understanding culture for the management of new diverse teams in the workplace -...

Understanding Culturefor the Management of New

Diverse Teams in the Workplace

© Yolanda Michelle Hairston

2© Yolanda Michelle Hairston

New, Israel-based Customer Services Division of a UK financial services and lending company.

75+ employees in the new division hail from Israel, USA, UK, Australia, Russia, and Latin America. They vary in age and are almost equally mixed by gender. Their professional experience ranges from entry-level to several years in the field. They were mainly hired for their English language skills and/or Customer Service skills.

PREMISE


The customers are American clients who need to repay bank loans and are being contacted by the Customer Services Division to set up, review, and maintain the means to do so.

Managers of the division:-2 from the UK who have management experience with the company in the UK only-2 from Israel who worked for the company but have no management experience

PREMISE, cont’d.


This is the first lecture to help the managers prepare for managing their new, diverse team after Organizational Management and Change Development research has been conducted with the company.

PREMISE, cont’d.


Why should we be concerned about culture?

Encountering cultural differences initiates a communication pattern that can become constructive or functional,

and can lead to positive outcomes for the team members of the new division.

WHY?


Who are you and why should we listen to you?

Yolanda Michelle Hairston:

Ph.D., ABD – Organizational ManagementFormer News Producer, Journalist

Worked in the Private, Non-Profit, Religious, and Government Sectors

OMCD Consultant for start-ups and small companies

Diverse Personal Background

WHO?


Culture:The holistic summation (emphasizing the importance of the whole and the interdependence of its parts) and interrelationship of an identifiable group’s beliefs, norms, activities, institutions, and communication patterns.

Examples: Nationalistic (American, Israeli) Racial (Caucasian, Asian) Religious (Jewish, Baptist) Minority (Differently Able, Sexual Orientation) Organizational (Corporate, Family-like, Open-Door)

DEFINITIONS


Diversity:A blending of mixture of ethnic and/or microcultural group memberships.

Examples (In the Workplace): Cultural Individual Professional Goals Gender Experiences Skills and Abilities

DEFINITIONS


Communication:Sending and receiving messages between people or groups. Intercultural communication uniquely adds the dimension of culture, group, and context influencing the communication process.

Examples (In the Workplace): Meetings and Announcements Non-verbal communication/Body Language E-mails Training Sessions (methods of teaching and learning) Dress and Demeanor Telephone Use of Time Voice Volume

DEFINITIONS


Culture is the holistic interrelationship of a group’s identity, beliefs, values, activities, rules, customs, communication patterns, and institutions.

Culture influences how we adapt and learn, language, habits, customs, expectations, roles; it shapes thinking, acting, and communicating according to group expectations.

CULTURE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON COMMUNICATION


How does culture influence communication?

-It teaches significant rules, rituals, and procedures (socialization): Attitudes toward time, how to dress, when and what to eat, when to come and go, and how to work.

-It reinforces values: What is good or bad, what is truth, and a core understanding of the world. Culture teaches the value of hard work, thrift, privacy, competition, fair play, and directness.

-It teaches how to form relationships with others: Encourages a particular communication style within each culture, and shapes perception by exercising the human tendency to categorize others.

CULTURE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON COMMUNICATION


Individualism and Collectivism

Personal World View Influencing Communication

Time Management: Monochronic and Polychronic Cultures

CULTURAL ISSUES THAT CAN AFFECT THE MANAGEMENT OF YOUR TEAM


Individualism concerns personal achievement.

Collectivism emphasizes community, groupness, harmony, and maintaining “face.”

You can expect the accompanying communicator style to be correlated with each of these cultural dimensions:

-You can expect more assertive behavior, self-disclosure, and other personal-advancement issues to arise in an individualistic culture. -You can expect more strategies of people-pleasing, solidarity, relational issues, and face-saving in a collective culture.

INDIVIDUALISM-COLLECTIVISM


Individualists emphasize: -Concern for clarity, directness -Truth telling, straight talk -Meeting personal needs and goals rather than group needs and goals -Self-referent messages, more “I” than “we” -More independent -Linear pattern of conversation



Top Individualistic Cultures: -United States -Australia -Great Britain -Canada -The Netherlands -New Zealand -Italy -Belgium -Denmark

Individualistic cultures tend to be North American and European.



Collectivists emphasize: -Indirect communication -Concern for others’ feelings, avoiding hurting others, saving face (not causing embarrassing situations) -Avoiding negative evaluation from a listener -Less goal direction -More interdependent, group concerned -Fewer linear patterns of conversation



Top Collectivist Cultures: -Colombia -Korea -Pakistan -Peru -Taiwan -Thailand -Singapore -Chile -Hong Kong

Collectivist cultures tend to be Asian and Latin American.



An American employee feels “set up to fail” because her training seemed incomplete and

there are no SOPs (written Standard Operating Procedures) as reference guides.

She does not want to rely on members of her team for answers because he does not trust

that they will give her the right answers or will always be available to assist her, and she does not want to seem weak or incompetent to her

colleagues or manager.

FOR DISCUSSION


A person’s Personal Communication World View (PCWV) is how much control a personal believes characterizes her or his communication encounters.

Individuals organize a communication construct about themselves and others that reflects fundamental beliefs about perceived control within communication contexts.

On a continuum:

-------------------------------------------------- Woe is me! I can do it!

PERSONAL WORLD VIEWINFLUENCING COMMUNICATION


Not only culture, but also world view accounts for communication differences.

Research shows: -Americans with high communication control are contentious, dramatic, and dominant, but are less friendly in their communication. -Japanese with high communication control exhibit dominance and friendliness, but less relaxation in their communication. -20% of Americans and 30% of Latin Americans and Asians experience low communication control.

PERSONAL WORLD VIEWINFLUENCING COMMUNICATION


Personal CommunicationWorld View

(Handout #1)

ASSESSMENT


Personal Communication World View – Page 1

ASSESSMENT



ASSESSMENT


The Assessment of your Personal Communication World View measures your communication control.

Your Score indicated whether your PCWV is low, moderate, or high.

How this affects you as a manager of a new, diverse team: It is important to understand how others’ cultures and world views affect how they perceive their ability to change and influence others and circumstances with customers, their co-workers, and even your evaluation of them and their work.

ASSESSMENT


If you are interested in the complete presentation, and if you would like to

schedule a workshop in your workplace,contact Yolanda Michelle Hairston at:

[email protected]

WANT MORE?

understanding culture for the management of new diverse teams in the workplace -...

Documents