Have you noticed hostility and negativity in your business? Do your employees seem stressed, unmotivated or pessimistic? Workplace negativity is a growing problem which can have serious effects on your productivity and success.
We believe workplace negativity can be significantly reduced by changing the expectation from perfection to accountability.
Why is expecting perfection a problem?
When you’re feeling the pressure to live up to high standards of perfection, a multitude of problems can arise.
1. Procrastination: If you’re focused on doing a job perfectly, you’ll be tempted to put it off if you feel that you don’t have time to complete it to the highest standard. This halts progress and prevents small steps being made towards completing the final product.
2. Blame: When problems arise, you may be more inclined to quickly point a finger at a colleague than to approach mistakes maturely. Perfection is unattainable and in this environment even small issues can become major roadblocks to success.
3. Competition: Striving for perfection can cause teammates to work against each other. While a little competition can be healthy, a competitive atmosphere born from the pursuit of perfection is ultimately damaging to workplace relationships.
4. Control: Perfectionism can foster an inability to delegate if you feel that no one else will be able to complete the job to your standards. Rather than placing trust in your colleagues or employees, you may hold on to unnecessary tasks and inadvertently stall progress.
Change the focus to accountability
Knowing that accountability and progress rather than perfection is expected will create a much healthier atmosphere within your business.
Focusing on accountability builds an environment of:
1. Honesty: Without the expectation of perfection, you’ll feel more comfortable owning up to mistakes without fear of looking foolish or incompetent. Honesty allows for mistakes to be rectified and forgiven.
2. Support: When negative competition is eliminated, understanding and support can develop within your team. We strongly believe that positive relationships in the workplace are essential to success.
3. Progress: Giving up the need for perfection will allow you to make progress on the tasks you have been putting off. Remember, doing 80% of a job today is better than doing nothing for two weeks until you’ll be able to complete the whole task.
4. Growth: When you’re focused on perfection, you’ll struggle to move towards your long-term goals. Growing your business is all about taking small steps and building momentum towards success.
At Your Business Momentum, we believe an atmosphere of accountability is crucial for the success of your business and well-being of your staff.
When the pressure to be perfect is removed, you will find that you can make more progress than you imagined.
