In-Depth Interviews
Each team member conducted two individual interviews with professionals they knew in any industry. Some of these industries include nonprofit, education, and finance. The respondents were older than our survey participants and therefore have more industry experience.
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The team wanted to gage their situations in comparison to younger survey and focus group participants. The interviewees told real stories and experiences they had that contributed to their opinion on civil discourse in the workplace.
Here's what we found
01
Feelings of toxicity as a result of incivility are internal and external
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Multiple interviewees felt stress, anxiety, and inferiority during and after a uncivil incident.
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These feelings impact work quality and overall staff morale. Our interviewees felt uncomfortable even entering the workplace or thinking about engaging in civil discourse.
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Externally, there's an evident disconnect between employees and those involved in uncivil discourse perform poorly.
02
People want management involved in monitoring incivility
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Multiple respondents agreed management should have a hand in reprimanding those who are uncivil.
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This could be through establishing policy, running workshops, or discussing guidelines for civil discourse.
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A few interviewees also mentioned how some of their workplaces banned certain controversial topics.
03
The outcome of an incident depends on the people involved
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Interviewees agreed the intensity of the incident and its outcome is directly related to those involved.
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The result depends on people at all levels of the incident, whether it's someone in the disagreement, a supervisor, an HR representative, or management.
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This observation suggests that civil discourse in the workplace is possible, it just often occurs between people who cannot share that conversation.