Abstract
This report addresses the gender communication differences between men and women working for a particular organization. Communication is an important aspect in every organization as it directly affects the way it carries out its operations.
For that reason, communication is one of the factors that influence the success of an organization. The gender communication differences are a negative aspect of communication, which adversely affect an organization’s operations.
This report looks into a number of factors that contribute to gender communication differences between men and women. Some of the factors discussed include the thought process, giving feedback and problem solving.
This report also discusses all the major communication management principles; these principles are necessary in organizations as they help to enhance communication among the managers and workers.
Some of the communication management principles that have been discussed in this report include engagement and motivation of employees and the maintenance of effective team relations between them and their managers, and among each other.
Lastly, the report illustrates the way in which the communication management principles can be used to harmonize the gender communication differences between men and women employees.
The differences can be harmonized by empowering both male and female workers, availing the right communication tools to them, ensuring that the managers are available when they are needed by the junior workers, and constantly reminding the staff about the objectives of the organization so that they can work together to achieve them.
All these factors should be incorporated into the management system of the organization to increase their impact on the employees and the management.
Introduction
Background Information
Communication skills are among the most important attributes required in every individual, not only for building up relationships at home, but also at the workplace. Communications skills are among the first things that people learn during childhood and proceed with them to adulthood.
The skills are nowadays considered part of organizational talents, which assist in enhancing the success of an organization. Lack of proper and strong communication skills in an organization can result in poor performance and even significant losses (Pincus, 2006).
Some organizations overlook the importance of enhancing communication in their employees; such firms argue that with the current advancement in technology and communication, very little time needs to be spent on training employees regarding communication skills (Miller, 2012).
Such organizations certainly forget that the employees are their spokespersons outside the company and so, they need to be adequately informed on all the products and services.
The main communication and management skills require organizations to regularly motivate and engage their employees to be effective communicators. Organizations also need to formulate and maintain effective team relations between them and their employees as well as among the workers (Pincus, 2006).
Purpose Statement
Although it has been proven that men and women tend to work closely together in various organizations these days than ever before, there are still a number of differences that appear to pull them apart.
One of the main differences relates to the way they communicate, which is seen to cause a sharp distinction between men and women at workplaces (Miller, 2012). Major gender communication differences are evident between men and women and this makes one of them to be seen as superior to the other (Pincus, 2006).
In order to bridge the gap caused by the communication differences, every organization should incorporate all the key communication skills into its management system.
Research Method
The information given in this report was collected purely through literature review. The issue of gender communication differences between men and women has been addressed by many scholars and so it was easy to find the information in academic sources.
In order to obtain valid and reliable information, more academic journals than books were used.
Gender Communication Differences
There are a number of factors that can cause gender differences, especially in relation to the way men and women communicate while at the workplace. The first factor is the thought process, which refers to the different ways by which men and women think over an issue.
Women appear to think more ideally with a lot of associations, while men tend to be factual and liner thinkers. Women tend to connect their thoughts to some real things that exist in the world, while men simply think of the way things happen without necessarily linking them to any phenomenon (Miller, 2012).
The second factor, compartmentalizing, refers to one’s relationship with the people they work with. Men can work with anyone, including people they do not like.
On the contrary, women tend to make associations even at their workplaces and they do not find it easy to work with people they hate or disgust (Griffin & Moorehead, 2010). Men regard work as just a job and to them, it does not matter the kind of people they are given to work with.
On the other hand, a woman’s wish would be to be given a chance to choose whoever she wants to work with (Brashers, 2006).
Another factor that is seen to cause gender communication differences is the way men and women give orders to their juniors at work. Men tend to give direct and clear orders, which is a trait that makes them seen as authoritative.
Women, for fear of hurting their junior colleagues, tend to issue orders through softened demands, which portray them as soft spoken individuals who cannot lead in a straight manner.
Women are committed at maintaining harmony wherever they are, while men simply want things done in the right way and within the stipulated deadlines (Groves, 2005).
Gender communication differences in men and women are also evident in the way the two groups handle the problems that they or those around them, encounter.
Whenever there is a problem at a workplace, men tend to think about it by themselves, while women feel that they need other people’s support to be able to work it out (Griffin & Moorehead, 2010). In such cases, men go straight to finding solutions to the problem without consulting other people or discussing about it.
Women handle such issues in a totally different way as they would wish to have other people listen to them as they go about solving the problem (Pincus, 2006).
The way men and women give their feedback with regard to various matters also creates a gender communication difference between them. Men, in most cases, seem to be extremely direct and less caring when giving feedback about sensitive matters at the workplace.
On the other hand, women tend to be very cautious when giving feedback about important issues. Women are more sensitive and tact when discussing vital matters (Brashers, 2006).
