Another major barrier to effective multicultural interaction is the lack of understanding that is frequently present between people from different backgrounds. Because people may have differences in values, beliefs, methods of reasoning, communication styles, work styles, and personality types, communication difficulties will often occur. In order to communicate effectively, each party must have a clear and accurate understanding of the thoughts, feelings, ideas, values, styles, desires and goals of the other person. But because of the differences between communication partners, this understanding is not always gained. This is compounded by the fact that many of us are not very effective at getting to understand the ways in which others may differ. Empathy, which is the ability to understand the world from another person’s point of view, is an important multicultural communication skill. Unfortunately, in our fast-paced, technologically-focused world, we don’t often take the time needed to truly understand where our colleagues are coming from.
Next Post: March 17, 2014 – The Barriers to Effective Multicultural Communication #3
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The most significant barrier to effective cross-cultural communication is the tendency of human beings to stereotype, or more specifically, to categorize and make assumptions about others based on identified characteristics such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, religion, socioeconomic status or nationality. Whether we realize it or not (and we often do not), we all stereotype and make assumptions about others at one time or another. Most of us do this on a regular basis. Some of the more blatant and destructive examples of these assumptions include job interviewers who reject certain candidates based on racial or gender stereotypes, teachers who assume that certain students are less likely to succeed because of where they come from, or store owners who harass people from particular racial or ethnic groups. However, not all stereotyping is so blatant. More subtle examples include shying away from people who are culturally different (which is one of the reasons people from similar racial and cultural backgrounds tend to group together), or assuming people will behave a certain way based on their race, gender, place of origin or position within an organization. Bottom-line, whether it is blatant or subtle, stereotyping can have an extremely negative impact on communication and human interaction.
Next Post: March 10, 2014 – The Barriers to Effective Multicultural Communication #2 Communication problems can occur in any type of organizational setting. People misunderstand each other for a wide variety of reasons, and these misunderstandings can occur between people who are culturally similar as well as those who are different. However, there are some unique issues to consider when people from different cultural backgrounds come together. Specifically, there are three problems that commonly occur. I refer to these problems as the Barriers to Effective Multicultural Communication and they include stereotyping, a lack of understanding and judgmental attitudes. I will discuss these barriers in my next 3 posts and I will describe steps we can take to reduce each barrier and improve the communication process.
Next Post: March 2, 2014 – The Barriers to Effective Multicultural Communication #1: Stereotyping Over the past several months, I have proffered 15 tips you can use to create inclusive organizational environments. To summarize and for easy reference, I have listed these tips below with a hyperlink to each blog post:
Next Post: February 24, 2014 – The 3 Barriers to Effective Multicultural Communication Facilitate a cultural audit and make changes as needed. A cultural audit evaluates your organization’s strengths and weaknesses when it comes to diversity practices related to recruitment, selection, retention, training, performance management, customer service, compensation and the use of outside vendors. For example, an audit might pose questions such as:
Hold a series of town hall meetings. These meetings, which are open to all organizational members, provide a forum for discussing topics of common interest (e.g., diversity issues). The goal of these meetings is to build a stronger community through the open exchange of information and ideas. Town hall meetings offer several benefits including improved organizational communication, enhanced decision-making regarding diversity efforts, a greater sense of ownership and involvement on part of employees/community members, and reduced confusion and miscommunication regarding diversity goals and activities.
Next Post: February 10, 2014 – Creating a Climate for Diversity: Tip #15 If your organization holds off-site meetings, conferences and seminars, consider hosting some of these events at a local cultural institution such as a museum of Native American or African American History. These facilities generally offer meeting services and the participants will have an opportunity to interact in a culturally diverse setting. Keep in mind there are many centers to choose from. Some examples include the Latino Arts Center, Chinese Cultural Center, Irish Cultural Center, German Cultural Center, Jewish Historical Society, Japan Society, Korea Society, and Hispanic Society of America. Simply type "cultural center" in your favorite Internet search engine and you will find your local options.
Next Post: February 3, 2014 – Creating a Climate for Diversity: Tip #14 Start resource groups for underrepresented group members. A resource group is an internal association dedicated to the professional development of a specific cultural group (e.g., LGBT, Asian-Americans and women). These groups provide an excellent networking source for the members and can significantly improve retention within an organization. To make sure your resource groups are successful, keep the following points in mind:
Next Post: January 27, 2014 – Creating a Climate for Diversity: Tip #13 Provide performance coaching for every employee. Performance coaching consists of feedback provided by a leader to a staff member on an ongoing basis. Effective coaching improves work quality and productivity, develops skills, increases confidence and enhances an employees’ overall work experience. Successful performance coaching typically includes three steps:
Next Post: January 20, 2014 – Creating a Climate for Diversity: Tip #12 Over the past two months, I have described a variety of diversity measures and metrics that organizations can use to evaluate their performance in a variety of areas. To make it easier to access this information, I have listed each metric below, along with a link to the specific blog post:
Next Post: January 16, 2014 – Creating a Climate for Diversity: Tip #11 |
AuthorDr. Tyrone A. Holmes is an author, speaker, coach and consultant. He helps his clients develop the skills needed to communicate, resolve conflict, solve problems and improve performance in diverse organizational settings. Archives
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