Sarcasm in the Workplace
Sarcasm in the workplace exists at every level of management. Americans sometimes make comments that aren’t sincere or are meant to be a little degrading. In order to be sarcastic, we adjust our vocal tone and often times, our facial expression.Try saying, “great” sarcastically. What do you do vocally to make it sound sarcastic?The first time I met Tim as a client in downtown Pittsburgh, I entered his office a little flustered because I was late due to a parking issue. I ended up finding a space blocks from his highrise building and had to walk quite a distance to get there. When I entered, I apologized for being a few minutes late but the parking was really tough that day. He asked me where I ended up parking and I told him on the street close to the river. He immediately responded with a sarcastic comment about the high tickets for parking without paying at that particular spot. He then asked, “Did you feed the meter?” I immediately went into a mind flurry of thinking about that area, how I didn’t see any meter, how much might I get, etc. I was totally caught in that experience instead of concentrating on meeting my new client. After a few moments, he said, “Ah, just kidding. That area is a great free parking zone.” I was so confused and a bit taken a back.
After working with Tim for a while, I discovered that he frequently used sarcasm as his way of being funny. Too people who knew him, he was funny but to others who didn’t know him well, his sarcasm was quite confusing. Is he joking or is he serious? Do I laugh or not? Although this type of humor may seem harmless, it puts your audiences (especially the ones that don’t know you) in an uncomfortable place and frequently the feeling towards that person isn’t a very warm one.
Whether you are a native or non-native listeners, sarcasm may not be evident because the cues are too subtle. In other words, the sarcastic comment leaves the listener confused or wondering about intention. If you don’t know someone very well and they say to you sarcastically, “Joe never complains,” but you think otherwise (Joe always complains), it leaves doubt in your mind and you may feel confused by what the person said. Yes, of course, you could ask, “Are you serious?” but it is this type of communication that keeps people guessing and having to spend energy determining intent and questioning truth. For the listener, it’s frustrating. The speaker risks losing credibility (because he/she is not being completely honest).
Do you have difficulty recognizing sarcasm? If someone makes a comment that makes very little sense, you may need to consider that it might have been sarcasm. As a second language learner, knowing when something is said sarcastically is a high level skill. If you don’t struggle with this communication behavior, watch for sarcasm in your own speech to avoid misunderstanding and degrading remarks. Try saying the same word “great” in a motivating and inspiring way.
There are many characteristics of speech, language and voice that can be interpreted negatively by the listener in different ways. Too much or too little of any characteristic can be detrimental to the perceptions of the listener. If you would like to learn more about the way in which your voice affects your listener, here is a wonderful resource called Voice Branding For Executive Leaders: How to Align Speech, Language, and Voice Skills With Your Professional Goals. 
Tags: communicate with trust, credibility, facial expression, Sarcasm, tone, trustworthy, workplace