Miscommunication in the workplace
In the article "The Power of Talk: Who Gets Heard and Why", Deborah Tannen brings up some interesting points about how people communicate and why. Although I did not agree in whole with all of the authors arguments and over generalizations, I did agree with the conclusion of the paper, that men and women communicate differently. Some of the examples in the article seemed a little too contrived merely to express the bottom line, but nevertheless I still agreed with the conlusion. I have never really come into this problem at my workplace, but I still can see how this type of communication problem can occur. I think that the article needs to extend this problem not only as one that arises between men and women, but also as one that arises between those that communicate differently period. Managers and those alike that have power status at a workplace need to recognize that different people communicate differently and that in order to have a smooth work place one needs to adapt to how they communicate.
Comments
I agree with you, I feel that not only in the work place that these role are generally the norm, but in fact if a woman steps out of that role she is perceived as being bossy, or the statement can be made that she acts ‘just like a man’. We are use to in many ways the roles we are taught throughout childhood. And I don’t know for sure about the fact or statement that the book made about women don’t eat with their bosses as women not wanting to but more of a society issue. Is there an invisible line that is not crossed in the matter of women and the inner circle of upper management male territorial arena, or is it a matter of parents and schools retraining children to challenge the roles that were given in the past and set up new role that are not gender specific.
Posted by: Adrienne Lee | April 25, 2006 11:52 AM
I think the point made about bosses and their employees having problems communicating is more apparent then the communication between women and men. The power issue brought up is a big factor that changes the way someone talks. A boss may think that they are better then their employees and therefore would only talk about things that people of his stature would understand. Employees may feel inferior towards their bosses and therefore the communication is strained. Also, humor that employees have may be lost on their bosses and vice versa. The idea of power and stature in a social setting changes communication habits of people.
Posted by: Ross Fyfe | April 25, 2006 3:00 PM
I agree that men and women use different forms of speech especially within the workplace. My workplace has an overwhelmingly female work force, with about 10 women and 4 men. I feel that this creates a much more equal, caring environment. As the article stated, women often speak as a 'we,'wanting to give credit to everyone involved and this is an everyday occurence in our office. There is constant affirmations of good work, kind words exchanged, and group efforts. Not to say that men aren't capable of these feeling or this type of workplace interaction but I think they are socialized to function more on a competitive, agressive drive in the workplace where women typically use a more nurturing, compromising approach.
Posted by: Meghan Jones | April 25, 2006 6:21 PM
i agree with you - there were plenty of over-generalizations about how and why different groups communicate, and i think emphasis needs to be put on each person's individual manner of communication. i don't know if there's any such thing as a safe assumption about how and why a certain person is going to communicate.
Posted by: ally carey | May 5, 2006 7:08 PM