Read the following short article from the U.S. Coast Guard on communication differences between men and women: http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/uscg/gender_communication.htm
What is your reaction? This article was written in 1998. Do you think the information in the article is still valid? Or do you think men and women no longer have issues communicating in the workplace today?
Finally, give an example from your own life—either at school or in the workplace—where you believe communication between genders either was or was not successful. If it was successful, why? If it was unsuccessful, what could you or the other person(s) have done differently? Be specific.
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I believe that men and women can still have a hard time communicating in today’s workplace. However, this is not the case all the time but it still does happen. The content in this article is still relevant in today’s culture. It may it be as much of a problem anymore, but I believe that it does still exist. When I use to work construction we had a female foreman come on to the crew and it was more difficult to communicate with her than it was the other guys. I believe it was because the way us guys acted toward each other and talked (guy talk) during the job was acceptable to us. We probably acted and talked about things we wouldn’t have if there was a lady present. Now that we had this female on our crew things were different. And because we couldn’t be so open with here none of us really had a strong relationship with her. Strong relationships is what made the guys on the crew so close but we did not have that with the new lady, so therefore the communication with her wasn’t as strong.
ReplyDeleteI believe that yes, men and women do have different rules in their communications. For me, I have never really noticed a difference because I mainly hang out with guys. I just get along with them better than females. Although during my time of hanging out with a certain male friend we had our differences in communication but were always able overcome the differences. At the workplace, however, I have also not really seen a difference in communication styles. My boss which I work with at Clickers on Friday nights always has some provocative language and conversation topics which none of the females find to be weird subjects.
ReplyDeleteI think that there is a slight difference with communication styles between men and women. Just like what happened in the article, when I was at work and the boss needed to get something done, he would tell us and that would be end of story. However, there was two ladies there who wanted everything changed and tried to get them done their way each and every time something needed to be done. More than anything, I think that they were just stubborn and didn't want to be told what to do. I'm not saying that people are always stubborn and don't do what is asked of them, but thats all that I could think of that has anything to do with this.
ReplyDeleteAs long as men and women are different, we will have these issues. Certain behaviors are born into us and this will not change. Women are more emotional than men, and men are more competitive than women. Women generally have more compassion than men, and men generally make quicker decisions. What I think is changing is that corporations are realizing this, and are implementing diversity training to better cope with the changing roles in business. The workplace is changing, and we are going to have to change with it. As far as a personal example, I have had many jobs that are traditionally male. Last week I talked about construction, this week I will talk about driving a semi. I was on the receiving end of comments about "women drivers" and how we are the weaker sex. I was never asked about how to resolve problems, because they didn't think I would know the answer. I just had to deal with it. Some of the male drivers came to accept me, others did not. I suppose at times, one side is just going to have to bend while the other side stays rigid.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure what to think about the article, men and woman have always been different in the work field and it seems like they will always will be. Women have to overdrive themselves in the workforce to prove that they are just aas good as men, and some men will still look down on them. In my job as a manager of a bar it seems to me like men treat the women bartenders as an object as if there was a man behind the bar they become very talkative and buddies with them. In my job as a paramedic there seems to be no problem with genders, we all work together as one. The boss of our squad is a woman and a very strong one, so there really is not a problem. I believe that what the job is plays a part in the gender role.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the selection “Gender and Communication-Finding Common Ground” it made it loud and clear why females and males are so different. I believe that even though this article was written in 1998, the facts are still very true today. There is always exceptions, but many women bring different ideas to the table where as men want it just done. The business world is changing today, some examples are that men are starting to accept different ideas or ways to do thing, other than just shutting them down. I work for a husband and wife that own a Graphic business, the wife has brilliant ideas and so does the husband. When he will ask her to draw something, she will draw what she believes is the best design for the customer. When he comes back he changes it all because he already had an idea in his head and will not accept hers. This happens all the time but they have a successful business because she knows her husband is like that and lets him do his thing after she started on the project.
