5 Principles of Ethical Communication

When we talk about good and bad business communication, we normally think in terms of effectiveness. Was the speaker clear? Was the presentation well structured? Was the right decision reached at the end of the meeting? But we can also look at communication from an ethical perspective and at the benefits this can bring.

Ethical behaviour comes from having clear values and principles. These inform the choices we make: whether or not we communicate in specific situations, what we say and how we say it. Here are the five principles that could help you to communicate more ethically at work. As you read on, think about which principles you find helpful for your particular personality and situation.

1. Acting with joint interest

Giving up “own-role” oriented behaviour is a key component of ethically based communication in organizations. For example, rather than simply focusing on your own objectives during presentations and discussions, show your willingness to explore joint interests and their benefits for others. In this process, it is important to give others the time to express their interests and to feel confident that they are being taken seriously. This can be explicitly connected to shared values and principles for joint decision-making.

2. Acting with sensitivity

Sensitive communication focuses on managing the emotions of others, and practising carefully controlled non-violent communication that does not create negative emotional states, such as anger or fear. This also means being aware of your own emotional state, so that you don’t transfer your own negativity to others.

Check regularly how others are feeling about your behaviour and apologize immediately if you cause offence unintentionally.

3. Acting with curiosity

It is important to recognize that your views are not the only truth and that other people’s ideas, which may confuse or challenge you, deserve your respect and curiosity. Being curious means being truly open. Curiosity is expressed by remaining silent, allowing others to speak, asking questions and encouraging others to say more.

Practise asking questions to clarify what others mean. Reformulate their comments to check that you have understood correctly. And ask questions to get people to give you more details about what they are saying. Finally, don’t forget to show your appreciation of the points of view that others share.

4. Acting with openess

People often withhold information that others have a right to know, or they keep quiet about things for their own advantage. After all, knowledge is power. But ethical communicators make a commitment to share information as much as is possible.

Of course, management responsibility or a conflict of loyalties may compromise our ability to share information. But we can still be open about reasons for not doing so, for example, because someone has explicitly asked us not to share information.

We also need to remember that our words and ideas are often simply opinions from our own perspective rather than facts. Being open about this helps us to be inclusive, collaborative, and respectful.

5. Acting with responsibility

Responsibility is central to ethical behaviour. The moment we begin to blame others or circumstances unfairly, we are ignoring our responsibility. Instead, explore and express ways of bearing some responsibility for what happens. This also allows others to take responsibility and to think about their future actions.

When problems do arise, we may need to escalate them to someone higher in the organization. Interestingly, many people see this as a form of abrogating their responsibility or worry that it may be seen as a way of blaming others. So, although escalation is often required in difficult situations, it needs to be handled carefully. Discuss this explicitly with others in your organization or escalate the problem together in order to promote solidarity.