Day: August 29, 2013

“No matter how well we think we understand each other, communication is hard. Our culture influences how we approach problems, and how we participate in groups and in communities. When we participate in groups we are often surprised at how differently people approach their work together. The article provides 6 fundamental patterns of cultural differences, such as “approaches to completing tasks” and “attitudes toward disclosure”. The topics of multicultural collaboration and respecting differences are discussed in the article as well.

“Most of us are ‘successaholics.’ That’s what we think is necessary for our organization to succeed…(however), if you try to do things differently, you will find it incredibly valuable. It’s rallying together to recognize that if we continue to work in this way, it’s undermining our productivity, our sustainability, our creativity.” This article speaks about always being “on” 24/7 and gives some strategies such as (PTO) “Predictable Time Off and “Quiet Time” as alternatives to this “cycle of responsiveness”.

“When people from several different countries share the same workplace, misunderstandings can generate friction”. Not only language and time management issues can happen, but how “colleagues perceive (literally) and prefer to use space” can be a topic to consider. Cultural research of Edward Hall and Geert Hofstede is discussed in this article and how employees relate to each other and the workplace.

Practical advice is given for communicating across generations, such as “using multiple communication avenues”, “individualizing your approach”, “understanding value difference” and “motivating factors”. “Younger people feel they need watch out for their own interests and are less willing to give their lives to one company. Veterans and Boomers tend to think of working as more utilitarian and feel they need to do whatever is needed on the job.” This is one of the many ideas mentioned in the article.