The Conflict Expert

In the corporate world, many performance concerns begin not with capability but with misunderstanding. Ramadan in the workplace can be challenging, not just for those observing it but also for managers who have no experience of it. Without the proper understanding and leadership skills, it can lead to conflict and unnecessary suffering which can have a huge impact on team dynamics and psychological safety.

Several years ago, during Ramadan, I witnessed how easily this can happen. A junior colleague I was mentoring, a highly capable young woman still on probation, began receiving negative feedback from her managers. She was described as withdrawn, disengaged, and unwilling to attend lunchtime learning and networking events. The concerns were framed as performance issues.

When I reviewed her work, it was excellent. Most of her colleagues agreed. The difficulty was not the quality of her work but the way her behaviour was being interpreted.

This experience shaped my understanding of how leadership, diversity, equity and inclusion, and conflict resolution intersect, particularly when employees are observing spiritual or cultural practices that others in the organisation may not fully understand.

This article is written for managers, HR professionals, and leaders who want to better understand how to support colleagues observing Ramadan while applying core conflict and mediation skills to prevent unnecessary workplace disputes.

Understanding Ramadan in the Workplace

Ramadan is a month of fasting, reflection, and spiritual practice observed by Muslims worldwide. From dawn until sunset, those observing Ramadan do not eat or drink. Depending on the time of year, this can involve long fasting hours, disrupted sleep, and significant physical adjustment.

In the workplace this may affect energy levels later in the day, so participation in food-based events or lunchtime sessions, concentration during long afternoon meetings, and social interaction centred around eating or drinking may not be top of mind for those practicing Ramadan.

These changes do not indicate reduced commitment or capability. They reflect temporary physical and spiritual demands. Difficulties arise when difference is interpreted as disengagement.

The Female Work Experience and Minority Pressure

In this situation there were very few Muslims within the company. My colleague was managing the demands of Ramadan largely alone. She had an hour’s commute and was waking at approximately four o’clock each morning to eat before sunrise, then travelling to work without food or water for the rest of the day during summer heat.

Lunchtime meetings were particularly difficult. Afternoon meetings, when energy naturally drops, became exhausting.

The female work experience adds another dimension. Women early in their careers often feel pressure to demonstrate commitment through visibility and participation. When cultural or religious practices limit that visibility, they can be judged more harshly, particularly during probation periods where the imbalance of power is already significant.

Until then, I had heard about Ramadan but I didn’t know what it meant to observe it surrounded by people who aren’t. My only experience of this was when I returned to work after my father had died from a prolonged illness. Although I knew that grief is a normal, universal experience, I felt like the only person that had ever been through the pain of losing a loved one. It’s isolating and difficult to put into words the need for kindness, compassion and human connection to overcome that feeling of isolation.

What my colleague required was understanding of what she experienced instead was assumption. This is where conflict begins if mishandled.

Where Leadership Failed and Whhat Managers Can Learn

A highly influential colleague began describing her as lazy and unwilling to contribute. The manager accepted this view without curiosity. No meaningful conversation took place about her experience or needs.

This is not unusual. Many workplace conflicts escalate because managers move quickly into judgement and slowly into understanding. Conflict resolution skills, the same skills used in mediation, would have changed the outcome entirely.

Replace assumption with curiosity

One of the most effective leadership skills is the ability to ask simple and respectful questions. Managers might ask how Ramadan affects the working day or whether temporary adjustments would be helpful. Curiosity reduces defensiveness and prevents conflict from forming around misunderstanding.

Ramadan lasts for one month but the trust created by being asked lasts much longer.

Rethink lunchtime expectations

Lunchtime learning events, networking sessions, or meetings centred around food can unintentionally exclude employees who are fasting. Attendance at such events should not be used as a measure of engagement during Ramadan.

For someone fasting, sitting through food-focused events can be physically and psychologically uncomfortable. Adjusting expectations is not special treatment. It is inclusive leadership.

Schedule for performance rather than habit

Afternoon meetings are often less productive for many people. During Ramadan this effect is more pronounced. If managers want the best engagement and thinking from staff, scheduling important discussions in the morning is a practical adjustment.

Effective leadership enables performance rather than testing endurance.

Empathy is a management competency

Empathy is often misunderstood as softness. In reality it is a performance skill. Employees who feel understood are more engaged and more likely to contribute fully.

Research from organisations such as the Harvard Business Review has demonstrated that inclusive teams make better decisions and perform more effectively because individuals feel psychologically safe to contribute. Prejudice, whether conscious or unconscious, undermines this safety and weakens team performance.

Diversity, equity and inclusion supports performance

Diversity, equity and inclusion in the corporate world is sometimes misunderstood as preferential treatment. In practice it is about creating equitable conditions so that individuals can perform at their best.

If a manager ignores cultural, spiritual, or personal context, fairness is not achieved. Uniformity replaces equity, and performance suffers as a result.

Use conflict skills before HR escalation

In this case the matter eventually went to HR. By that stage positions had hardened and trust had already been lost. Formal processes rarely resolve misunderstandings that could have been addressed through early conversation.

Mediation principles apply here. Managers should listen before evaluating, seek context before judgement, separate behaviour from assumption, and focus on outcomes rather than perceptions.

Reflect on personal reactions

Some managers feel uncomfortable making adjustments during Ramadan because they are concerned about consistency or fairness. This discomfort is worth examining.

The question is whether the concern relates to performance or to treating everyone identically despite differing circumstances. Fairness does not mean sameness. It means responding appropriately to individual needs.

What International Experience Teaches About Communication and Conflict

My own professional experience working within United Nations environments reinforced these lessons long after this situation arose. Working alongside colleagues from different cultures, religions, and linguistic backgrounds makes one reality very clear. Harmony does not come from similarity. It comes from communication.

In international teams, open and honest conversation is essential. The aim of this is to get people sit down together, listen carefully, and give one another the opportunity to be heard and understood. Only once that has happened can teams properly coordinate their work and understand how to support one another’s strengths and constraints.

In this setting, communication itself is nuanced. Even language that appears straightforward can be interpreted differently across cultures. For example, a British manager might say, “Would you mind doing this for me?” as a polite instruction. An Italian speaker, accustomed to more direct communication, may interpret this as a genuine question rather than a request requiring action.The task may not be completed, not because of resistance, but because the meaning was understood differently. A Thai colleague of mine found it hard to speak up in meetings or express any direct form of opposition. That, I came to understand, was both culturally and gender influenced.

These small differences have significant consequences. They demonstrate that effective leadership requires curiosity about how others interpret communication, expectations, and behaviour. It also underlines the fact that having good relationships with any member of an organisation is crucial to getting things done and you can’t do that without effective communication that goes further than work related matters. It takes into account the personal and emotional aspects of any professional relationship.

The same principle applies during Ramadan. Without listening first, managers risk misinterpreting behaviour and creating conflict where none need exist.

Why This Matters for Leadership in the Corporate World

The colleague I supported was ultimately not retained after her probation period. It remains one of the clearest examples I have seen of how prejudice and lack of curiosity can cost organisations talented people.

Shortly afterwards I left the organisation myself. What remained with me was a strengthened conviction about the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion in leadership.

Inclusive leadership is not demonstrated through policy statements. It is demonstrated through everyday decisions and through a willingness to understand experiences different from our own.

Ramadan is not a disruption to organisational performance. It is an opportunity for managers to practise empathy, apply conflict resolution skills, and build trust within diverse teams.

When leaders choose curiosity over assumption, conflict reduces, performance improves, and employees feel recognised as human beings rather than problems to be managed. That is not only ethical leadership. It is effective leadership