Gaslighting involves making someone doubt their sanity by means of psychological manipulation. Consciously or otherwise, instances of gaslighting in the workplace leave victims questioning their world view, which can be damaging to their self-confidence and comfort level as they navigate the workplace. This sort of hostility is particularly threatening to a start-up or small business environment, where teams are smaller and voices are larger. Without recourse, gaslighting could have a substantial impact on your company culture as a whole. To prevent gaslighting incidents, acclimate yourself and your team with common gaslighting words, phrases, and behaviors. Gaslighters may question your recollection of events, invalidate your feelings, or deny saying something that you were sure that they said. With proper workplace training, you'll know exactly what to look out for. That way, you can reform or deter those who behave poorly, helping you prevent instances of gaslighting going forward.
Nip it in the bud, cut it off quickly at the knees, and immediately look at your workplace policies that might have led to the moment. There's only one way to handle these kinds of incidents and that is quick. Make sure you gather employees involved in a private space and hammer out the issues and transgressions behind closed doors before they turn into a public spectacle and allow opposing teams to gather and cause further workspace disruption.
A safe and secure environment is crucial for a business for results. Being a boss, setting healthy boundaries is extremely essential for a safe and secure environment. If you see gaslighting incidents, try to lay boundaries between the two parties and help them sort them out. By healthy boundaries, I mean both verbal and physical as both are equally important. If the people know their limits and what's the difference between right and wrong, they won't do it. When they know this, they stay in their area and don't try to exceed it because of the consequences. This will automatically prevent any gaslighting incidents from happening. Keeping an HR for this purpose is the best solution. So that whenever anything like this happens, they can tell the HR about their problems and how the other person is gaslighting them. This keeps the HR also updated and they can help with limits.
One way startup/small business owners can handle gaslighting incidents and prevent them in the future is to create a policy that outlines how these types of incidents will be responded to. This should include specific steps that will be taken when an incident occurs, as well as who will have the authority to make decisions regarding the situation. Additionally, it is important to instill a culture of transparency and communication within the company so that all stakeholders are aware of what's happening at all times. This helps individuals feel respected and able to speak up if they experience harassment or bullying. Last but not least, creating a formal complaint process can help those affected take action if their rights are violated.
Being a boss, you shouldn't indulge in these situations without seeing the whole story. A boss should be mature enough to not be partial and see everything with clear eyes. Most gaslighting incidents are not even gaslighting but common mistakes that are presented in the wrong way. Sometimes even others try to take revenge by portraying others as a villain. A boss should be able to identify whether it's actually a gaslighting or just a mistake that can be solved easily. It can be done by asking to explain clearly what happened, giving both the parties a chance to speak their sides, asking for evidence if necessary and so on. They should be neutral and follow the situation clearly and thoughtfully before coming to a decision. And in case the boss has the right intentions and someone else is thinking of them as if they're gaslighting, the boss should explain their point clearly and while addressing that it's not gaslighting.
Promote a culture of communication about work issues. workplace gaslighting is a defense mechanism some use to save face among coworkers, abdicate themselves from blame or dodge negative consequences. Private feuds between employees should be discouraged. If an issue arises between coworkers, it’s the team leaders’ job to get the involved parties into a place where they can speak frankly (and professionally) about the situation. If an issue between to coworkers is resulting in one or both party’s gaslighting, leadership should focus on resolving the issue and dissuade instances of blaming one side or the other. If a follow-up with a particular individual is needed, further meetings can be arranged through private message. Be quick in resolving gaslighting issues. The longer an issue festers, the worse gaslighting behaviors tend to get. Nip it in the bud as soon as possible to keep your teams working smoothly.
My #1 tip for handling gaslighting incidents is to ensure that you've both established, and continue to create. a working environment where any gaslighting insights can be identified from the outset. Many toxic work environments do not have the correct policies in place to handle gaslighting, or don't create the type of workplace where employees feel that they can discuss serious issues with upper management. Creating an environment of accountability, ownership and introducing regular one-to-one meetings with employees and senior staff members will allow staff to a) be held accountable for their own actions and not gaslight fellow staff members and b) ensure that staff members are comfortable enough to immediately speak about gaslighting issues if they do arise.
Bullying, harassment, and other toxic workplace behaviors are typically included in onboarding and training practices as a way to prevent them and help employees identify them if they do. Gaslighting can and should be included as a specific module in these training sessions now that we understand how unfortunately prevalent it is in the workplace. By including examples of possible ways gaslighting can rear its head, bosses at startups and small businesses are empowering their employees to identify, question, and bring those events to management's attention. Including it in training and onboarding can help employees feel safer and more prepared, and can make those who might have engaged in gaslighting think twice about the impulse.
CEO at Solar Panels Network USA
Answered 4 years ago
If you're a boss in a start-up, there's a good chance you're going to deal with gaslighting at some point. It's important to be prepared. Here's my best tip: The most important thing you can do is create a culture of transparency and trust in your workplace. Gaslighting thrives in environments where there is secrecy and fear. If you create an open and honest culture, it will be much harder for someone to gaslight your employees. Of course, you can't prevent all gaslighting incidents from happening. But if you're prepared and have a plan in place, you can minimize the damage and help your employees heal.
The most important thing you can do is trust your employees when they report incidents of gaslighting to you. The goal of the "gaslighter" is to trigger self-doubt in the victim, so if they gather the courage to report it, believe them! Also look out for high-performers suddenly becoming quiet and discouraged. As a leader, you've got to understand why that's happening. You're the boss, you can't be present all the time, but you've got to be on the lookout for signs of gaslighting and intervene immediately! Use your position of power to undermine the "gaslighter", so they know you're watching them... If you are convince there's a "gaslighter" on your team and they don't stop it when they're told to, then you've got no other choice but to fire them. It'll show the rest of your team how unacceptable it is and will prevent it from happening in the future.
Building an inclusive company culture helps a boss avoid being toxic. By creating guiding principles-and following them-you can keep yourself in check. Be aware of employees' reactions to you. Are they scared or wary, or are they happy to see you and excited to partner up? Following and consistently cultivating the company culture should help you be a a positive addition to your company's climate and culture.
Startups typically have a rather close knit, small workforce to begin with, so if you are noticing issues with gaslighting in the workplace you must reflect on how you've facilitated that culture. Have you encouraged secrecy between management and employees? Have you been pitting departments against each other, even through facetious comments? Gaslighting is when someone with power tries to discredit the experience and reality of someone with less power, so know going into these situations that the person with less power should be given more benefit of the doubt. Facilitate discussions with each party separately, and a discussion together. Witnesses may be necessary, but it is important to be diplomatic until all the concrete facts are on the table. If there is a recurring issue of employees having problems with a toxic manager, you know what to do- get rid of the manager. It doesn't matter how much you've invested in training them, you need to let them go.
The most important thing is to have a zero-tolerance policy for any gaslighting behavior in your company culture. If someone is accused of gaslighting, or if there is even a perception that someone is being gaslighted, that person should be immediately removed from their role. Gaslighting is not something that can be fixed with training or coaching. It is a character flaw, and people who engage in gaslighting behavior can’t be fixed. They must be removed from your company culture.