Communication within a Group - Report Example

Running header: Experiential analysis Student’s name: Instructor’s name: Subject code: Date of submission: Introduction There are many factors that affect interpersonal communication among different individuals in a group. Some of these factors include perceived emotions, relationship and spirituality of group members, spiritual orientation, gender, age or generational profiles, culture as well as existence of members with disability within the group. All these factors affect interpersonal communication in the group in different ways. This paper seeks to analyze the effects of the various factors on intercultural communication in our workplace. I work in ultimate tours and travel’s accounting department. There are ten members in the group forming the accounting department all of who come from different backgrounds as follows. Of the ten members, two of them are of the aborigine origin, four of them are English speaking Australians, and two are Americans while two are of African origin. The finance manager who is Mr. Hanford is in his early sixties and is English speaking Australian. Mr. Harford is deputized by Miss Dubois who is an Aborigine and is in her late thirties. The rest of the team members are accountants whose ages range from the oldest Mrs Davis sixty two years to the youngest Mr. Ahmed Hakati who is twenty five years. Of the ten members of the work group, four are women while six are men. It is also worth noting that the finance manager is a pagan who claims he does not belief in the existence of God. The rest of the members are Christians with the exception of Ahmed and Miss Halima Seif who are of the Muslim faith. During my three years as an accountant in the company, I have come to appreciate that there are a lot of factors that affect interpersonal communication within a group especially if the group is composed of members with diverse backgrounds such as ultimate tours finance department. In this paper, I have analyzed some of the factors that affect interpersonal communication within groups with specific reference to Ultimate Tours and Travel finance department. Some of the factors analyzed include culture, and gender differences. I have also recommended how communication within ultimate Tours and Travel Finance department might be better managed to achieve greater efficiency. Analysis As stated above, there are many factors that affect communication within a group. These factors are explained below with special reference to Ultimate Tours and Travel finance department. Culture One of the most important things that I have learnt during my stay at Ultimate Tours and travel limited is that communication among group members is greatly determined by the culture in which we come from. There are many aspects of communication that differ from one culture to the other. For instance, I have seen colleagues annoyed with one another simply because one talked to the other in a loud voice which was considered to be rude by one culture. This implies that culture may determine how loud we talk to one another, the directness with which we speak, the amount of emotions we express in a given situation, the rules for turn talking, when to talk and when to remain silent as well as use of non verbal communication aspects such as posture, eye contact, touching, tone of voice as well as proximity (Jane, 2001). In a multicultural workplace such as Ultimate Tours and Travel, we face numerous challenges to interpersonal communication greater than the obvious barriers created by varying competence in our primary language of communication which is English. As such, our manager has always encouraged us to always be careful in ensuring that our intended messages are understood clearly as we communicate with culturally diversified coworkers (Feerst, 2009). I have observed that we have different taboo topics of conversation, spiritual biases and social issues as other nuances of life depending on one’s culture which makes it challenging for us to find a common ground when communicating. It is also worthwhile noting that conflict management styles vary greatly between the various cultures represented in the department which at times create tensions. You can imagine one of my core workers Mr. Philip who comes from Asia where they view public disagreements as being deeply offensive trying to solve a problem with my American colleague whose culture view arguments as being constructive as well as necessary part of communication (John, 2008). This clearly demonstrates the problems we at times have to go through owing to cultural differences. One may argue that it is possible for workers and managers to develop a local communication style for dealing with one another as well as customers and suppliers. However, we at Ultimate Travel and Tours have to take time in studying the cultural eccentricities of our coworkers in trying to effectively communicate. For instance, I recently learnt that grabbing my friend Philip’s hand as a form of greeting is not a very good idea while bowing slightly and smiling are taken to be an appropriate form of greeting according to their culture. In a multicultural setting such as ours, verbal communication as well as body language is very essential in effective interpersonal communication since innocent hand gestures, mannerism and even postures have at times caused a rift between coworkers with diverse cultural backgrounds (Davidson, 2009). It may also be worthwhile noting that the Australians and Americans who form the better part of the group use low context communication. We emphasize directness, verbal expressiveness as well as explicitness. However, for our Asian and African coworkers, they use high context communication which mostly involves indirectness and use of non verbal expressions. As such, we have often found great challenges in our team building efforts due to the inability to communicate effectively across