None of us are perfect. No matter how hard we try, weird things creep into the workplace.

Below, Scarlett Pruitt, brings to light 10 Signs of a Dysfunctional Workplace. I’ve added some comments because it’s great having the last word.

Can you see anything below that resembles your workplace?

1. Nothing can get done without the boss’s approval. Empower your organization by delegating, says Pruitt. There’s not much CEO work going on if the boss has to sign off on every little thing. And there’s a corollary …

1a. To get things done, you have to hide them from the boss. Now you know you’ve got a situation that is going to end badly.

The “Boss” sets the course and keeps the boat going in the right direction. If the boss can’t trust those whom he has hired to make daily decisions and when work is being done “in the dark” it won’t be long before employees will begin to abandon the ship. In short, the boss must allow people to do what they were hired to do. Bosses who micro-manage are not being efficient.

2. Who is the boss? The structure may be clear on paper, but no one knows who really makes the decisions. Everybody benefits from clarifying decision-making responsibilities.

An “empowered” employee must be allowed to use the power/responsibility that has been delegated to the individual. When a person is empowered by the boss and then not allowed to use the authority given, the message that is sent is…I don’t trust you, I’m afraid you’ll make a mistake. And the biggest mistake…the boss not trusting the employee.

3. Do-nothing meetings. If a meeting has no agenda or just rehashes previous discussions, axe it. And again, a corollary:

3a. IMing during meetings. Meetings are for brainstorming and discussing, not “snarky IM conversations,” says Pruitt. “Pull the plug” on cell phones.

I once worked for a company that became famous for the muffins that were served at meetings. I didn’t have to worry about breakfast or lunch because I knew that I was going to be in at least 2 meetings during the day where muffins would be the most important thing at the meeting. Some very successful companies have meetings standing up (get ‘er done). Use an agenda, if there is nothing on the agenda, cancel the meeting.

4. Cubicle co-workers IM instead of talking. Some topics require face-to-face discussion. Arrange some meetings (but don’t forget rule number 3.)

Please do some interactive things between departments. Allow employees the opportunity of building some interdepartmental relationships. And remember, if your department managers do not have good working relationships with other department managers you have an obstacle that is preventing your business from being great. The Boss must provide opportunities for department managers to build relationships. And Boss…never talk poorly about a department manager to another department manager, keep your complaints about department managers within your executive group.

5. There’s more than one “secret couple” around. They usually don’t stay secret for long, and tension and drama (and lawsuits) result if there is perceived favoritism. Write a policy and enforce it.

Those with authority can never date subordinates. You might know of some isolated examples of manager-subordinate relationships working out. However, the chance of this kind of relationship going bad is huge. Don’t allow it. As said above, make a rule against this kind of thing and enforce it.

6. IT rules are so tight that you’re not told your own password. Tech security is important, but there are limits. Find a reasonable middle ground.

How many hoops do your employees have to jump through to do their job? If your IT Department requires employees to dig tunnels, climb walls and break down metal doors to just start working, way too much time is being wasted. If nothing can get done without the IT Department being involved, you’ve given too much authority to IT and in fact IT is running the business. That’s not going to work long term.

7. There’s a “wall of shame” where employee mess-ups are posted and highlighted for the entire world to see. “Rewards should be public, but chastisement should be private,” Pruitt says.

Okay, do you want to instill fear into every employee? Just punish an employee in public and you’ll have every one afraid that they are next. If you have a manager who believes it’s effective to punish in public you are on the course to a law suit. A good manager does not make himself look big by making his staff look small. If someone in your organization is doing this, demand a change or find a new person who will not manage with fear.

8. The boss screams at staffers, for example, when there’s skim milk instead of half-and-half for the coffee. Authority should never be used to bully or intimidate. Counsel or call in the consultants.

Management rule #1 - Never yell unless the building is on fire.

9. Everyone has 10 weeks of accumulated vacation because no one can take a day off. “People are not machines,” says Pruitt. “Encourage them to take vacations, or they are likely to walk out one day and not come back.”

You know what all work and no play does to “Jack.” Of course there are times when you need all hands on deck. A special project, an emergency, etc. Time away from work is important. Want to impress an employee with how much you appreciate the person? Give the person an extra day off now and then. Send a group to the movie, close the shop for the afternoon and take everyone to the movie. The hero will be the person that showed appreciation to the staff, not the high priced actor on the screen.

10. What matters is not what you get done, but how many hours you are seen “working.” Don’t be impressed by the person who arrives early and leaves late just for show. Reward productivity, not hours, says Pruitt.

In order to know who is getting it done you have to go out and see it for yourself. The best thing a manager can do is to get out from behind the desk and go do the work with the staff. Give your employees an opportunity to show you what they can do, the result of spending time with staff is that they will show you a better way to get it done, ignore them and they will eventually go show the competition a better way to get it done.

Randall Barker is the VP of Human Resources at A Plus Benefits, Inc.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 7th, 2008 at 11:16 am and is filed under Human Resources, Leadership, Retention. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.