Sidelined: 50 Behaviors That Might Outcast You at Work

A Checklist of Behaviors and Actions to Avoid

Photo by Warren on Unsplash

In the last 25 years of my humble work experience, I witnessed people being sidelined or ostracized in organizations and teams. I submit here a collection of behaviors and attributes, that in my limited wisdom, caused a lot of good-hearted and well-meaning people to be sidelined from the mainstream, denied promotions or assumed as “fitment issue”.

I carefully wrote them in my journal, uncertain where these will land but keen to see if they hold water. Unfortunately, with several of these items, there examples of people being seen “differently” and eventually sidelined. It is not as if the mere presence of these behaviors would have caused them to be put on the sidelines but perhaps several other elements may haves played some role — ranging from “performance” to “cultural fitness”. Both of are rated and reviewed by people not necessarily qualified to define these to start with! (Have you seen people with education degrees in “performance” or ”cultural fitness”? I have not.)

And I say well-meaning, because some of these people unveiled these traits without realizing or not given a chance to make a change. That said, most fall under deliberate actions or behaviors. Can you stop these? May be.

My hope and submission — are you showing these in your daily interactions and work? Perhaps a team member you really care about, is falling into a blind spot? If yes, allow me to assure you that you should ponder about making a change in you, or forewarn the people you value.

Here is the list (that I sometimes feel I should not have compiled):

1. "I only focus on content, not on the presentation part"
2. Advocates uncomfortable political or religious leanings in workplace
3. "Arguing", not requesting a salary raise
4. Not seen as part of any lobby (a hard truth in organizations with strong informal, social networks)
5. Asking questions in a meeting to show-off knowledge and not to contribute
6. Avoids team events (that everyone attends)
7. Barges into conversations or cuts people short
8. Being terse (and hurls soft profanities on the garb of open work culture)
9. Changes goals without teams' agreement
10. Come late to most meetings
11. Hijacks meeting/agendas
12. Commits without consulting
13. Complaints on the manager with other team members
14. Praises manager relentlessly
15. CC everyone in e-mails when not needed
16. Cribs on sensitive organization policies
17. Doesn't respect diversity
18. Exercises sarcasm of any kind
19. Takes frequent work breaks, "not found" on the desk
20. Inadvertently or consciously minimizes manager credibility in meetings
21. Uses social media irresponsibly, expressing views without impact analysis
22. Isolates team members into separate groups
23. Leaves early from the meetings
24. Makes customers uncomfortable
25. Gives business partners a feeling of not being one
26. Mostly seen with the bosses
27. Rarely seen with the bosses
28. Not going to the late evening team parties (strange, but true)
29. Not open to feedback (from team members)
30. Not owning up mistakes but quick to claim victories
31. Not participating in the official team events
32. Not sharing the learning with other team members
33. Not speaking up when asked specifically
34. Rarely goes Dutch
35. Refuses work on any pretext
36. Reprimands people publicly
37. Seen as favoring select few
38. Sets-up meetings before or after the business hours
39. Sets-up meeting in time zone then team's default
40. Hogs limelight
41. Spends (a lot of) time on tea breaks or in smoke rooms
42. Uses "competence" as a strategy to prove superiority to manager
43. Uses vocal strength or decibel levels to make or win a point
44. Uses emotion to counter facts or logic
45. Shows political and religious leanings openly at workplace
46. Taking credit et al
47. Not spending time recognizing people or owning their growth
48. Expects to be taken care of but doesn't do so
49. Doles out favors
50. Seems to smirk

Hope this helps!

The views, of course, are my own.

Thanks, Shalabh