Health takes a closer look at respectful communication at work
What do you do when the tone in the workplace becomes too harsh? A new initiative at the faculty will provide practical tools for dealing with the dilemmas employees encounter in their everyday working lives.
A healthy tone at Health
Health’s 2025 workplace assessment shows that 12% of employees have experienced rude, offensive or condescending language within the past year.
That is why we are focusing on a good and healthy tone at the faculty.
During 2026, Health will hold workshops in a number of research groups, departments and units across the faculty.
At the workshop, employees will work with concrete everyday situations, discuss shared expectations for tone and communication, and gain new tools for speaking up and setting boundaries.
Through a series of articles in Inside Health, we will put the spotlight on a respectful tone and address concrete examples from everyday working life as well as tools for resolving them, so that we all become more aware of what we can do if we ourselves experience a harsh tone.
A passive-aggressive comment in a meeting. An email that is read more harshly than it was intended. A colleague who refrains from speaking up because it is probably easier not to.
These are small situations that many may recognise, but they can have a significant impact and may even shape the culture and tone of communication in an entire department or research group.
According to Health’s workplace assessment (APV) from 2025, 12% of employees have experienced rude, offensive or condescending language within the past year. According to the faculty’s occupational health and safety committee and liaison committee, this calls for action. Health is therefore now launching an initiative to promote a respectful tone.
“No one should experience being talked down to or verbally attacked, and no one should go home from work feeling that there is no point in talking about it,” says Dean Anne-Mette Hvas.
Workshops will provide practical tools
The increased focus on a respectful tone will leave its mark on Health in 2026 and beyond. As part of the initiative, Health will hold a series of workshops in various research groups, departments and units across the faculty.
The workshop lasts two to four hours and is based on the participants’ own everyday working lives. Among other things, participants will work with:
- specific situations in which the tone can deteriorate
- what happens when intention and reception do not align
- how to speak up and set boundaries – including in pressured situations
- what to do as a colleague or manager if you witness an inappropriate tone
“The crucial thing is that participants leave the workshop with practical tools they can use afterwards,” says Head of Department Christian Lindholst, who chairs the working group responsible for the initiative. He continues:
“The workshop is based on the employees’ own experiences, so it does not become abstract, but remains closely linked to the reality they face.”
The workshop is facilitated by an occupational psychologist from Human House and has been designed to be flexible and easy to implement – also in busy environments.
In May, the department management teams and HR will help identify research groups, departments and units that can test the format and contribute experiences to the further development of the initiative.
Small lapses leave a big mark
An unhealthy tone rarely arises as one major conflict. More often, it appears in repeated patterns: in the way we speak to one another, in interruptions during meetings, in brief emails without explanation, or in situations where professional disagreement becomes personal.
These are the types of situations employees have pointed to in the workplace assessment.
“In a workplace like ours, where we have both formal and informal hierarchies, it is crucial that we can disagree without losing respect for one another,” says Agnete Larsen, deputy chair of the faculty liaison committee (FSU).
She emphasises that it is important that the workplace assessment is now being followed up:
“We are very pleased that concrete initiatives are being launched. This makes it easier to work with the tone of communication in practice – and not just talk about it.”
The faculty liaison committee (FSU) and the faculty occupational health and safety committee (FAMU) have played an important role in raising the issue and bringing it to the faculty management team, which approved the launch of the initiative in April.
It is also about the quality of our work
A respectful tone is not only about wellbeing, but also about the quality of the work we do. When the tone becomes harsh or makes people feel unsafe, it can affect collaboration, the willingness to contribute and the ability to handle professional disagreement constructively.
“We must have high ambitions and be able to disagree professionally. That is part of our work. But it must take place in a way that allows everyone to have their say and be met with respect,” says Dean Anne-Mette Hvas.
Although an initiative has now been launched, a respectful tone must still be created in everyday life. In meetings, in emails, in collaboration between colleagues – and in the small situations where you either say something, speak up or choose not to.
“We all help shape the culture. That is why it is also a shared responsibility to react when something is not working – and to contribute to a healthy tone where people can thrive and work well together,” says Christian Lindholst.
Contact
Head of Department and responsible for the initiative Christian Lindholst
Aarhus University, Department of Forensic Medicine
Telephone: 20 93 92 23
Email: cl@forens.au.dk