diversified cultures. Apart from the obvious difficulty in attempts to understand people who speak different languages, I have come to appreciate the fact that there are other challenges to our group’s efforts to work together harmoniously. This is especially so considering the fact that our office also serves customers and suppliers who also come from different cultural backgrounds. Some of these challenges include; a) Language barriers Language being a complex thing makes communication between people with different language background difficult. Although English is the language we use in office, sometimes we find it hard to convey complex emotions and concepts which at times lead to misunderstandings. If at time we find it hard to understand people who speak our native languages, then it can be harder to get full meaning of what people with different cultural background tell us. b) Hostile stereotypes At times, hostile stereotypes about people from other cultures can prove a barrier to effective communication in a multicultural workplace such as the Ultimate tours and travel Finance department. These are assumptions which people make about others who are members of the group but from different cultures (Reynolds, 2002). For instance, the non Australians always think that we and the Americans are impatient and arrogant, friendly and tolerant. The aborigines on the other hand have been treated as being inferior to the English speaking Australians; something that at times has come to play in the office. The danger comes when some members in our office entertain the thought that an individual possess the characteristics associated with where he or she comes from. When there has been prejudgments based on the stereotypes, this has always led to misconceptions and always proved a barrier to effective communication. c) Behavioral differences At times, behavior differences between members of different cultures have caused misunderstandings. This is because every culture has the norms they consider as appropriate behaviors as well as taboos (Delvito, 2008). For instance, Ahmed always considers looking him in the eye when talking as being rude while I have no problem with that. Contrary, our manager considers it disrespectful talking to him while looking elsewhere. Being precise in a meeting has also been considered as impolite by some members who value small talks before meetings can actually start. In my culture, we stand close to each other when talking to each other while Seif prefers that we give each other space when we talk to one another according to their culture. As such, failing to recognize these behavior differences have at times become barriers to effective communication in our office. d) Emotional display What one culture considers as appropriate emotional display can be considered as inappropriate in another culture (Feerst, 2009). For instance, our manager considers displaying anger, frustration or fear in the work place as being inappropriate. As such, he keeps his emotions hidden and only discusses factual aspects of the situation. On the other hand, I have always considered this as appropriate behavior owing to my culture which expects participants in a discussion to display their emotions. As such, misunderstandings have at times arisen when one of us display strong emotions which our manager feels are out of place. The effect of gender on workplace interpersonal communication Although researchers had predicted that gender communication differences will disappear as more and more women move to upper managerial situation, this does not seem to be the truth on the ground to some extent. However, Gender differences do not seem to have a very great effect on interpersonal communication in our work place. In a mixed gender work group like ours, traditional behaviors of men and women have at times restricted the richness of discussion and limited the group’s productivity. I have observed that men in our office have an approach to work that is generally confrontational and are also result oriented (Bergmann and Finke, 2005). On the other hand, the females are collaborative to a greater extent and are more oriented towards concern for individuals. As a result of these gender based behaviors, the men’s adversarial style seem to make them more respected than women while female more collaborative style seem to engender rapport. However, differences between men and women behavior are not as much pronounced in our office and hence group members that are not keen enough may not be aware of these differences (Wood, 2007). However, men have always been expected to control discussion in our office in that they mostly introduce the topics, interrupt and are usually more talkative than women during discussions. I have also noted that women always assume supportive role as opposed to men who assume leadership role in conversation (Brouer, 2009). As such, women receive less attention for their ideas from the group. It is no wonder then that at times women’s ideas have been assumed despite the fact that they were valuable. This way, gender orientation has proved to be a barrier to effective communication. I have also observed that both the genders always expect the workgroup to follow certain gender stereotype roles which limit individual contributions (Sanders, 2007). For instance, even our manager always selects a man as a leader while women are mostly selected as note takers. In addition, I have observed that at times both the genders use exclusionary language which reinforces gender stereotypes and this has at times been found offensive by members of opposite sex in the group. While women always exhibit verbal characteristic of being submissive e.g. by allowing sentence endings to trail off and using a shrill voice, men on the other hand communicate in a manner that restrict and control the group e.g. by raising their voice or at times ignoring ideas that women raise. Another notable