Explain the effect of gender and cultural differences in the workplace.?
Having trouble with this question for my speech class. I'd like to hear everyone else's thoughts.
Why is it necessary to consider the effect of gender and cultural differences on workplace communication in this "level playing field" enviroment? communication in the workplace
hi all, I am deaf myself, I have worked for my employers who are a big company for 12 years. I am excellent at my work and I work very well. I have a rasonably good working relationship with my workmates. The only problem is the behaviours part, I seem to have bottled up frustration every 2 or 3 months that end up in a blow up and results in being marked down by my bosses which makes me lose confidence in myself. I try so hard to impress my bosses they keep hammering down on me on the behaviours part. Its the younger members of staff I have a problem with they are so ignorant and full of themselves. Yet they get the upgrade/promotions... I work just as hard as them, even harder at some of the time.help!!! my bosses do not know how to help me and I dont know if they really have the picture.I am quite frustrated because I have to deal with communication on top of keeping my work to high standards. Not easy for a Deaf person to work in a hearing environment. Any suggestions? communication in the workplace
One of the greatest problems of morale in a department stems from lack of communication. Workers need to feel they are part of the organization and need to know what developments and changes are occuring. How can this be accomplished? communication in the workplace
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Based on my experience in the area of Emotional Intelligence (EI), a group of internal consultants asked me to facilitate a session for their Chicago Organizational Development Network. Comprised of highly seasoned consultants from large organizations, the group gathers with the purpose of sharing best practices. I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to be with such a highly experienced group by drawing on their expertise. Through a highly interactive session, the group identified the significance of Emotional Intelligence (EI) skills for the workplace.
After defining Emotional Intelligence and providing some examples of the results obtained from our applied EI skill-building programs, I asked the group to divide into three smaller groups and note on flipcharts what issues or problems could be improved within their organizations by increasing EI skills. The groups were given 10 minutes to identify and discuss the problems or issues and then reported on their lists. Below is a composite, alphabetized list of 45 identified issues.
- Absenteeism
- Call reluctance
- Change management
- Coaching
- Communication
- Conflict management
- Creativity
- Culture change
- Customer satisfaction
- Decision-making
- Developing leaders
- Efficiency
- Emergencies
- Employee engagement
- Employee satisfaction
- Expectation setting
- Goal attainment
- Goal setting
- Grievances
- Group interaction
- Health care costs
- Lawsuits
- Leadership
- Lost time accidents
- Mergers
- Non-union status
- Patient safety
- Performance management
- "Politics"
- Problem solving
- Process improvement
- Productivity
- Project management
- Quality
- Retention
- Sales/revenue
- "Silo" mentality
- Stress
- Succession planning
- Supplier relations
- Teamwork
- Thought clarity
- Trust/loyalty
- Work/life balance
- Workplace violence
It's quite eye opening to see this expansive list which is, most likely, not all-inclusive. I can't think of any other organizational improvement intervention that has the potential to positively impact so may organizational problems concurrently. Development of Emotional Intelligence skills does not just improve leadership competencies or management skills. It has a far-reaching effect. And the percentage improvement our clients have experienced is dramatic. Program participants have reported improvements that range from 20% to 40% reduction in stress and worry, 20% to 35% increase in personal productivity, 15% to 35% increased teamwork and similar improvements in personal motivation, management of emotional reactiveness, work/life balance, creativity and more.
I am always conservative when determining results such as those listed above. Let's be even more conservative by cutting the above ranges in half. What would a 10% to 17% increase in personal productivity, a 7% to 17% increase in teamwork or a 10% to 20% reduction in stress and worry mean to your organization? Since we know that stress impacts health, we can infer that there may well be an indication of reduced health care costs which, in turn, directly and positively impacts the organizational bottom line.
