Business communication building critical skill 3rd by locker module 3

Diversity in the WorkplaceDiversity in the Workplace ♦ High-Context Cultures  Most information is inferred from the context of a message.. Diversity in the Workplace continued continue

Module 3

Communicating Across Cultures

Communicating Across Cultures

©2007, The McGraw-Hill Companies, All Rights Reserved.

Cultures

Cultures

♦ To learn how to

 Continue to analyze your audiences

 Begin to adapt your message to

your audiences

 Begin to understand what your

organization wants

 Why is audience so important?

 What do I need to know about my

audience(s)?

Cultures

Cultures

Start by answering these questions:

 Now that I have my analysis, what

Diversity and Culture Basics

Diversity and Culture Basics

♦ Diversity has always been with us—

even if people didn’t recognize it or its

value

♦ There is no “one-size-fits-all”

approach to working with cultural

differences

 Use the information in this module as

guidelines, not rules set in stone.

 Remember that people are individuals as well

as members of groups.

♦ Be open to change and difference.

Diversity in the Workplace

Diversity in the Workplace

♦ Gender

♦ Race and ethnicity

♦ Regional and national origin

Diversity in the Workplace

Diversity in the Workplace

♦ High-Context Cultures

 Most information is inferred from the context

of a message

 Little is “spelled out.”

 Examples: Japanese, Arabic, and Latin

American cultures

Diversity in the Workplace continued continued

Diversity in the Workplace continued

Diversity in the Workplace continued continued

Diversity in the Workplace continued

 In nations like the U.S., Canada,

and Brazil, multiple cultures exist

While the dominant culture may be

privileged, recognize that minority

cultures may have different norms

with regard to behavior

Dimensions of Culture Dimensions of Culture

♦ Values, Beliefs, and

Conversational Style

Conversational Style

♦ How long a pause tells

you that it’s your turn to speak?

♦ Do you see interruption

as rude?

♦ Do you show interest by

asking lots of questions?

Cultures

♦ Brenda Arbaleez suggests being

 Aware that values and behaviors

are influenced by culture

 Titles that do not imply

one sex “ought” to do a

certain job

 The appropriate gender

pronoun when referring

to a specific person

Nonsexist continued continued

Nonsexist continued continued

Nonsexist continued

may be in a job or position, make

Nonracist

♦ Eliminate adjectives that reinforce

negative stereotypes.

 Biased: The motivated black

students were assigned to internship

positions throughout the company

 Bias-free: The students were

assigned to internship positions

throughout the company

Nonracist continued continued

Nonracist continued

♦ Identify race or ethnic origin only if

it’s relevant.

 Biased: Paloma Esteban, a Latino,

has been appointed Vice-President

of Finance

 Bias-free: Mike Waters, a Sioux,

translated the governor’s speech into

the Lakota language

Nonracist continued continued

Nonracist continued

♦ Eliminate words and phrases with

negative connotations.

 Biased: Many of our managers who

come from culturally deprived

backgrounds now function as role

models for young people through our

mentoring program

Nonracist continued continued

Nonracist continued

 Bias-free: Many of our managers

whose family heritage is African,

Asian, or Spanish now function as

role models for young people

through our mentoring program

Diseases or Disabilities

Diseases or Disabilities

♦ Use “people first” language and

avoid using adjectives as nouns.

Diseases or Disabilities continued

Diseases or Disabilities continued

their limits or disabilities

outstanding job as our

spokesperson, even though she has

diabetes

outstanding job as our spokesperson for the past seven years

Nonagist

♦ Refer to age only if it’s truly

relevant.

 Biased: Tomoko Watanabe, 67, is

president of Competitive Data

Management

 Bias-free: Tomoko Watanabe is

president of Competitive Data

Management

Nonagist continued

Nonagist continued

♦ Avoid stereotypes.

 Biased: With her grandmotherly

ways, good old Mary Grace makes

everyone in Unit 2 feel special

 Bias-free: For the past 35 years,

Mary Grace has been helping to

create team spirit in Unit 2

Nonagist continued

Nonagist continued

♦ Avoid negative labels for children,

such as “children from broken

homes.”

♦ Remember families can be

single-parent and diverse.

♦ Use nonsexist descriptions and

images of children.

Illustrations

♦ Check visuals for

bias.

balanced?

own visuals rather than

rely on biased clip art?