gender difference that has been found a barrier to effective interpersonal communication is non verbal behavior which varies across the genders (Alice, 2006). For instance, I have observed that men always use extended eye contact as well as overt gestures which portray their dominance. On the other hand, the female workmates have always been thought to lack self confidence and power due to their non verbal behavior of hair twirling and smiling (Kasson, 2006). This is probably the reason why even the management assigns tough roles to men while women are given less demanding roles. Additionally, men and women always sit separately in meetings and even in the office. This has the effect of limiting cross gender interaction and thereby effectively hindering effective interpersonal communication. Conclusion and recommendations As observed above, there are very many factors that affect interpersonal communication in the work place. This is especially so if the work group is composed of people with different characteristics ranging from diversified cultural backgrounds, religious orientation and gender among others. Culture has in many times proved to be a barrier to effective interpersonal communication especially where the members of a work group fail to recognize the cultural differences that exist and come up with ways of overcoming the differences (Tabitha, 2008). The issue of gender has also been found to be a barrier to effective interpersonal communication owing to the fact that men and women always behave differently and communicate differently. Gender stereotypes always act as barriers to effective interpersonal communication in the work place. Effort must therefore be made to overcome these differences if there has to be effective communication in the workplace or among diversified groups. Cultural awareness is much crucial in the modern day workplace. As such, work groups including the Ultimate Tours and Travel finance department therefore ought to adjust in a bid to accommodate new attitudes, values and rules which emerge in a multicultural workplace or society. Workgroups and organizations ought to be aware of the stereotypes, generalizations and prejudices that occur across the different cultures and genders (Vuckovic, 2008). This will help them in educating their employees on how to deal with these differences. Businesses and other organizations must to their best to achieve intercultural and gender sensitivity. As such, the organizations need to teach and encourage their members and employees to avoid ethnocentrism which is a belief of ones superiority over other races. This is because we always tend to think that our cultures are always right and hence judge others based on our cultural values. This ethnocentrism therefore leads to a lot of misunderstanding and is what ought to be discouraged if there has to be effective interpersonal communication in the work place (Reynolds, 2002). As such, the management should encourage a climate of tolerance and understanding. Employees should also be taught on how to guard against close mindedness and instead focus on finding a common ground for the sake of achievement of their desired goals and completion of tasks within the work place. Employees must also be taught and encouraged to learn about other cultures so as to achieve intercultural sensitivity in the work place. By becoming culturally illiterate, the group members will be able to form cultural bridges in work place and even in the society. This will help them in using the positive differences to discover and provide more creative productivity in the work place or even in the society (Carlos, 2000). This will also lead to increased job satisfaction and hence loyalty to the employer. Similarly, employees need to be aware of the various gender differences that exist as far as communication is concerned. This way, they will be able to understand one another and hence communicate more effectively. They will appreciate one another and be able to tolerate their differences. This will in turn lead to increased job satisfaction and loyalty and hence increased productivity. References Bergmann, J & Finke, H2005, Decision making in the cockpit. The interactive dynamics of hierarchy, division of labor and gender in a technical complex work setting. Research project 2004-2005. Retrieved on 28th April 2012, from http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/soz/personen/bergmann/cockpit/index.htm Wood, J 2007, Gender communication and culture, Stamford, CT: Wadsworth. Sanders, S2007, Human sexuality, Bedford/St. Martins, Boston. Kasson, S2006, Social psychology, Harcourt Brace, New York. Jane, D2001, Cultural barriers to effective communication, Mason, OH: Cengage. John, T2008, Why good communication is good business, Cambridge university press, Cambridge. Davidson, B2009, Nonverbal communication, Mason, OH, South western. Tabitha, M2008, Issues in professional communication, Bay wood publishing company, New York. Vuckovic, A2008, Intercultural communication: a foundation of communicative action, Oxford university press, Oxford. Alice, J2006, interaction patterns and themes of male and female, and mixed groups, Small group behavior, vol7, pp7-18. Brouer, G2009, speech differences between women and men: On the wrong track, Language in society, vol.8, pp.33-50. Carlos, T2000, Gender, Language and influence, Journal of personality and social psychology, Vol.56, pp.565-76. Reynolds, D2002, Effective interpersonal communication in the work place, Essortment, Retrieved on 28th April 2012, from http://www.essortment.com/career/effectiveinterp_snyv.htm Feerst, D2009, interpersonal communication at work, making effective communication a productivity booster. Amazines. Retrieved on 28th April 2012, from http://www.amazines.com/business/article_detail.cfm/797479?artcleid=797479 Delvito, J2008, interpersonal messages: communication and relationship skills, Pearson, Boston. Read More