To preserve relationships in the office, we all need to be tactful when communicating how we really feel about a colleague or project.

At best, this simply results in people choosing their words carefully, so the message stays relevant and helpful to the task at hand. But at worst, we can ...

Not only is this a condescending phrase that signals a lack of respect, it is also a common passive-aggressive one.

Instead of passively saying you don’t want to offend and then doing it anyway, you could directly state, “I’m concerned what I say might upset you, so I want to know: Do I ha...

Using phrases like “A lot of us think” can be an inflammatory way to hide your views behind the vague opinion of many others.

“It suggests, ‘We’ve all been talking about you behind your back.’ It also is usually vague about who ‘us’ refers to, which means that the person receiving the infor...

When someone loops in your boss in an email thread, it can be a passive-aggressive way to convey that they don’t trust you.

“This is really a flag that they would like for your manager to stay in the loop in order to have their request prioritized or there may be a lack of trust in the rela...