As we all know diversity plays a big part in United States today, so the focus of this essay will be on effective communication skills in a diverse workplace, we’re going to find out the barriers of communication between different cultures, how important is diversity to all corporation/organization and how to improve our communication style/skills and how to become better listeners in order to avoid any lack of communication in the near future interactions.
Anybody in a work environment having a good understanding of effective communication skills in a diverse workplace entails will enhance every person’s ability to experience a successful and professional work experience. Misinterpretations in the workplace can be rooted from a variety of cultural differences among distinctive ethnic backgrounds.
Lack of proper communication skills in diverse workplace can cause many discrepancies among co-workers. People live in an increasingly complex world. Effective communication between fellow co-workers from different cultural backgrounds ensures a very successful organization. As we already know in today’s workplace it is very important to be able to communicate with our fellow’s co-workers.
If you ever been around and listened to a monotone person communicate, it’s hard to understand their feelings on a subject. Unless they incorporate their gestures and tone, we are not going to be able to see their point of view and understand their meanings. We live and work around different cultures which it make us more aware of the different people around us, by dealing with diversity on the daily basic this will help us communicate better in the Workplace as well as personal interactions.
“We live in a diverse society and career success de...
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... and communication.
Great communication always starts at the top. For us to become great communicators we first need to be great listeners.
Works Cited
Ronald B. Adler, Jeanne Marquardt Elmhorst, Communicating at Work
Columbus, OH McGraw-Hill Companies, 2004.
Judy C. Pearson, Paul E Nelson, Scott Titsworth, Lynn Harter. Human Communication. Columbus, OH McGraw-Hill Companies, 2003.
Certo, Samuel C. (2008). Supervision concepts &ump; skill-building.
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Maxwell, John C. (1999). The 21 indispensable qualities of a leader.
Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
Conrad, C. & Poole, M. Strategic Organizational Communication in a Global Economy. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2002.
McNamara, C. Field Guide to Leadership and Supervision for Nonprofit Staff. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Authenticity Consulting, LLC., 2003.
Poole, c. a. (2005). strategic organizational communications in a global economy. belmont ca: wadsworth cengage learning.
Bell, J., Schaffer, E. (2005). Financial Leadership for Nonprofit Executives. St. Paul, MN: CompassPoint-Fieldstone Alliance.
According to McCormick (2007), the first form of workplace diversity happened in 1948, when President Truman approved Executive Order 9981 whose main purpose was to advance equal treatment and opportuities in the armed forces. Therefore, scholars cite it as the origin of workplace diversity because President Truman the committee tasked to implement the executive order, used it to pursue desegregation in the armed forces. In the business world, many companies long held the belief that the assimiltion of new recruits in an organization required their socialization to adapt to the organization’s existent culture. However, over the last few decades, business organizations have realized that because of various reasons, the orgnizational culture must conform if it must attract and maintain a competitive workforce. This change has been steered by variety of workplace diversity initiatives. Despite the proliferation of such initiatives, the term “workplace diversity” is virtually never defined. Many attempts at defining the term are often in a circular or conclusory manner that does little to strengthen a collective understanding of this term.
I think it is important to experience both ends of the communication spectrum in order to really appreciate the benefits of having good communication skills. After observing and writing this paper, it really pushes me to better my own skills, and appreciate those of others.
Being successful at managing workforce diversity involves attracting and retaining the highest quality individuals in the talent pool. For managers it means learning how to manage human potential sensitively. It requires an ever-increasing awareness of how people from different backgrounds deal with authority, communication, overall business etiquette, and relate to their communities of affiliation. Successful management of workforce diversity is a process that takes place in many stages and on many levels. It requires managers to first recruit a competent and qualified staff, then to accommodate individual needs within the context of the work team and the organization.
The workforce of America is more diverse than it has ever been. White male upper class men no longer solely dominate companies. Women, people of color, and other minority groups are now rising in the ranks and demanding change. How can one know all the ways to manage such a diverse group of employees? Through a variety of ideas, experiments, and attempts, leaders across the nation are looking for solutions to this answer. Not only are people coming from different ethnicities, we are also experiencing a great influx of workers from nations all across the globe. To keep the level of job satisfaction high, workers must be able to feel comfortable in their workplace environment. It is almost impossible for a person to know everything about all cultures and be aware of what may or may not offend a person from a different ethnic group. What must be done is to teach cultural awareness and diversity training. Basically what I have discovered in reading the journal articles is that there is no one right way to run a company but there are definitely ‘better’ ways when it comes to cultural sensitivity in the workplace. As I continue my research, I am looking to find what some of the most effective ways to manage a culturally diverse workplace. Some of the issues that I am coming across are related to gender, race/ethnicity, communication patterns, and power struggles. I feel this subject is very relevant to our course because as we focus on management and human relations, we must take into account the humans that we are managing. Even if we just look at the diversity of our class we see how different our perspectives can be. To be an effective manager in this day and age, cultural diversity issues must be given serious consider...
