10 tips to combat workplace bullying

More and more people witness or are targeted by bullying while they work. Most of us expect to carry out our workplace duties in an atmosphere that brings out best performance and which is emotionally safe. But as bullying increases, so does the degree to which the workplace becomes an unsafe place for employees who are targeted and for those who worry that they might be next in line. Here are 10 tips to enable managers and workers to understand and handle bullying:

1 Each bully has their own way of bullying and may use tactics that are verbal, non-verbal or practical.

2 Every bully acts out of an intra-personal context, such as alarm that they may be failing in key areas of their work or fear that particular colleagues are more competent.

3 A bully can focus on anyone, but not everyone who is targeted will become the object of a sustained campaign.

4 Bullying is a deliberate campaign of intimidation and aggression designed to undermine and injure a colleague or their reputation. It is different from occasional justified or unjustified aggression at work, and from sustained legitimate criticisms of a colleague's work performance. 

5 Bullies usually put up red flags as they screen those colleagues they might subsequently target. It is vital that people singled out in this way respond assertively. This can dissuade bullies from continuing their campaign.

6 Playing down the importance of these warnings, or responding to them insufficiently, will be seen by the bully as encouragement to continue.

7 Most bullying is designed to remove personal power from a colleague.  Responding effectively involves exercising wise choices at the time of the attack. These actions preserve personal power and maintain effective, self-protecting boundaries around their work and self.

8 The options that a bully has for introducing bullying into a relationship with a colleague will be reduced or eliminated if that employee remains in charge of their decision-making at the time they are bullied. The earlier they draw the line the more likely they will be to cause the bully to think again.

9 Managers and team leaders who think they have a bully in their team need to act early. Waiting gives the bully the message that their behaviour is acceptable and makes it harder to confront later.

10 Bullying should not be confused with robust leadership styles or strategies for managing under-performance. Managers who turn a blind eye to such behaviour are responsible for enabling bullying instead of confronting it.

Managing Workplace Bullying: How to identify, respond to and manage bullying behaviour in the workplace by Aryanne Oade is published by Palgrave Macmillan (www.palgrave.com)