Diversity in the workplace - Legacy Bowes Group Articles
Diversity in the workplace
Posted On Dec 31, Posted by Barbara Bowes Category Uncategorized
Strength in muliticuluralism and diversity.Isn’t it exciting? Isn’t your head just spinning from all
the celebrations of multiculturalism? One week of aboriginal pride, sports heroism and
community volunteerism at the Indigenous games and now the star studded cultural
celebrations found at the internationally recognized Folklorama festivities. Wow, we have so
much to be proud of.
But in the workplace, things are more complicated. Our employee population goes beyond
being a rainbow of nationalities; it’s also a dynamic collage of general diversity. If you look
around at your colleagues, you’ll see a variety of people with different physical features,
different communication, leadership and work styles, experience and training, sexual
orientation, lifestyle and gender.
Each and every one of these cultural and diversity factors makes effective communication in the
workplace ever so much more important. So, how do we capitalize on the strengths of
multiculturalism and diversity when it’s well known that two people rarely ever have the identical
interpretations of the same message?
While the key is communication that minimizes misunderstanding, this is easier said than done.
First, we must really make an effort to understand how our own culture and experience shapes
our views. Second, we must pay close attention to the process of communication rather than
just being on autopilot. Finally, we need to stop evaluating other people instead of trying to
understand them.
Concentrating on how you communicate is a lot of work and you can’t expect to be a
communication expert overnight. But the following helpful tips will assist in developing a set of
good basic skills.
* Understand your own cultural framework –no matter what language you speak, take time to
understand your own cultural assumptions and how this might differ from others; in many cases,
your listeners may not want to be treated as you would want to be treated – they have different
values!
* Manage your anxiety – don’t become anxious if you can’t quickly explain a concept or you
don’t understand a message; escalating your anxiety only creates more anxiety amongst all the
communicators. Cool down - take it easy, try again.
* Empathize – learn to “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes”; in other words, try to see the
perspective of the other person and imagine how you would feel in their circumstances before
you respond to their comments.
* Don’t assume – while it may be interesting to learn about the many cultural attributions that
apply to specific groups, don’t assume it always applies to everyone. Just because a person
has some similarities to an ethnic or religious group or an ethnic sounding name, doesn’t mean
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Diversity in the workplace - Legacy Bowes Group Articles
they have these cultural attributes.
* Listen to how people label themselves– we have a bad habit of categorizing and labeling
people as an aid to understanding them; don’t be hasty, take time to listen and notice what
people call themselves and then use their terminology in your conversation.
* Avoid judgemental words – descriptors such as “openly gay”, “you people” or even the word
“old” are judgemental and create an unfavourable connotation that can quickly taint
conversation.
* Speak slower not louder – humourous as it sounds, when we encounter someone with a
strong accent, we somehow believe that we have to speak more loudly. No, no, speak slower!
* Perception Checking – describe the behaviours that you observe and relay back your
understanding to the messenger to check for accuracy. Ask the listener to provide feedback to
regarding what they believe you’ve said. This is important because some people won’t
acknowledge their misunderstanding because they don’t want to embarrass you!
* Be more formal –different people have different views of formality and informality as it relates
to authority, closeness and intimacy so unless you are told otherwise, begin your conversations
by being more formal;
* Eye contact – the act of looking people in the eye is different in most cultures. In some
cultures it is seen as being disrespectful to an authority figure. So, don’t be insulted if your
listener doesn’t look you in the eye.
* Personal inquiries – in attempting to gain trust, many people begin by asking personal
questions or family inquiries too quickly. You need to recognize that some people may not want
to talk about personal issues as freely as you do.
* Negotiation – some people are raised to challenge or negotiate everything, so don’t
misinterpret this behaviour as argumentative or label them obstinate.
* Use of humour – telling humourous stories or jokes in the workplace is often touted as a good
way to develop relationships. However, don’t be surprised if you don’t get a laugh. Many jokes
need a strong contextual language understanding and without it, some people just won’t “get it”.
Also, be careful, because these listeners will then feel left out.
* Face-to-face or written? – try to determine how best to get your message across. Some
people prefer oral communication rather than written, then again, some people communicate
more directly than indirect. One motto is to fax when you phone and phone when you fax.
* Initiative – don’t misinterpret people’s initiative, instead inquire about their experience with
authority figures. In some cultures, respect for authority may seem to inhibit independence.
Diversity and multiculturalism is a social and moral responsibility for all Canadian businesses
and employees alike. But if you don’t develop the skills to take advantage of this gift, it can also
impede your success. So take that community pride and personal wonder and translate it into
powerful and mindful communication….it’s worth it.
Source: 14 Tips on Communicating with Diversity, Workforce online.
Tags: culture , multicultural , diversity in the workplace
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