Easing The Silent Treatment, Fostering Open Communication In The Workplace

No need to engage in loud arguments or heavy insults with each other. The most painful mental damage comes from… doing nothing!

Have you ever encountered a situation when you just walked into a room and everyone suddenly went quiet? It’s awkward, right? Sometimes, one person can shift the atmosphere and leave others feeling uneasy. The silent treatment isn’t just uncomfortable; it can mess with people’s heads and the whole vibe at work. 

Table of contents

I. What is silent treatment?

II. Why choose to keep silent rather than open communication? 

III. How it affects one person individually 

IV. Wrapping it up

What is the silent treatment?

The silent treatment refers to refusing to verbally communicate with another person and treating them like they're invisible. The Workplace Bullying Institute explains that workplace bullies use the silent treatment to snub targeted employees in conversations, ignore their comments at meetings, refuse to answer questions, and leave emails unread. These bullies can be either bosses or coworkers. 

Read more: New Hires Are Set Up to Fail and Here's Why 

Why choose to keep silent rather than open communication? 

There are many reasons behind this norm.

1. Protect themselves

When one newcomer joins the company, there will be some awkward, silent moments. This time is for both parties to determine whether their “vibes” match or not. Some with reserved personalities often choose to keep silent before identifying whether this one can be a potential teammate.

Read more: Giving Performance Reviews to Your Most Difficult Employees

2. Afraid of making someone hurt due to verbal words

Some individuals may lack confidence in initiating a conversation due to their awareness of their limited communication skills. This leads to the fear of unintentionally hurting or disappointing others.

3. Revenge the counterpart

There might have been a big fight that just broke out, and people gave the silent treatment to other coworkers to show their disagreement. Interestingly, the person who is applying the silent treatment to their coworkers may also have been the victim of silence in the past. Now, they use the same tactics to exact revenge on others.

Read more: Are We Overvaluing Employee Satisfaction? 

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How does the silent treatment affect each individual?

When employees are on the receiving end of the silent treatment, it can feel pretty rough, especially for those who are newcomers and still in the transition process. Here’s how it typically affects them: 

• Emotional rollercoaster: Being ignored can hit hard, prompting individuals to question their place in the group and can lead to anxiety or sadness. For overthinkers, who tend to take things seriously, the silence will contribute to stress, as not knowing why being sidelined can be super stressful. 

• Dropped motivation: Without support from coworkers, it’s tough to stay excited about what individuals are trying to complete. Work can start to feel monotonous, lonely, and disconnected from the team. 

• Performance slips: When there’s a break in communication, both the individual's productivity and teamwork performance suffer. Definitely, the result might lead nowhere.

Read more: How to Ensure Mental Health for Your Remote Employees

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The impact on the team 

When looking at this issue from a broader angle, the silent treatment doesn’t just affect one person; it can shake up the whole team.

• Miscommunication: Silence breeds confusion. When people stop talking, misunderstandings arise, and tensions escalate. The result? We can easily predict that the integrity and unity of the entire team can diminish if the silence extends.
• Less collaboration: If folks retreat to their shells, teamwork fails. Any project needs a minimum number of committed team members involved to gain the highest result. Thus, collaboration is crucial. Foremost, strong collaboration needs open lines of communication, and silence kills that purpose.
• Destroy unity: Miscommunication and lack of collaboration will definitely destroy unity within the team. When a group of members lack shared goals or a common voice, it becomes challenging for them to work together effectively.

Wider organisational effects 

At the corporate level, the issues that arise from the silent treatment can also have detrimental effects.

• Productivity drops: Poor communication among teams slows everything down. Poor communication among teams can hinder the achievement of organisational goals, which are often the result of underperforming individuals and teams.
• Bad reputation: Companies known for poor team dynamics might find it hard to attract top-tier talent. Who wants to work in a place that feels toxic? Furthermore, it takes much time and effort for one company to rebuild their reputation in the long term. 
• Higher turnover: Good employees want to be in a positive environment where they can fully devote their talents and potential. When the working environment is filled with silence, it can become toxic; the company faces the risk of losing talent, leading to more hiring and training expenses.
• Leadership struggles: C-suites and managers really have their work cut out for them in a culture where silence prevails—overcoming interpersonal conflict becomes a major challenge. Obviously, they are able to put 100% of their concentration on strategic planning or brand-new initiatives for the whole company rather than paying attention to solving conflicts related to employee relations. 

Recognising when it’s happening 

If you’re in a managerial or HR role, spotting ostracism is key when building or reconstructing your team. Here are some signs to keep an eye out for: 

• Behaviour changes: If someone who was once engaged starts withdrawing or goes quiet in meetings, they tend to sit apart from colleagues. These signals give us a sign that there might be issues lurking beneath the surface, such as conflict or isolation, that need to be addressed before they escalate. 
• Avoiding communication: Employees who aren’t making eye contact, run away from contributing, or seem reluctant to share their ideas might feel discomfort in the environment. 
• Discrepancies in group dynamics: If certain individuals consistently dominate conversations while others remain silent, it might be due to a power imbalance created by silent treatment methods. The resulting group dynamics can stifle collaboration and innovation.

Read more: Are You One of These Four Employees Who Make or Break a Meeting? 

How can HR help to build healthy communication? 

When team members refuse to communicate, some individuals are left to swim in the ocean of thoughts to figure out what someone else is thinking. Thus, creating a workplace culture where people feel included, valued, and encouraged to raise their voices is crucial. HR is an integral part of the process and cannot be ignored. Here are some straightforward ways to encourage open communication: 

• Anonymous surveys: Conducting a structured survey can provide employees a place to share their thoughts without fear of judgement. 
• Workshop training: Focusing on communication skills and conflict resolution can equip employees to tackle tough conversations effectively, whether within their internal team or across the departments. 
• Have clear protocols: To tackle workplace bullying and ostracism before they escalate, create well-publicised, unambiguous guidelines that cover key topics such as the recipient of the report and the processing time for the report.
• Promote diversity and inclusion: Building a culture that values diverse perspectives makes it less likely for someone to feel sidelined, as people will be more open to accepting the differences from culture to social background among individuals. 
• Lead by example: Encourage leaders to model the communication they want to see. When management addresses issues openly, it encourages others to do the same. In case leaders give the silent treatment to their teammates, peers, and colleagues, they are, perhaps unintentionally but in essence, encouraging others to act the same way.

Read more: Avoid These Mistakes When You Are Managing Gen Z Employees 

In conclusion

The silent treatment is a harmful worm, destroying workplace dynamics, and negatively impacting individuals, teams, and the organisation as a whole.

It’s important to address this kind of issue as soon as possible to not only help individuals feel better but also strengthen the entire workplace dynamics.

HR and those in managerial roles contribute an irreplaceable role in the building of an open culture that encourages open and direct communication, which can help alleviate the burden of silence treatment.