“I’d love this job if it wasn’t for the patients.” Hopefully this negative line sounds ridiculous to anyone working in healthcare. After all – without patients, there is no healthcare industry. And yet, I have heard this sentiment expressed in several different ways.
I was recently working with a group who had some very real customer service challenges. The team constantly talked about, and focused on, the challenging encounters and not the positive ones. They had a communication habit within their culture that focused on drama and sharing bad stories over and over. What they did not realize, is that the negative focus prevented them from enjoying the positive occurrences happening during a typical day.
Avoiding Negative Communication
If you see your team slipping into this type of negative thinking and communicating, take an active role in shifting the focus. Ask what is going well. Tell them about a good experience you’ve had today or something good you noticed them doing. It’s easy to slip into bad communication patterns. As a result, you’ll be happier and more engaged if you focus on the more positive aspects of your day.
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