The True Cost of Conflict Avoidance

Employees waste an eight-hour working day every time they choose to avoid a crucial conversation, according to research conducted by VitalSmarts. Instead of speaking up and confronting the problem with colleagues, 95% of the workforce engage in resource-sapping avoidance tactics such as stewing over the problem, gossiping and doing unnecessary work; all the while avoiding the other person altogether. This behaviour equates to £1,000 lost from bottom line results every time we avoid dialogue.

So, what do we mean by a crucial conversation? We define a crucial conversation as one characterised by three conditions: high stakes, opposing opinions and strong emotions. This could manifest itself in many forms, including discussing poor performance, quality of work, project deadlines or new processes.

People choose silence over dialogue in these circumstances because they don’t feel they can discuss difficult or sensitive workplace issues, but the result is always the same – reduced efficiency and weakened relationships. If this develops into a ‘culture of silence’ within teams or the organisation, it can damage employee engagement and create a silo mentality.