Lastly, the gender communication difference between men and women is evident in the efforts the two groups apply when trying to achieve particular goals. Men seem to direct their focus more on the results, whereas women concern themselves with the channels followed to attain the results.
The women are said to be more people-oriented as they care about the difficulties the workers undergo before they obtain the desired results (Groves, 2005).
Communication Management Principles
Communication management principles are some of the aspects that have a great impact on the credibility and success of an organization. Effective communication skills require a two-way dialogue between the person talking and the one listening.
Consequently, managers can effectively supervise communication within their organizations by ensuring that they and their employees remain clear and informative in terms of the information they pass across to one another (Croson & Gneezy, 2009).
Managers should remain accessible to their employees throughout so that the latter can get the highest possible chances of acquiring the information they need and passing it to their colleagues and the relevant managers.
If both men and women in an organization were made to feel that they can access their managers every time and ask them about any issue affecting the business, then the gender communication differences between them would no longer exist (Stuhlmacher & Walters, 2006).
Harmonizing the gender communication differences between men and women requires managers to apply principles such as respect, fairness and openness when dealing with workers of both genders.
It has been proven that encouraging male and female workers to embrace open and transparent communication helps in the creation of a working environment that practices fairness and equity (Croson & Gneezy, 2009).
Sharing success of every employee in relation to the organization’s objectives is important for making him or her feel proud of herself/himself despite the gender differences. The kind of communication that people adopt in an organization influences how they associate with each other (Stuhlmacher & Walters, 2006).
Addressing Gender Communication Differences
The most effective way to address gender communication differences in an organization is by using communication management principles.
Firstly, the management should reinforce the organization’s core values, which are supposed to guide the male and female employees in everything they do to help the firm achieve its objectives.
The management should initiate programs that bring male and female employees to work together to enhance their understanding of each other. Such programs should also educate the employees about the importance of respecting each other’s opinions without basing them on one’s gender (Carroll, 2010).
Secondly, every organization should ensure that its managers make themselves equally available to both male and female employees at all times. With the advancement in technology and communication, managers do not have to avail themselves in person, but can do it through the internet and social media.
The employees should be allowed to choose the mode of communication, which they feel is the most comfortable to use.
This is an effective way through which the management can encourage male and female employees to inquire about crucial things that go on in the organization to see how they can contribute to its success (Croson & Gneezy, 2009).
Thirdly, people working in an organization should be trained to understand that communication does not only involve speaking alone, but also listening and paying attention. Managers and workers in an organization need to be good listeners and should pay attention to what their colleagues say.
If both male and female workers chose to listen to one another at their places of work, the problem of gender communication differences in which women feel inferior to their male counterparts would be a thing of the past (Stuhlmacher & Walters, 2006).
Gender communication differences between men and women in an organization can also be harmonized by availing the right communication tools to managers and workers.
The right tools for communication can make conversations effective and enhance the confidence and self-esteem of the firm’s employees, especially the female ones, when they want to pass information to their male colleagues.
The difference in the way men and women communicate is easily harmonized when their confidence is improved (Carroll, 2010).
Lastly, the gender communication difference can be reduced by empowering the people, especially the females, who are regarded as members of the weaker sex both at the workplace and at home. Every person in an organization should be given a chance to lead if he or she is qualified without considering their gender.
When women are made to realize the potential and worth they have in them, they tend to feel confident and begin to communicate strongly just like their male counterparts (Croson & Gneezy, 2009).
Conclusion
Communication is one the most important aspects that determine the success of an organization. The gender communication differences that occur between men and women in any particular organization significantly affect the way they conduct their operations.
The differences are caused by factors such as the confidence that the male and female employees have when they engage in communication and how the two genders are regarded in an organization.
In order to harmonize the communication differences between men and women, each organization needs to apply effective communication management principles, which can empower its workers, especially the females, by training them on the ways in which they can become more confident among their male colleagues.
References
Brashers, D. E. (2006). Communication and uncertainty management. Journal of Communication, 51(3), 477-497.
Carroll, J. L. (2010). Sexuality now: Embracing diversity. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
Croson, R., & Gneezy, U. (2009). Gender differences in preferences. Journal of Economic Literature, 47(2), 448-474.
Griffin, R. W., & Moorehead, G. (2010). Organizational behavior: Managing people and organizations. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Groves, K. S. (2005). Gender differences in social and emotional skills and charismatic leadership. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 11(3), 30-46.
Miller, K. (2012). Organizational communication: Approaches and processes. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.
Pincus, J. D. (2006). Communication satisfaction, job satisfaction, and job performance. Human Communication Research, 12(3), 395-419.
Stuhlmacher, A. F., & Walters, A. E. (2006). Gender differences in negotiation outcome: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 52(3), 653-677.