Interpersonal Communication at Your Workplace

Overcoming Barriers to Diversity

Now that you are aware of the three barriers to accepting diversity in any environment, you will look at some ways to overcome these barriers, listed as follows:

Increase Your Motivation

Perhaps the most important component to overcoming the barriers to accepting diversity is motivation. Without the motivation to be an effective communicator, no other skills will be relevant. For example, part of the problem in longstanding inter-ethnic or inter-religious conflicts is the lack of interest, on both sides, in communicating more effectively. Some parties on both sides may even have an interest in prolonging conflict. To resolve conflict, a strong desire to improve communication skills is, therefore, necessary.

Increase Your Knowledge of Self and Others

In addition to being motivated, you must also educate yourself about intercultural communication to become a more effective communicator. For example, having some knowledge about the history, background, and values of people from other cultures can help you communicate with them better. When you demonstrate this type of knowledge to people from other cultures, you communicate that you are interested in them and affirm their sense of identity. Obviously, no one can ever learn everything about every culture; nonetheless, some general information can be helpful and can help create awareness of the importance of context.

Self-knowledge is also very important. For example, if you were socialized to be very individualistic, you may initially have a hard time understanding collectivistic tendencies. Once you become aware of these differences, however, you can more easily communicate with people of different perspectives. If you grew up in a middle-class family, this may also influence your perceptions. Many middle-class people assume that anyone can become middle class through hard work. However, this view overlooks the discrimination that some immigrants and minority groups face. How can you increase your cultural self-awareness? Perhaps the best way is to cultivate intercultural encounters and relationships.

Avoid Stereotypes

Cultural differences may lead to stereotyping and prejudices. Furthermore, stereotyping can become self-fulfilling (Appel & Kronberger, 2012). If you stereotype people and treat them in a prejudiced or negative manner, they may react in ways that reinforce your stereotype. On the other hand, overreacting by being very sweet can be equally off-putting. African Americans sometimes complain about being “niced” to death by white people (Yamato, 2001), and this complaint appears to continue (Alberts, Nakayama, & Martin, 2015). Try to pay attention to situations in which you might be stereotyping. For example, do you look for instances of behavior that counter your stereotypes? Or do you notice only those that fulfill them?

References:

Alberts, J. K., Nakayama, T. K., & Martin, J. N. (2015). Human communication in society (4th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.

Appel, M., & Kronberger, N. (2012). Stereotypes and the achievement gap:Stereotype threat prior to test taking. Educational Psychology Review, 24(4), 609−635.

Yamato, G. (2001). Something about the subject makes it hard to name. In M. L. Andersen & P. H. Collins (Eds.), Race, class and gender: An anthology (pp. 90–94). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.