Discussion responses to 2 colleagues

1-2 paragraphs each colleague

Respond to at least two of your colleagues in one of more of the following ways:

· Offer an alternative example that will further inform your colleague’s perspective about gaining common ground.

· Offer alternative or additional approaches you would suggest would be effective in seeking understanding that your colleague should consider and why.

· Offer an example of when a manager did a good or poor job when seeking to understand and the impact that had.

· Offer other lessons you learned from reading through the posts your colleague made.

1st Colleague to respond to:

Working with individuals who have different cultural backgrounds

“In the global workplace, managers have to analyze and interact with individuals from different cultures'' (Jyoti, 2017).  I can remember a time when I worked in a department that required you to use spreadsheets in order to report the data, at the time I didn’t have these skills so therefore I had to be trained by an employee who was from China.  I had the hardest time understanding what she was saying, she definitely had a language barrier. In her country she was used to doing everything for you, instead of training you. They value the work they do. Throughout the training I finally had to approach my manager to let her know that I was having problems with the training because of the language barrier. Eventually the manager enrolled her into an English course to help build her skills in English. With the different cultural background with speaking English, it was a challenge. 

 

Select another country or region and compare how these norms might be different.

When entering another country you immediately start to notice the difference between that country and the US. Once I arrived in Europe a few years ago I noticed things that I realized were different than what I was used to. This happened frequently, almost daily. When I went to the public bathroom we were told it cost 50 cents, I was very surprised, I’m used to just going to the restroom. In the restaurants we wanted water and once you received the bill, you will see the charge for the water at the end. In Europe education you can obtain your Bachelor’s and master’s degree for free. The system in Europe is set in place to create these opportunities for students. Paying back student loans is foreign to many people in Europe. Europe also has a maternity leave in place that allows their employees to be off for 2-3 years with a percentage of their salary during this time. Mothers can enjoy their time at home with their baby without thinking about the stress of work. “Though being multicultural has advantages, some individuals can suffer from acute feelings of isolation, homelessness, or even depression as they struggle to develop a real sense of belonging to any one culture” (Lee, & Liao, 2015).

 

Identify steps that you could take to ensure that there is common ground when working with others from different backgrounds.

The steps that I would use when working with others from different backgrounds would be to attend multicultural networking events, get involved with groups and organizations where you can get to know others from different backgrounds, keep an open mind, avoiding stereotyping at all times, and I would seek to understand the different cultures through my own personal relationship with books, research and ongoing education. The more you learn and get involved with people from different cultures, the more trust you will build with them, and I believe the approach would be very effective.

 

What lessons do you take away from this experience that you think will better inform your approach as a manager who is in a similar situation?What less

“Manager’s will be able to succeed only when they can look through differences of race, sex, age, nationality, and personality and, using stories and celebrating heroes, tap into those very few needs we all share” (Buckingham, 2005).  As manager I will succeed if I can identify and deploy the differences among people, challenging each employee to excel in his or her own way. I feel the job of a manager is to turn an employee’s one particular talent into performance. 

 

How would you think your approach changes when working virtually

 

When working virtually you have to keep employees engaged, this is a necessary part of leading a remote team. A lack of engagement can lead to isolation, and lack of compassion for the company’s vision or goals. By engaging remote employees, this will assure that the team is still efficient and productive as they would be in the office. Working remotely can be a challenge, however, if you make your virtual staff feel like they’re part of a team, you will see a great change. Encourage health and wellness, casual hangouts, and make sure employees feel heard and valued.

References:

 

Buckingham, M. (2005). What Great Managers Do, Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2005/03/what-great-managers-do

 

Jyoti, J. (2017). Factors affecting cultural intelligence and its impact on job performance: Role of cross-cultural adjustment, experience, and perceived social support. Personnel Review, 46(4)

 

Lee, Y-t., & Liao, Y. (2015). Cultural competence: Why it matters and how you can acquire it: Multicultural managers. Harvard Business Review. 

2nd Colleague to respond to:

I am not new when it comes to working with different cultural backgrounds and ethnicities. I currently work at Southwest Airlines so every day I am encountering someone from another part of the world. When I first started my training in Dallas, I was in a class with multiple cultural differences, for example one of the coworkers was from Ghana and it was hard to adjust for him when we started. At first it was hard to communicate with that employee because I couldn’t fully understand what he was saying or how to respond to him. From the way he spoke I could tell he was different but since it wasn’t my first time working with someone that was from another part of the world, I already knew that as long as I am respectful towards someone then it shouldn’t create problems. I have learned that cultural problems can range from miscommunication to actual conflicts which effects workers productivity and performance. Another thing I have learned is “adapting to a new culture involves overcoming obstacles and setbacks. People can do that only if they believe in their own efficacy” (Earley & Mosakowski, 2004). I believe that developing a cultural competence will result in an ability to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures and work with unpredictable cultural beliefs and schedules.

Since I already know that I will have to work with people from all over the world I came up with a couple step to ensure there is a common ground when working with them. The first step is to make sure that I communicate effectively which includes providing information accurately and promptly. I believe that communication is critical when it comes to effective work and team performance. The next step is to promote team building which is to help everyone get involved with the task at hand. “Effective team building means more engaged employees, which is good for company culture and boosting the bottom line” (Scudamore, 2016). Timing is a big thing when it comes to ensuring that there is a common ground when working with diverse people. I believe as a manager we need to be able to balance work and family life because nobody want to work for a person that isn’t organized or is focused on problems at home when they are at work. I believe that different perceptions of time can cause misunderstanding and mishap in the workplace, especially when it comes to scheduling and deadlines. The final step to ensure that everyone is on the same page is scheduling. I have recently just learned that normal businesses run on the western secular year which begins January 1 and ends December 31. I believe that as a manager we need to understand that different cultures have different holidays, so I think to ensure that everyone feels valued we need to take that into account. For example, I found out that Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Christmas on a different day from western Christians.

I don’t believe that there is any job that isn’t diverse today especially when it comes to big company like Amazon, Google and Apple. I think that as a manager we must learn to build a connection with everyone in your organization because I believe that all manager need to know how to properly manage their team. I have learned that “effective communication at the workplace is what distinguishes a good leader from a great one” (Kashyap, 2019). I believe a leader needs to be able to communicate effectively with their employees even if that employee is from a different ethnical background. Overall, I believe we need to learn to work with different culture and also learn to respect people when they speak about something important to them.

References

Earley, P. C., & Mosakowski, E. (2004). Cultural intelligence. Harvard Business Review.

Kashyap, V. (2019, May 20). Effective communication in the workplace: How and why? HR Technologist - HR Technology Trends, News & Research. https://www.hrtechnologist.com/articles/employee-engagement/effective-communication-in-the-workplace-how-and-why/

Scudamore, B. (2016, March 9). Why team building is the most important investment you'll make. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianscudamore/2016/03/09/why-team-building-is-the-most-important-investment-youll-make/#384a0da617fc