Roundup on civility and incivility at work

Last week’s post on distinguishing workplace incivility from more severe forms of mistreatment such as bullying and mobbing got a lot of page views and contributed to several discussions on social media as well. This response prompted me to pull together several previous pieces on civility and incivility at work. You can click on the titles for the full posts:

Civility and civility codes in higher education (2015) — “Universities that impose civility codes are usually those that cannot manage by thoughtful, inclusive, quality leadership. Instead, they must mandate manners and punish those who venture beyond superficial politeness.”

When superficial civility supports workplace abusers (and their enablers) (2014) — “All things being equal, most of us would much prefer a workplace where civility, rather than incivility, shapes the dominant culture. After all, who wants to work at a place where nastiness is the norm? But at times, the organizational embrace of a superficial brand of civility can advantage those who engage in bullying, harassment, or discrimination at work.”

Recipe for healthy employee relations: Encourage speech, nurture civility, prohibit abuse (2012) — “However, imposing company civility or speech codes is problematic. The give and take of ordinary human interactions needs to make room for occasional sharp exchanges and flaring of tempers. When conduct gets out of hand, someone should step in…, but an everyday dust up should not be punished. In fact, it may be the canary in the coal mine that signals a deeper problem worth addressing.”

Can workplace incivility ever be healthy? (2011) — “Have you ever been in an argument that became heated and angry, but concluded with a resolution of differences and perhaps even the strengthening of a friendship or relationship? If so, was expressing anger part of the path toward getting to a better place?”

Bullying, incivility, and conflict resolution at work (2010) — “At times bullying and incivility are conflated, and I plead guilty to that. . . . But there are distinctions worth drawing a line in the sand. For example, in an earlier post, I agreed with those who believe that genuine workplace bullying — targeted, hurtful behavior — cannot, or at least should not, be subject to traditional mediation approaches. One does not attempt to mediate abuse. However, I believe that lesser forms of workplace discord definitely may benefit from mediation and other dispute resolution techniques.”