This essay will explain issues that occur in culturally diverse workplaces and describe how personal conceptions may contribute to misunderstandings when working with others in culturally diverse workplaces. This essay will also discuss the impact of cultural differences when conflict occurs and it will give suggestions on how to resolve and manage this conflict. An explanation of who to discuss the conflict with in a work environment will also be discussed in this essay. The issues that arise in a culturally diverse workplace need to be known and identified by counsellors to ensure they are aware of any obstacle forming.
...tes is known as the melting pot of the world. This country is the home of many different cultures from many different areas. Cultural competency in the workplace is an issue that everyone needs to understand. By understanding the characteristics of a diversity mature individual, employees can focus on developing themselves to hold a management position in the future, and be able to relate to other cultures in the organization. Companies continue educate their staff on affirmative action, and what it takes to manage a diverse group. These companies want to supportive workplace behaviors in the organization to help achieve the bottom line, increase stockholder value.
Diversity in the workplace is important for employees because it manifests itself in building a great reputation for the company, leading to increased profitability and opportunities for workers. Making sure all members, students, parents and guarding’s are welcomed at all times in a well-mannered environment Workplace diversity is important within the organization as well as outside ensuring all different are put aside and everyone can come together and work well as a great team.
...cation. It is important to be aware of all of these different factors. Most importantly, it is vital to know that not all communication will end with a positive result and to know when a specific communication needs to be stopped so there are not long term effects of one bad communication. Being a well-rounded communicator is not only vital for a successful career but can also be the difference in promotions and raises.
Listening and understanding what others communicate to us is the communication process needed for interpersonal effectiveness. If you listen well, you will understand the meaning of the message. If you are unfocused, you will not know most of what the other person is saying. However, there is a range of listening skills that can be learned to develop the communication effectiveness. Firstly, encouraging listening points to the listener that is willing to do more than listen. Usually it provides feedback that supports speakers to say more. Fur...
To address diversity issues, consider these questions: what policies, practices, and ways of thinking and within our organizational culture have differential impact on different groups? What organizational changes should be made to meet the needs of a diverse work...
In our growing, diverse society it’s very important to have diverse communication skills. The reason for this is because it brings richness in our society. Effective communication helps us better understand a person or situation and enables us to resolve differences, build trust and respect, and create environments where creative ideas, problem solving, affection, and caring can flourish (Robinson, Lawrence, and Jeanne Segal). It helps our society flourish. Communication is the process of understanding information through the transmittal of words, actions, hidden messages, signals or thoughts. Communicating in a world of diversity may require more than just a transmittal of words. Communication sometimes require more than one process depending on who you are communicating to. Communicating in a world of diversity has many benefits. Communication is split into two parts which is listening and speaking. Speaking as well as listening goes hand in hand with each other. Speaking and listening is verbal and nonverbal. Listening is one of the most important aspects of effective communication (Robinson, Lawrence, and Jeanne Segal). It’s not always what is being said but rather what is being done. Non-verbal communication is a big part in communication also. Both the talker and listener are participating in non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication is depicting the body language, body movement, gestures, postures, eye contact, or either one of the five senses. Developing the ability to understand and use nonverbal communication can help you connect with others, express what you really mean, navigate challenging situations, and build better relationships at home and work (Robinson, Lawrence, an...
To be effective listeners, the listening process should be incorporated into our lives. We should be attentive to what people say, clarify what the speaker is trying to come across, and respond in a way the speaker can understand what we are saying. I think I was aware that I needed some improvement in certain areas of this process but I feel as everything is slowly changing. In the future, I’m going try not to interrupt people, get distracted, tune out, and try to get a bigger picture of what the person is telling me. If good listening habits are applied in our day-to-day life, we can easily communicate with anyone and everyone.
With the rapid growth in globalization there are a number of firms who have taken their businesses abroad. Their challenge, cross cultural management and communication. An effective communication strategy begins first with understanding who the sender of the message is and who the receiver of the message is. Many companies have realized this and offer training in the different cultures to help better facilitate communication between leaders (Cross-Cultural Communication, mindtools.com). Without this basic understand between sender and receiver it can be very difficult for companies of multicultural to even begin to communicate. The second important understanding is that leaders must demand a cultural tolerance of acceptable behavior between cultures to facilitate effective communication (Cross-Cultural Communication, mindtools.com).