{"id":89297,"date":"2023-01-20T13:50:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-20T17:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=89297"},"modified":"2023-01-24T12:34:18","modified_gmt":"2023-01-24T16:34:18","slug":"silence-in-the-workplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/silence-in-the-workplace\/","title":{"rendered":"How Fear Leads to Silence in the Workplace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Does your company promote open communication? Do your employees have a voice at work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In psychologically unsafe workplaces, employees will feel silenced and belittled. Amy C. Edmondson’s book The Fearless Organization<\/em> explains how a culture of silence will eventually hurt the company down the line.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continue reading to learn how silence in the workplace harms workers, leaders, and businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Fear Leads to Silence, Which Hurts Companies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Edmondson says that in psychologically unsafe work cultures, employees don\u2019t speak up out of fear that they, their ideas, and their concerns will be belittled, disregarded, or lead to retaliation<\/strong>. She says that people\u2019s fear of being judged is so great that they engage in a process of \u201cimage management\u201d every day, all day long, in which they monitor and censor what they say to avoid looking silly or stupid in front of others. This strategy keeps them safe so long as they say nothing, but once they open their mouths, people can accuse them of being stupid or incompetent again. Most people can\u2019t handle this, so they stay silent to preserve their image. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: The culture Edmondson describes is defined by a lack of trust. In <\/em>Carrots and Sticks Don\u2019t Work<\/em><\/a>, Paul Marciano says that although some people trust easily, it can take others years to develop trust and that one mistrustful step can destroy all that work. Therefore, you must work diligently to cultivate trust<\/a>, which you can do by implementing a number of trust-building actionable steps, including 1) giving workers credit where it\u2019s due instead of misattributing it; 2) keeping your word when you make promises; and 3) giving bad news to employees directly instead of allowing it to trickle down to them through the office grapevine.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edmondson says there are two big problems with silence in the workplace:<\/p>\n\n\n\n