{
  "title": "Conflict management: when should you leave the message thread?",
  "url": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-du-conflit-quand-quitter-la-messagerie-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2025-11-25",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://www.shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "Switching from written messages to a conversation seems an obvious response when tensions rise. Research suggests distinguishing substantive disagreement from ambiguity about intentions.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Conflict Management",
  "place": {
    "name": "Zurich",
    "region": "Zurich",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "What the literature establishes",
      "point": "Justin Kruger, Nicholas Epley, Jason Parker and Zhi-Wen Ng (2005, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology) show, in experiments involving email, that people overestimate their ability to convey tone, particularly sarcasm or seriousness."
    },
    {
      "heading": "Ambiguity is not a shortage of information",
      "point": "Richard Daft and Robert Lengel (1986, Management Science) distinguish uncertainty, associated with insufficient information, from equivocality, associated with the coexistence of different interpretations."
    },
    {
      "heading": "The premature conclusion",
      "point": "One might conclude that a telephone call is always required as soon as disagreement emerges."
    },
    {
      "heading": "What the evidence does not allow us to promise",
      "point": "The experiments on email tone are not an intervention trial involving Zurich teams in conflict, and the media richness framework provides no universal threshold for switching to a conversation."
    },
    {
      "heading": "A practical check in Zurich",
      "point": "As part of SHR's [conflict management](/formation/gestion-du-conflit/zurich) programme, a Zurich team in financial services, insurance, tech or the European headquarters of an international group could test a rule for four weeks: when a message triggers disagreement about intent, propose a brief spoken clarification, then record the decision in accordance with internal rules."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Ng",
      "year": "2005",
      "source": "Journal of Personality and Social Psychology"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Lengel",
      "year": "1986",
      "source": "Management Science"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 444,
  "image": "https://www.shr.swiss/img/blog-editorial-2025-11-25-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-du-conflit-quand-quitter-la-messagerie",
    "en": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-du-conflit-quand-quitter-la-messagerie-en",
    "de": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-du-conflit-quand-quitter-la-messagerie-de",
    "it": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog/gestion-du-conflit-quand-quitter-la-messagerie-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://www.shr.swiss/formation/gestion-du-conflit/zurich",
    "city": "https://www.shr.swiss/formations-ville/zurich",
    "blog": "https://www.shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}