Rude colleagues, or..

I recently came across an interesting article on LinkedIn by Todd Dybas about rude behavior in the workplace that is on the rise https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/rude-co-workers-youre-not-alone-5595036/
The article referenced recent findings that most people think their colleagues are ruder now than before the pandemic, and that about 25% of workers have questioned their judgment or been ignored by colleagues.

That does not sound good, does it? Maybe there's actually some good in it. Let me elaborate. Maybe the perceived increase in incivility (in itself a negative thing) is just an unwelcome side effect of a larger positive event. Kind of like a minor unpleasant side effect that occurs with a highly effective medical treatment. In this case, the good and effective thing would be a higher level of open debate in the workplace.

In the dozens of team effectiveness workshops I have conducted, we have always spent a significant amount of time talking about "conflict." I refer to Pat Lencioni's concept of "The Five Dysfunctions of a Team," which includes a section on conflict. In this model, conflict is a good thing. Something that is a critical and mandatory element for any team to be productive. Any time there is more than one person in the room, there are different knowledge, experiences, perspectives, etc. that are valuable and would be wasted if everyone agreed with the first thing that was said. Openly sharing viewpoints and opinions is the ONLY way to ensure that talent is not wasted.

The key is that the debate must stay constructive. What one person perceives as constructive debate, another may perceive as rude argument. Understanding people's perceptions and making everyone feel comfortable in the middle of slight uncomfort, is a whole other topic and worth another article.