Managing diverse teams
It is fun and exciting to work
in a diverse working environment. There is so much to learn, understand and
grasp. A whole new world of possibilities, different points of view, wisdom and
experience is open to each one of us who are willing to receive it with an open
mind.
Go into the work environment with a focus on behaving, interacting
and working in a professional manner, while respecting people in the way they
want to be respected.
People come into professional work environments with three to
seven different language backgrounds, with English as the common language.
Chances are that miscommunication, the inability to translate words correctly
into English, and the wrong context of tone and language can cause unnecessary barriers
and tensions.
In these situations where there are diverse issues, never take
sides based on your own personal understanding. Always clarify what was meant,
expected or discussed. In many cases, it is very easy to misunderstand, blow a
simple matter out of proportion and make it an inequality issue.
What are the problems that you
are likely to face in a diverse environment?
The challenges you are likely to face will be human interaction
issues. Some of these include fear, personal feelings, beliefs and emotions
related to past programming, anger and misconceptions based on our political
and personal histories and experiences.
People are bound to be in conflict regardless of what their
personal characteristic/ background is because each person has a different
personality, experiences, expectations, leadership style, communication style
and values:
1. People of different diverse cultures, religions/beliefs
and backgrounds also greet each other at
various times of the day. This allows them acknowledge each other’s presence
and humanness. If you do not greet people in the way they wished to be greeted,
then they feel hurt and withdrawn.
2. One of the common challenges facing employers is
that people are not catered for at work functions in terms of what they can,
can’t and sometimes eat according to their dietary, religious or personal
beliefs. This makes them feel left out and not valued.
Remember that we are working
with human beings with feelings. Learning how to adjust our behaviour to be
more inclusive also improves professional interactions tremendously.
New and different ways to solve
challenges in diverse working environments
- Create an environment that allows you to listen thoughtfully and resolve potential issues amicably without it becoming a personal issue
- Learn communication skills that will assist you to adjust your personality type, learning style, body language, eye-contact and tone of voice to suit the person you are interacting with to achieve better results.
- Greet people in their own languages as appropriate. It’s fun and incredible how you warm their hearts and improve your working relationships.
- When you have work functions, be aware of religious or traditional backgrounds and adjust the dates and catering accordingly. Otherwise, people feel isolated and rejected.
- Don’t judge entire groups of people based on your limited knowledge of other peoples’ experiences. Research, question, experiment, visit and find out as much as you can about diversity and difference in groups and individuals so that you can connect at a deeper level.
- Steer clear of stereotyping. Rather speak to a person directly and ask the relevant/appropriate question with the intention of really learning.
- Interact on a social basis. This breaks a lot of fear, builds relationships, removes gossiping and allows you to connect with the person as a human being who is valued for their personal qualities, skills and intelligence.
- Above all, respect the person in front of you and treat them as a person, not a colour, nationality, age or religion.
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