ReplyDeleteI find the communication between genders are different. Coming from a female, we sometimes say that men think with the other side of the brain than what we do. "Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus" is a text example of the differences between men and women.
ReplyDeleteI find in my workplace, example, the microbiology department in the lab, not one person is scheduled doing that from one day to the next. The women seem to have a routine on what to start with first and the follow through to the end of finishing. When the men get in there, they go from one thing without finishing it to another, and not documenting what they had done. Sometimes it happens that a woman has to finish what the man had started and she has no idea what had been done. So then it takes that much longer in trying to figure out what he had done. We have tried to set up a routine in writing, but that doesn't get followed. So now we, the women, tell the men that if they start it they have to finish it. That has worked so far, but I sure don't like to be the one to follow the next day.
I find that women are more detailed oriented than men are. The end result comes out to be about the same, but the process in doing so is totally different from one another.
My initial reaction is that there will always be a difference in men and women regarding communication. I think most of this information is still true, but communication between men and women has progressed. Today we see many more women CEO's and other higher ranks than we did in 98. One situation that comes to mind when communication was successful between men and women was at my last job. It was working for at a cafe on my old campus and there was a good mix of men and women that both worked there. The atmosphere of the shop was laid back, but still professional. I think due to the atmosphere and good mix of employees that communication between genders was bound to succeed. It didn't matter what we were really talking about, because everyone was able to speak their mind without worrying about offending the opposite sex.
ReplyDeleteWomen and men still have issues with communicating with each other. Men and women are two different type of people, who think and feel different. Everyone reacts different to different kinds of things. We need to learn how to work past the things we don't understand about the opposite sex.
ReplyDeleteMy personal story is about where I work now. I work at Goodwill and it seems that women have certain jobs because you wouldn't catch a man doing that job. We have cashiers, which there is only one male. We have donation attendants, which are all male. The only time you catch women in donations is when they are busy and need help. We also have people who hang clothes, they are all women. I believe that men and women should be able to do any job in any workplace.
I thought that the article did apply to todays world. It helped point out the importance of "leaders" to be aware of and use different types of communication depending on the situation they are in and the audience they are speaking to.
ReplyDeleteIf a you don't learn how to gauge your audience it won't take you long to offend some one or give some one a bad impression of you and that could really hurt your career.
I have had a few bosses, all younger, who thought that it was ok to belittle their employees when speaking to or instructing them. Let me tell you, man or woman, nothing ruins a bosses credibility and loses respect more than belittling your employees. They felt that had to be strict in order to show the employees that they were in charge. The two bosses never could figure out why they had such high turn over. A good boss will learn what communication style works best with each individual.
I think the article still has alot of valid information, and the way they explained the hierarchical culture of men vs the flat culture of women made alot of sense. However, I still think men and women have trouble communicating in the workplace. Men and women communicate better now then they ever use to, but still there are complications or situations where they don't agree.
ReplyDeleteOne time I was at a group meeting for a paper we were suppose to be writting, and we got on the topic of hockey. One of the guys made a comment about a stat, and one of the girls in the group corrected him. He immediately defended himself; insisting he was right. I played hockey and knew she was right, so I defended her. He still would deny it and claim I was almost misinformed. I think we did the best we could to handle the situation, but he just wouldn't accept it. I think he just had trouble accepting the fact a girl was correcting him on a subject he thinks he knows alot about. Perhaps, if I would have said something about her correction sooner, that might have been the only way we could have handled the situation better.
To be honest, my reaction was non-lifechanging. Gender differences have been that way for a very long time. Of course, some women are a lot more competitive and may have played sports and such as children. Some males liked to play with dolls and they grew up normal also. But gender differences definately occur in the workplace, there is no doubt about that. It is like there is an invisible barier no matter how much you try to understand where the opposite sex is coming from.
