Earlier this week, I asked the community for their thoughts on discussing politics at work. I feel we need to be our true selves in life, but we also need to appreciate and be inclusive of others' opinions and beliefs, which can be challenging with certain topics. Keep reading to see what insights the community shared.
Talking Politics | Yay or Nay?
I've boiled the community's responses down to 10 insights to consider. Navigating political discussions in the workplace is a nuanced and complex issue, as illustrated by the various perspectives shared below.
Balancing Authenticity and Inclusivity: It's challenging to be true to oneself while being inclusive of others' opinions and beliefs. Written conversations can easily be misconstrued, making it difficult to stay focused on work.
Structured Channels for Political Discussions: Creating separate channels for job-relevant information and politics helps manage discussions. Optional channels with clear labels provide a space for political discourse without affecting the primary work environment.
Avoiding Political Discussions to Prevent Misunderstandings: Many choose to avoid political discussions at work because written communication can easily lead to misunderstandings and conflicts, disrupting the work environment.
Civility and Inclusivity in Conversations: Maintaining civility in conversations is crucial. Avoiding political topics can be necessary to ensure effective collaboration with people of various political ideologies without limiting who can work at the company.
Comprehensive Code of Conduct: A robust Code of Conduct guides what should be shared versus kept private. Encouraging respectful political discourse and addressing ethical concerns helps maintain a positive work environment.
Limited Political Diversity in Marketing and Advertising: Politics is one of the least diverse elements in marketing and advertising. It often creates an echo chamber, reinforcing shared opinions. This lack of diversity can create challenges in fostering inclusive discussions.
Emphasizing Kindness and Respect: Emphasizing kindness and respect in all conversations, not just political ones, helps maintain team harmony. Personal opinions that cause grief should be left for after work to avoid conflicts.
Different Approaches for In-House and Remote Teams: In-house teams may not need strict policies because they are familiar with each other's political views, while remote teams might need to ban political discussions on platforms like Slack to maintain inclusivity and prevent misunderstandings.
General Principles Over Specific Policies: Broad suppression of topics doesn't solve problems; it moves them to backchannels where they can't be addressed. It's more effective to teach and reinforce general principles of respectful discourse.
Respectful and Civil Discourse as Part of Diversity: Political views are part of diversity, and it's important to have respectful and civil discourse at work so everyone can learn from each other. Professionals should be able to have objective conversations without causing offense or wasting time.
Below are the results of a recent LinkedIn Poll we conducted. It shows that if we choose to facilitate difficult non-work discussions or try to create a policy that prevents them, they will happen anyway.
I'd love to hear what you think about having sensitive conversations at work. I think as a leader, you can either be a part of the discussion or not. One thing is for sure, they're going to take place either way.