Managing a Team with Conflicting Political Views

The U.S. is experiencing one of the most divisive elections in history and it’s impossible for the topic not to enter into our everyday conversations—including those that happen at work. When people on your team have opposing views, those exchanges can get tense. As a manager, how should you handle it? It may be tempting to make your workplace a politics-free zone in the interest of team cohesion, but banning political talk is impractical, counterproductive, and hurts team culture more than it builds it. Instead, you need to set a good example for how colleagues relate to one another. Model inclusivity; demonstrate respect for others; and show a willingness to challenge your assumptions. Remind people of the team’s resilience, compassion, and its embrace of diverse opinions. Even in a poisonous political atmosphere, it’s possible for people from opposite sides of the spectrum to have positive, productive, and relationship-enhancing conversations.