Let's look at a few other areas identified by our group of experts. Grievance resolution is one of the toughest issues on the list. Despite its difficult nature, one of our participants, using simple, proven techniques, was able to resolve grievances at the first step in the process and reported a significant reduction in step 2 grievances. And in another specific example, a participant reported an increase in employee engagement. As a result of applying the techniques, he was viewed as more approachable, and his direct reports presented an idea that, when implemented, saved the location the equivalent of 10 people per year. The impact on the bottom line is a savings of about $300,000.
I always enjoy stories from the transportation industry. When asked about improvement in resolving or managing conflict, one participant stated, "This is huge! I used to thrive on the conflict. Now I avoid it. It's a daily issue. Now I will talk between dock guys and drivers. Now we're not yelling and throwing stuff. It would get ugly sometimes - wresting matches at times. Drivers are rough around the edges and can get pushy/feely. I was always the first one to step up. This hasn't happened in awhile. Arguments don't break out now. I let people vent and explain why (the issue is they way it is) or I don't say anything (just let them vent and be heard)."
The point is that helping people at all levels of the organization to develop their EI skills helps improve or resolve multiple problems and issues. Rather than focusing on a narrow, targeted intervention such as conflict management or change management, or communication, consider leveraging your scarce resources with EI skill-building.
Describes ways to handle workplace conflict, both from perspective or the manager and the employee.
Summary: 5 pages. 4 sources. MLA format.
Conflict management in the workplace is a hot topic in the business environment today. This paper explores various techniques that can be utilized to manage conflict in the workplace.
Conflict Management in the Workplace
Introduction
    Conflict management in the workplace is an issue that every leader, manager, or employee has to deal with at one time or another.
The basics of conflict management include improving communication, teamwork, and a systematic approach to solving the disagreement. This paper explores various techniques that can be utilized to manage conflict in the workplace.
Workplace Conflict Management
Conflict is defined by Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman as “the process in which one party perceives that its interests are being opposed or negatively affected by another party†(p. 362). Sometimes conflict that be a positive force within an organization, while at other times it is a negative force.Â
An example of conflict as a positive force is that the creation and resolution of conflict may lead the company to constructive problem solving. It may also lead people to search for ways of changing how they do things. The conflict resolution process can ultimately be a stimulus for positive change within an organization (Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, p. 364).
However, conflict may also have serious negative effects on an organization. For example, conflict may divert efforts from goal attainment or it may deplete resources (particularly time and money) (Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, p. 364). Conflict also may negatively affect the psychological well-being of employees and cause stress (Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, p. 364). Indeed, conflicting workplace ideas may lead to anger, tension, and anxiety. Deep and lasting conflicts that continue without conflict management may even lead to violence between employees and others (Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, p. 365). Therefore, it would be fair to say that conflict may sometimes be advantageous and at other times destructive.Â
Workplace managers must be sensitive to the consequences of conflict. These consequences range from negative outcomes (such as loss of skilled employees, sabotage, low quality of work, stress and even violence) to positive outcomes (such as creative alternatives, increased motivation and commitment, high quality of work, and personal satisfaction) (Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, p. 365).Â
Conflicts (whether they are negative or positive) will arise in organizations whenever interests collide -- and when these differences affect the relationship between interdependent people, they must be constructively managed (Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, p. 365). According to Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, some ways to manage conflict include: the “forcing styleâ€, the “accommodating styleâ€, the “compromising styleâ€, and the “collaborating styleâ€.
The forcing style refers to “assertive and uncooperative behaviors and reflects a win-lose approach to interpersonal conflict†(Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, p. 374). This forcing style relies on coercive power and dominance to resolve the conflict. In the forcing style, the person who is trying to resolve the conflict feels that one side must win and that one side must lose (Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, p. 374).Â
The accommodating style, according to Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, refers to “cooperative and unassertive behaviors†(p. 376). The accommodation style manifests itself as a long-term strategy to encourage cooperation by others, or as a submission to the wishes of others. The accommodator tries to reduce tensions and stresses by reassurance and support (Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, p. 376). This style shows concern about the emotional aspects of conflict, but does not deal with substantive issues -- this style simply results in covering up or glossing over the issue (Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman p. 376).
