We’ve seen medical dramas in the small screen where actors would play rude but brilliant doctors. A classic example would be the series House where the lead doctor was a genius at solving whatever illness the patient is suffering from. Although his approach is sometimes unorthodox and he also has a tendency to belittle or say offensive things to his medical team.
Unfortunately, such situations can happen in the medical field and a recent study conducted by Amir Erez, a Huber Hurst professor of management at the University of Florida, proved that it can also have a devastating effect on a patient. Erez’s study titled “The Impact of Rudeness on Medical Team Performance: A Randomized Trial” showed that physicians or nurses who were given rude remarks before conducting a life or death simulated operation performed poorly during the exercise. The experiment indicated that rudeness at work affects an employee’s ability to think properly, manage information and make decisions. Imagine if this happened in real life, a medical professional’s wrong move during a sensitive operation can kill the patient.
This research brings to light the importance of civility at work. An organization’s workforce may be highly motivated, productive or creative, but all these can be severely affected with rudeness and having a negative work culture. An individual’s attention and focus may become displaced given a rude encounter at work, which impacts their performance and ultimately affects the company as well.
To learn more about the study, click here.
