Whether employees work in the office or remotely, most communications take place via email, Slack, Zoom, Teams, and similar virtual collaborative programs. However, uncivil behavior is increasingly permeating online communications and seems to occur more frequently than in person, leading to a toxic workplace atmosphere.
Increased virtual hostility stems from online disinhibition, a phenomenon in which people feel more comfortable being impolite and harsh using asynchronous, anonymous communications than in-person, real-time settings. Furthermore, the inability to temper the effects of or explain a rude comment with facial expressions, body language, or other social cues is absent online, so the comment comes across as worse via email. As a result, the recipient of the rude email is more likely to overreact and overinterpret the sender's tone.
Distinct types of virtual incivility abound, including using capitalization in an email message to "yell" at someone, giving unreasonably harsh feedback via Zoom, or repeatedly messaging someone via Slack. These types of behaviors all qualify as active incivility. At the other end of the spectrum is passive incivility, such as ignoring a coworker's Slack or email messages.
The negative impacts of virtual incivility in the workplace are significant. Workers become distracted and unnecessarily ruminate about the meaning behind rude or harsh messages. This distraction leads to poor cognitive functioning and decreased productivity. Motivation, creativity, and efficiency drop, and errors increase. Increased conflicts and toxicity in the workplace create a dysfunctional atmosphere that leads to counterproductive behavior.
Fortunately, employers can take steps to reduce virtual incivility and promote a more effective and civil style of communication. Management should set clear expectations about civil, respectful, and professional virtual communications. Organizations should require incivility training and electronic media norms training for all employees. Furthermore, employers should establish a formal, confidential process for reporting and investigating reports of uncivil virtual communications.
Managers also should carefully consider how to deliver emails and information that may be stressful to employees. In some cases, giving information in forums such as Zoom as opposed to an email may allow employees to better understand the information as they receive and absorb it in real-time. That format also allows employees the opportunity to ask questions right away for clarification purposes.
Finally, sending employees periodic anonymous surveys is one way to determine how insidious this behavior may be in virtual workplace communications. If multiple employees report virtual incivility to be a problem, then the employer needs to take action to remedy the problem.
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