When people talk about abuse in Work Place Communication circles many people assume right away they are talking about sexual abuse; either a woman boss against a man, a Gay man taunting a straight man or a Man making sexual remarks to a woman.

All of this is so commonplace and very upsetting for those on the receiving end. But abuse in the work place does not have to be sexual in nature to cause serious conflict, destroy work productivity or diminish years of organizational capital in the office.

Indeed, verbal abuse comes in all forms and it can ruin the best of companies. It is best to immediately confront abuse at the office, because verbal abuse can cause animosity, vindictiveness and even sabotage.

Of course any of these results are unacceptable in the modern-day office and they do nothing but help the competition and hurt your company. Not to mention hurt feelings.

Is verbal abuse in the workplace out of control or are too many people making something out of nothing? Is it just another excuse for a lawsuit? Yes, sometimes it is and other times it is a very serious issue and needs to be addressed.

The top human resource consultants agree that workplace communication is the key to a company's success, without it little gets done and there are always repercussions. Have you taken a look at your workplace communication skills lately? Experts say you should. So, perhaps you will consider this in 2006.

Lance Winslow
www.Franchising.org