Say What? 5 Tips for When Your Workplace is a Communication War Zone
As you read this — are you in lockdown or out of lockdown at the moment? Does your workplace offer bended remote/on-site workforces, or is everyone back to the office — or all still remote? Whatever your workplace circumstances, you can be sure of one thing: your colleagues are stressed, disrupted, and may be experiencing heightened anxiety.
A recent Interact survey conducted online by Harris Poll with 2,058 U.S. adults found that a stunning majority (69%) of the managers said that they are often uncomfortable communicating with employees. Over a third (37%) of the managers said that they are uncomfortable having to give direct feedback about their employees’ performance if they think the employee might respond negatively to the feedback.
Workplace communication has become a kind of war zone. There is a real threat to your continued paycheck if you should mis-speak, even accidently. Whatever you do — Do Not Tell a Joke. You simply can’t determine who you may unintentionally offend.
It’s true — corrections were overdue. Tasteless jokes, too-commonly-used racial or sexual orientation slurs, and just dismissive sexism has been a real problem in workplace environments. But the pendulum may have now swung past its mark.
