like? • Toxicity can be subtle and can often starts with social exclusion and non-verbal body cues. • Toxicity can be work-related and include overloading and micromanaging others. • There’s no single objective definition, your practice gets to decide what it and isn’t okay for your team. • Common forms of toxicity the masterclass struggled with were: • Struggling to take feedback without creating more conflict • Team members who pass off hurtful interactions as “just joking” • Toxicity can be personal, you and your team get a say in your personal boundaries and how you want to be treated.

3. Are they toxic or just unpleasant? • The most important factor is that toxic behaviors are recurrent and contagious, they spread, leading to other negative behaviors. • Intermittent toxic behaviors can be JUST as harmful (if not more so) than toxicity that occurs all the time. • Using the official label “toxic” is less important than knowing what behaviors are harmful enough to be worth changing. • Ultimately you and your team get to define what is and isn’t okay and what is and isn’t toxic. Just get everybody on the same page and set clear expectations.

4. How to Handle High Performing Toxic Team Members • First, calculate the cost of their toxic behavior before determining if they are really “high performing” • Understanding that these behaviors usually cost the practice much more than they benefit the practice • Obvious costs may include increased turnover and impaired practice mood and morale • Hidden costs may include lost productivity and stunted growth of other team members • Second, evaluate whether they are worth coaching.

5. How to find the bad apple on a toxic team • See previous slides for common toxic behaviors. • Address different individuals’ problems separately, responding to toxicity with toxicity should not be okay. • Triage toxic behaviors by severity. • If toxic behavior is widespread, address practice culture. • Consider paid “garden sabbaticals” to see if environment significantly changes when a single individual out of practice for a couple weeks.

6. When is it time to let the toxic team member go? • The physical, emotional, or financial safety of you or your practice is at risk. • Their toxic behavior or failure to change is intentional. • They fail to a) take accountability for their actions, b) make an action plan to change OR c) take feedback from those impacted. • During coaching to improve behavior, they breach agreed upon boundaries or fail to meet goals. • They choose to leave the practice on their own.

7. How to deliver feedback to teammates who don’t take it well • Address this toxic behavior FIRST. • Approach them with calm curiosity and assume the best of them. • Assess preferences and set ground rules for productive feedback. Ie. no verbal abuse, support people present or no, written vs. verbal, at or away from practice, call for breaks, etc. • Explore individual’s goals • Describe toxic behavior objectively, connect consequences to their goals. • Go slow. Acknowledge emotions. • Don’t conflate multiple concerns. Record and/or address new issues brought up by employee while not losing sight of the initial concern. • Ask employee to recognize need for action and create detailed, specific action plan. • Work with employee on strategy to productively receive and respond to feedback as to whether their action plan is working.

8. How to get through to the toxic teammate. • Sometimes impossible. Sometimes takes multiple individuals. Ultimately employee has to recognize they are the problem and not everyone around them. • First, assess whether it is worthwhile to try. • Second, explore their goals, hopes, and desires with them. • Third, use objective descriptors to connect their actions to consequences that interfere with their goals. • Fourth, assess their sense of accountability and willingness to engage in an action plan.

9. Rehabilitation Strategy

10. Additional notes on rehabilitation Do Do Not Anticipate a high rate of success Expect complete personality changes Expect perfect progress Continue to hold past failures against them Create the plan FOR them Allow vague plans or goals • Screen who to help • Set a good example • Set clear expectations and boundaries • Provide requested resources, be encouraging • Provide feedback on progress • Keep written records

11. Book Recommendations