Group: Coping with toxic working environments

Abstract

Background: Each working environment has its own culture. Sometimes the culture is very difficult to deal with - it is toxic. Signs of toxic environments are for example: high turnover in people, lack of communication or negative communication, high rate of employee sickness, or little or no enthusiasm among employees. Causes of a toxic environment are for example narcissistic leadership, lack of integrity among colleagues, or extreme pressure to perform. Working in a toxic environment can affect your performance: it can lead to less productivity, stress, loose of trust, low self-esteem, and negatively affect well-being. Although surviving in a toxic work environment can be a good learning experience, in general, as a Young Medical Educator it is not the place where you would like to be. In this workshop we would like to discuss strategies to cope with a toxic environment based on evidence from the literature and inputs from the facilitators and participants experience on what works. Who Should Attend: Those who are relatively new to medical education. Structure of Workshop: After the introduction (10’) we will: • Analyze what experiences people have with toxic working or learning environments in their own context including cultural challenges. (20’) • We will present a very short summary of the literature on the causes of a toxic environment and how it affects your performance. (5’) • Group work with examples of strategies dealing with of toxic environments (30’), including large group discussion (20’). Sharing take home message will close the session. (10) Intended Outcomes: • Recognize signs of and your reactions to a toxic environment. • Be aware of several strategies to cope with toxic environments, • Share what you learn with others inside and outside of your organization. Level: Novice/Intermediat