ReplyDeleteA senario from my life would be a work related one. I am a car detailer as I had mentioned in my comment on the first post. I have three male bosses, all of which have trouble understanding me sometimes, but sometimes I wonder if that is an age barrier. I also have trouble understanding them. They may tell me to clean a car and have it done in an hour and that car may be a car that has not been touched before and needs maybe 3 hours worth of work. If I ask for an extention they may not understand because they think that since I am not only a woman but have also been cleaning cars for over a year can magically have it clean in that hour. Trust me, the have told me that. I also offer my imput on certain arrangements of the lots. Not only do I detail, but I secretary, move the cars, test them for problems and so on. I basically do everything. My imput doesn't always count, I may say they need different color or models next to each other to change it up or suggest moving one car to a different lot. I can just see the gender differences, but sometimes, as I said before, I believe it could be age as well.
I think the article is true that women and men communicate differently. I believe the more educated we are on gender differences will help make a difference and improve communication between men and women. I think if we can learn how to communicate our thoughts and experiences to each other and learn how to be better listeners, this will help improve communication. In my experience with the opposite sex in the workplace sometimes the miscommunication comes in when one has something else going on and they are not paying full attention. I have noticed other communication difficulties when it comes to experience. Sometimes I am the one who does not have enough experience so I may see things differently than a coworker. I am very open to listening to what they have experienced and am able to see the difference in opinions and am able to better serve our clients.
ReplyDeleteI was very impressed by the article’s ability to avoid being overly politically correct and state the facts of a problem that far too many people are afraid to address in normal conversation. People are far too afraid of being offensive to the opposite gender so the problems that arise from mixture of the two cultures are not effectively communicated. In the wake of an epidemic of political correctness, the simple fact that men and women are different should be a serious topic of discourse. Keeping a dialogue on these issues will continue to be paramount to dealing with the conflicts that are inevitable as the different gender cultures come together in the workplace.
ReplyDeleteWhat I have seen in the factory setting that I worked in is that women tend to be more candid about their emotions on the job. When one of my female coworkers came to work after an argument with her fiancé, it was very easy to notice. She would go about the day looking for people to listen to her complaints from home. Though we all empathized with her situation, most of the guys were used to keeping such things to themselves and did not know how to handle working with her in these moods. Honestly, we have all been in those predicaments. I prefer to look at work as an escape into routine. Staying focused on tasks allows me to distract myself from problems at home so I can tackle them at a more appropriate time. It was very hard for me to understand her behavior, but I did my best to be respectful.
The communication between men and women, in my opinion, has improved. I believe there is still a bit of an issue between the two genders.
ReplyDeleteI worked in a factory for 3 years, and there were always issues about men working with females. For one instance, there was a woman the was asked to work on the caseout(men's job) line, and the men just didn't seem to help her out or tell her anything. This area was were all the men who did the heavy lifting and loaded the truck docks worked. They were just being stubborn becasue they had to work with a female. She ended up getting hurt from lack of communication. She knocked over a window from the table and tried catching it. This resulted in a back injury and she was off work for months. There is still a lack in communication, but it has improved. I'm sure that it will keep on doing so as time goes on.
