Why it still matters when someone is offended, even if we disagree
Sometimes it’s hard to understand why our jokes, comments or behaviors hurt others. But we need to try, or risk damaging productivity for the whole team.
When we talk about sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace, we often hear something like this:
“Honestly, I don’t understand why some women act the way they do. I pay compliments on new outfits of both female and male colleagues, but only Karen (insert any woman’s name here) complains about it and calls me out for being sexist. In my opinion, she is totally overreacting.”
“Overreacting” is subjective. It can never be determined objectively why someone feels personally offended by a joke, comment or certain behavior. How do we know what previous experiences have primed the perceptions of that person? Something that is totally fine for most of your colleagues may lead to serious conflict in a team with someone else.
This can lead to bigger issues, and needs to be part of the discussion.
As soon as someone feels offended, their behavior changes. We see a 35% productivity drop and a hefty loss in corporate citizenship of employees across all sectors in conflict situations, resulting in the extinction of psychological safety among teams. This is especially critical since many people — women in particular — do not dare to tell anyone.
Google found that psychological safety is the most important factor when it comes to successful teamwork. It determines whether we feel safe enough to take risks without feeling insecure, and to be vulnerable in front of each other. Psychological safety has many advantages for businesses. Team members who feel safe…
- are more likely to admit mistakes.
- cooperate more frequently.
- take on more responsibility and new roles.
- are more open to change and innovation.
- stay longer with their employer.
Eventually, interpersonal conflicts are poison for successful and sustainable teamwork. In Germany alone, 15% of daily working hours are affected by such conflicts.
If all we have to do is to stop a certain behavior to avoid conflict — not using certain words or not making fun of someone — just do it. Whether we understand the reasons or not, it not only harms the wellbeing of others, but also the productivity of our whole team. As soon as someone expresses discomfort, we inevitably must change our behavior.
For successful teamwork, we need everyone to be the best version of themselves. That is why we at Lytt do everything we can to make everyone feel respected and valued at all times. Because, if someone feels miserable at work, it’s our responsibility to fix it.
Make it your vocation to uplift your colleagues and together you will skyrocket your team.
