In the media, rage—road rage, airplane rage, workplace rage, political rage, national rage —is all the rage. The problem is, incivility and chronic rudeness are more pathetic than amusing, and worse, the resulting stress of thinking about and indulging in chronic rage has horrifying effects on our cultural, community, and individual well-being. In the workplace, incivility costs money, quality and well-being at best, or someone's health or even life, at worst.

What does workplace incivility look and sound like?

Why is workplace incivility a costly problem?

How can I boost my civility quotient?

More civility links and resources.

What does workplace incivility look and sound like?

A 1998 study by the University of North Carolina School of Business highlighted as uncivil such behavior as: not responding to e-mail or voicemail; habitually interrupting; backstabbing; shouting at someone; and rudeness that ultimately escalates into threatened or actual violence.

Epidemic incivility goes well beyond issues of Political Correctness—we're not talking about hyper-sensitivity or Word Police action here. The type of rude and uncivil behavior emphasized runs counter to the good communication and collaborative behavior that contributes to a healthy community or a productive, safe and satisfying workplace.

In one real-world example, during a mid-level manager's presentation to executives, a senior executive rudely shouted, "No one is interested in this." In another workplace reported in the press, an employee was repeatedly barraged with mean comments and false accusations. In another common example, a manager torpedoes an idea without explanation, or changes his mind without communicating the decision or his reasoning to anyone. Other studies show consistent conclusions.

Why is workplace incivility a costly problem?

Surveys show that unchecked organizational incivility leads to such unwanted outcomes as:

• Lawsuits and claims: Several reports cite increased harassment or wrongful termination claims due to inappropriate communication or a perceived ‘hostile environment.’
• Retention: In a time when retaining and recruiting top-notch talent is tough, alienating employees can be very costly. Studies show that many people who quit jobs cite no recognition and/or poor communication from managers or coworkers as problems.
• Productivity: Consistently, research studies emphasize a high percentage of person-days per year are lost to personality squabbles. Also, the data have shown that employees are absent more and spend more workday time worrying or talking with other workers about perceived incivility.
• Customer service: Employees who are fearful or stressed don’t perform to their potential when working with customers. Some actually vocalize complaints to clients.

How can you boost your civility quotient?

Personally:
• Be part of the solution: Do you interrupt, ignore e-mail and voicemail messages, listen poorly, get angry easily or snap at others? Do you exhibit rude behavior, such as coming late to meetings or withholding information someone needs?

• After an honest assessment, identify resources to refine your interpersonal skills.

• Manage your stress, frustration and anger. Some people spend time in meditation or prayer; some exercise, learn mindset management techniques or faithfully cultivate a creative hobby; others may need and seek professional therapy to decrease stress or anger.

• If someone is rude to you, try saying, "I’m happy to talk with you, but I won’t be attacked or yelled at" or "I’m sure it’s not intentional, but what you just said seems very rude to me." If someone interrupts often, say, "Please, let me respond."

Organizationally:
• Model civility: Do organizational leaders and managers demonstrate civil, professional behavior? Remember the senior executive who shouted "no one is interested in this" in the middle of an employee’s presentation? Disrespectful and rude—a terrible model.

• Have a good, clearly written employee handbook that defines the culture, how employees are expected to treat one another, and what behavior is not tolerated. Avoid overly-legalistic language that causes readers to tune out or misunderstand the policies—clarity is key.

• Provide resources and individualized training on interpersonal skills.

• Treat employees (and managers) with respect, and provide regular information about the business and what’s expected of them; emphasize and reward civil—or team—behavior.

Have a regular communication program defined and underway—workers feeling out of the loop or not knowing what’s expected fosters distrust, stress and uncivil behavior.

This material is protected by copyright, and is offered as food-for-thought rather than customized counsel. As always, the most effective strategy is one that's specifically tailored to your unique organizational culture, group personality, and individual needs. Have questions? We welcome your email inquiry.

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