Crank It Down

October 27 is Cranky Co-Workers Day, a quirky holiday that’s a reminder we all have bad days at work. But when one person’s bad mood spreads, it costs real money: researchers counted about 208 million acts of rudeness among U.S. workers every single day, adding up to roughly $2.1 billion a day in lost productivity! The most common culprits aren’t big blowups, but small stuff like curt emails and snippy comments.

Your Task: Imagine you are a shift lead at a busy smoothie shop, and one of your coworkers has been snapping at teammates all week. Yesterday, a customer noticed and complained.

• What specific behavior will you point out, without attacking them as a person?

• How will you show you actually care about what might be going on with them?

• What next step or solution will you suggest so the team gets back on track?

Write an 8-10 sentence script of what you’ll say when you pull your coworker aside to talk.