    According to Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, the compromising style refers to “behaviors at an intermediate level of cooperation and assertiveness†(p. 377). This style is based on give and take, which usually involves a series of concessions. This technique is commonly used and widely accepted as a means of resolving conflict.
A collaborating style refers to “strong cooperative and assertive behaviors. It is the win-win approach to interpersonal conflict handling†(Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, p. 376). In this stylistic approach to workplace conflict management, it is sharing, examining and assessing the reasons for the conflict that leads to the development of an alternative that is fully acceptable to everyone involved. This effectively resolves the conflict (Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, p. 377).Â
Studies on the use of these different interpersonal conflict handling styles indicate that collaboration is the best approach to managing workplace conflict (Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, p. 378). The collaboration style tends to be characteristic of (1) More successful individuals and (2) High-performing, rather than medium- and low-performing organizations (Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, p. 378). Furthermore, the use of the collaboration style of conflict management appears to result in positive feelings from employees (Hellriegel, Slocum and Woodman, p. 378). So, it appears that the best style to resolve conflict is the collaborative style.Â
Another suggestion for workplace conflict management is to take a step-by-step approach no matter what style the manager is employing. Author Rudy M. Yandrick’s article, “Integrating Behavioral Strategies: A Solution to Workplace Problemsâ€, suggests that a systemic approach to workplace issues by management is essential in today's workplace environment. For example, a step-by-step process can be taken to resolve any workplace conflict. This enables the leader to follow a systematic approach to resolving a conflict.Â
A detailed example of a step-by-step systemic approach is the following: First, the employee reports an issue to his supervisor. Second, the supervisor gathers information in order to gain the best understanding possible of the potential hurdle. Third, the supervisor identifies possible causes of the conflict by collecting information from the team members and from anyone else impacted by it. Fourth, the supervisor meets with a Human Resources specialist who will build a list of potential solutions to the conflict. Fifth, the Human Resources specialist, in conjunction with the supervisor, decides on an appropriate solution to the problem. Sixth, the Human Resources specialist and the supervisor present the solution to the workers. And, finally, the solution must be administered.  Â
Additionally, there are exercises that can be done to resolve conflict and tensions in the workplace. For example, in the article by Boss and McConkie, the authors suggest an exercise for situations of conflict where there are contradictory personalities. They suggest a writing exercise where the people in conflict write answers to three questions:
1.   What does he or she do well?
2.   What do I think I do that bugs him or her?
3.   What does he or she do that bugs me? (p. 50)
     This exercise, according to the authors, gives those in conflict time to get used to an explicitly confrontational situation before either of them has a chance to “pop off†at the other. It forces some rationality into an emotionally charged situation. Also, those in conflict are forced to look at their own behavior before making any accusations against the other. Completing this exercise will create a non-contentious atmosphere for continuing the conflict resolution. Frequently, after doing an exercise such as the aforementioned, it will become clear that neither person involved in the conflict is intentionally causing problems for the other.Â
    Each of the foregoing systemic techniques and styles regarding workplace conflict management can be utilized either separately, or in conjunction with each other, in order to promote a more cohesive work environment.Â
Conclusion
    "Conflicts are part of individual relationships and organizational development, and no…organization can hope to mature to productivity and be successful without being able to resolve conflicts effectively" (Cottringer, p. 6). Thus, conflict resolution is an integral part of maintaining a thriving workplace and the techniques and systemic approaches discussed in this paper should be utilized to resolve differences in the workplace.Â
 Bibliography
Boss, Wayne R. and Mark L. McConkie. “Conflict Management in Surgery:
Third-Party Interventionâ€. 5/1/2000. Public Administration & Management: An Interactive Journal. Available at:<http://www. pamij.com/5_1/v5n1_boss.pdf>. Retrieved May 22, 2003.
