Causes and solutions for "bystander effect" in organisations

Via Scaling Up Excellence,

Why do people witness bad behaviour in organisations but do nothing about it?

• Ambiguity: witnesses are unsure whether events are bad enough to warrant intervention
• Diffusion of responsibility: assuming that someone else will intervene OR it's someone else's job to intervene
• Fear of social disapproval: given no one else has intervened, witnesses fear social disapproval if they intervene

How might we encourage people to act when they witness bad behaviour?

• To address ambiguity, be explicit, loud, and repetitive about what bad behaviour looks like. Make sure everyone knows and agrees on what bad behaviour is.
• To address diffusion of responsibility, make sure that each person feels personally obligated to deal with problems independent of what others do or don't do. In other words, it's always "how can I help?" and never "is this my job?"
• To address fear of social disapproval, make sure bad behaviour is not normalised.