Seven Strategies for Civility Feedback

To make the greatest impact in your business and to get the most out of your career, choose the path of respectfulness over rudeness.

Globalization brings people from different cultures into contact with one another. What is seen as acceptable in one culture may be perceived as rude in anot...

People misread texts and emails, because the written notes lack the nuance of face-to-face and phone interactions.

Often, people are uncivil when they’re tired or stressed. Generally, they’re not aware of how their actions affect others. Yet, unintentional rudeness is also destructive. When...

If you’re the victim of incivility in the workplace, you can’t control the other person’s behavior but you can manage your reaction. Take time to figure out a response plan calmly. If you decide to confront the offender, plan the conversation ahead of time. Focus on the issue rather than the indi...

How civil are you?

Examine yourself about a range of behaviors, from positive, such as saying please and thank you, to negative, such as texting or using email during meetings, interrupting, blaming others, spreading rumors, ignoring invitations, making snide remarks, or failing to listen....

Begin the journey to improved civility for yourself and your organization by focusing on the three basics.

1. The first “civility fundamental” requires you to smile more. When you smile, you feel happier and more relaxed; you lift other people’s moods.
2. The second fundamental is ...

Adopt a “giving mind-set” to promote a respectful work environment. When people share knowledge, resources and connections, civility becomes the norm. Five forms of giving are most effective in creating an affirming atmosphere:

1.  Share resources  – Collaborate with your co-workers to fo...

• Never send an email while angry, stressed or upset.
• Never be overly informal or too verbose, don’t hit Reply All unnecessarily and don’t fail to respond to your email.
• Fundamentals of email etiquette include using self-control, writing in a respectful tone and valuing your ...

• During interviews, pay attention to the way candidates behave.
• Ask them to describe their past behavior and to give you examples.
• Discuss how they handle anger and stress.
• Observe how they speak about their former employers.
• Follow up with employees who in...

If civil behavior matters to your organization, put systems in place to track it.

Focus less on results and more on how people achieve them. Evaluate employees against metrics that highlight civility, such as collaboration, empowerment, respect and encouragement. Acknowledge and reward “all...

Civility helps people succeed. People enjoy collaborating with someone who is cooperative and respectful. Seeking people’s input, listening to their ideas, thanking them for their efforts and sharing credit with them increases productivity.

Team members feel safe in a civil environment, wh...

The typical reaction to incivility is stress, which can trigger health problems and can result in more instances of abrupt or rude behavior. Rudeness also extracts a psychological toll. When someone treats people meanly at work, they lose concentration and their performance suffers.

They b...

Your best defense against incivility is to develop your own “sense of thriving.”

The stronger you feel, the better you will handle adversity. Strengthen and reinforce your sense of thriving by finding purpose in your work and outside activities. Seek the support of a mentor, and build posi...

People don’t easily recover from the negative effect of rudeness.

Even low-intensity events or single incidents can diminish their focus and cognitive abilities.

On the flip side, feeling genuinely appreciated lifts people up. It energizes. It’s also a powerful tool f...

• Every employee should know that civility matters.
• Describe how they should treat one another.
• Publish a basic code of conduct.
• Emphasize civility repeatedly; notice when it occurs.

• Workplace Incivility assaults people’s physical and psychological health.
• Workplace rudeness generates lack of productivity, disengagement, absenteeism and turnover.
• In contrast, “civility” makes people feel valued and appreciated.
• To increase workplace civil...

Workplace relationship problems have significant costs for employers in the form of lost productivity, absenteeism and turnover. Dealing with incivility takes an average 13% of managers’ time as they work to mend relationships and deal with the aftermath of crass behavior.

Rudeness causes ...

Behaving politely toward others conveys respect and regard. It lifts people up. A smile, a cheerful greeting and a compliment make people feel valued and appreciated. When a leader treats employees in a respectful way, the leaders’ status increases along with the employees’ motivation. People wor...