Swedish work culture is known for its consensus-based decision-making and diplomatic management style. This work culture certainly has many advantages, preventing useless conflicts. But taken too far, when diplomacy becomes conflict avoidance at any cost, it can stall the kind of friction that actually drives new ideas and solves problems.

Swedish ethnologist Åke Daun (1936–2017) included “conflict avoidance” among the core traits of Swedishness. In his famous book “Swedish Mentality,” he wrote that, when faced with a conversation topic that sparks strong opinions, “Swedes will typically try to change the subject of conversation, come up with an evasive answer or even relinquish their own view on the matter, in order to avoid a deeper controversy.” 

Picture a manager who often uses “maybe” just to avoid the discomfort of saying “no,” leaving the team with false expectations, or who concludes a meeting with what seems like agreement, but without making a clear decision. Can diplomacy go too far to the point where employees are irritated by managers being vague and overly afraid of conflict? 

The answer is yes, according to a recent Novus survey, commissioned by Thunved & Wranding, that shows that fear of conflict (17%) tops the list of things that annoy employees about their managers in Sweden. Lack of communication comes second (12%).

In fact, the combination of poor communication (e.g., vague instructions, information gaps, and one-way dialogue) and fear of conflict can create unnecessary ambiguity: employees are left unclear about what is expected of them, what their responsibilities are, and how their performance is actually being evaluated. 

When broken down by gender, the data reveals that women are more annoyed than men by their managers’ fear of conflict: 20% vs. 13%. Among young women (aged 18–34), the rate rises to 30%.  

On a positive note for Swedish managers, 37% of respondents say there’s nothing about their manager that annoys them. 

What makes Swedes speak poorly about their employers 

The survey also points out the main reasons why employees in Sweden speak poorly about their organizations: slowness and inefficiency (33%), followed by a lack of leadership and trust (29%). 

Men are more annoyed than women by slowness and inefficiency: 37% vs. 29%. 

For 22% of respondents, there’s nothing that makes them speak negatively about their employers. 

What is most annoying about colleagues 

It’s not just managers who cause friction at work, colleagues do too. For Swedes, the most irritating things about colleagues are a lack of responsibility (17%), bad attitude/arrogance (11%), and low competence (9%). 

Colleagues with low competence are especially annoying to men aged 18–34 (17%), while women of the same age highlight bad attitude and arrogance (27%). Women aged 35–49 highlight a lack of responsibility (28%). 

Still, 31% of respondents say there’s nothing annoying about their coworkers. 

Older employees (50–64) tend to be less irritated by colleagues, with 52% of women and 42% of men in this age group stating that nothing annoys them about their coworkers. 

The survey also found that nearly two out of three respondents (65%) believe that responsibility for the work environment is shared, not solely the manager’s. Additionally, women are more likely than men to believe a good work environment is everyone’s shared responsibility. 

Nearly six out of ten respondents (57%) feel safe or very safe expressing their opinions to their manager, but those with higher incomes feel somewhat safer doing so. In this case, income serves as a safety net, providing greater security in the workplace. 

The survey was conducted in two parts. In the first one, between February and March this year, 1,021 people were interviewed, of whom 561 were gainfully employed. The second part, between April and May, included 2,000 interviews among the general public aged 18–84. 

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