An entry for a "quick chat" on the calendar should seem normal. It certainly does in positive workplaces. Yet today, employees do not treat such meeting requests as they should. Rather, they look for a deeper meaning behind them: from how the request is phrased, to what time it is scheduled, and what information is missing. As per Gallup research findings into workplace trust, employees' perception of uncertainty at work is greatly influenced by the degree of trust they have in their organization. When there is more trust in place, ambiguity tends to be temporary; when there is less trust in an organization, uncertainty becomes laden with deeper meaning. Rarely is the interpretation associated with that particular meeting only.
This is what causes some employees to become uneasy prior to what appear to be normal meetings. Although the reminder note might not be loaded, the larger communication environment will influence the meaning attributed to the silence that surrounds the scheduled meeting. Studies conducted by Statistics Canada have indicated that employees now view their work environments through the prism of job security.
Employees are often responding to patterns, not paranoia
In many ways, the fear surrounding ambiguous invitations may not be entirely unjustified. The experts in workplace behavior explain that people tend to match patterns from past experience in organizations. In the event that communications have been uncertain in tough times in the past, they develop a cautious attitude towards uncertainty. As per the Gallup manager communication study, regular communication by the manager greatly impacts whether employees feel secure or vulnerable in their daily workplace interactions.
Similarly, the phrase “quick chat” plays into the response since it is informal and vague. Employees tend to start ruminating on their recent work, interactions, and potential trouble spots in order to determine what the discussion may cover. The vagueness itself becomes part of the meaning in a low-trust work environment. However, the experts warn against viewing an unexplained meeting as automatically indicating bad news. As pointed out by SHRM, when organizational communication habits are inconsistent, employees will become overly sensitive to silence. SHRM silence cutting. Instead, a more productive strategy would be examining the meeting in light of the broader work situation.
Small communication habits shape workplace trust more than companies realize
The problem is important because it touches on a bigger picture than just the niceties of scheduling. In many cases, it may not be the appointment itself but the way the company traditionally deals with uncertainty and uncomfortable situations. In organizations that always place things in context, vague invitations will rarely become a problem. However, in companies where there is frequently poor communication, employees start to fill in the information for themselves. Uncertainty alone can create distrust even without any real danger present.
It has become common knowledge among communication experts that predictability is important psychologically. Workers do not have to know what will be said before it happens; however, they feel more comfortable with their interactions when they follow familiar and predictable patterns. In some cases, a short explanation is sufficient to put everyone at ease. It is often sufficient to simply ask nicely if there is any reason they should prepare for the upcoming discussion. For the most part, fast meetings turn out to be just fast meetings. But in an environment with low trust, workers do not imagine reasons for it.