In my opinion the differences in thw way man and woman communicate has and will always be different. I have worked plenty of jobs where the mix of men to women is high. But being brought up in the family I did, I knew that respect was the first way to get something across to someone else, weather they were man or woman. I do beleive that the more we work with some of the opposite sex the more someone will learn how to get the idea they have to the other person easily. Being honest and stright to the point will help also
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion the differences in the way men and women communicate to each has always been hard, but I do think it is getting better. All the jobs I have worked I had a female boss or a mix of men and women. Because of this I notice at all my jobs that men and women actions as well in communication can be view in a diffrent. I have personal expericed this myself at my current job I have and all my other ones.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very interesting. I believe girls are being brought up too pampered. Growing up, my parents had me doing dishes and cleaning house, since I was old enough to understand what she was saying. Part of a women being nice and fair, is in her DNA. To be a good mother she’ll need to be nurturing and fair. In a male’s DNA though, they are supposed to go out and kill for food. They need to be less empathetic and everything has to be like a game to them. Otherwise, they won’t be able to bring food home. An example from my life experience with gender related issue is at work. There have been lots of complaints made to the EEO on Menards, for minority and gender discrimination. Where I work, I have access to all of the store’s organizational charts, and from what I can see; there are only 2 female assistant general managers. Assistant managers, not General Managers, all of the General Managers are male.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading the article, I found it to be very interesting, in my opinion communication between men and women will always be a hard thing. Some men just will not except work instructions from women because, we just have no idea what we are talking about half of the time. More and more women are being promoted into higher ranking positions then men are. We just need to start thinking men and women are equals, and hopefully communication will start to improve.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this article because I do think that men and women still have communicating issues. I believe that genders will always have there different opinions about issues but thats not always a bad thing, that way you get two different prospective about something.
ReplyDeleteAn example from my own life about communication between men and women is one time at work a male customer come up to me to ask some questions about his account. Matt,(one of our personal bankers)was standing next to me at the other computer. The male customer stated asking me his questions and I was answering them correctly. After I got done explaning everything to the customer he asked if he could speak to Matt. Matt sat down with him and he asked the same question he asked me and Matt gave him the same answer I did, this time the customer thanked him and left. For some reason the customer didn't beleive me or didn't understand what I was telling him, but when Matt told him he understood completely.
I believe that gender differences will always be an issue in the workplace. How this is handled can depend a lot on what type of business we are talking about. I worked for trucking companies in the office for several years. I did basic clerical work and also checked the drivers in when they were done for the day. I heard a lot of vulgar language and jokes. This never bothered me. I would just laugh about it. I am sure this may have bothered a lot of women, but you sometimes have to learn to conform to the situation you are in. Because there will be gender differences forever I am sure that this question will be around for a long, long time.
ReplyDeleteMy first reaction to the article was that "My parents raised me more like a boy". I was always involved in team sports, and having an older brother didn't help either. Basically anything he did I did too, and sometimes better. Perhaps this is why I get along just as well with men as I do women, and am able to adapt to all different work situations. The only thing I think may have changed since the article was written is that men tend to be more sensitive when working with or around women. It seems children today are being raised more on a standard of the "flat" hieraachical. Sports now promotes equallity to all, everyone gets the same amount of play time, the goal isn't to "win" but have fun. Cowboys and Indians is politically incorrect, and to be aggressive could mean jail time. Even with these new-age changes, I still feel men and women have conflict communicating, as we are just different in terms of feelings, emotions, perceptions, etc. Even though I like to think of being equal with any man, it just isn't so. When I was 10 years old I recieved my black belt in martial arts. By the time I was 17 I started full contact kickboxing and continue to do so today. Even though I've been involved in martial arts for 20 years, men have a difficult time being coached by me. I can tell a fighter the exact same thing as a male coach, and somehow it's more acceptable coming from him. I find this attitude highly disrespectful and have little patience for it. Usually I just end up fighting them to physically show them why or why not the coaching works, but sheer size can also be a factor. This then only furthers the miscommunication gap. At times it's possible to talk through a problem, but only when both parties are willing to give clear, honest responses. Trust is often an issue in these situations, and perhaps side-by-side coaching may help bridge the gap.
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ReplyDeleteI think the article makes some good points because everyone will see things in a different light. I think the information shows how men and women understand things differently and they should try to find a way to communicate better.
ReplyDeleteI haven’t really run into a gender difference in school or work because I seem to understand what is going on around me better than it sometimes appears.
I agree that there are differences between the genders in communication, but I believe that communication between men and women has progressed since 1998. As more and more women climb the corporate ladder the more equal communication becomes. In many corporate settings where men outnumbered women the genders did not have to know how to communicate effectively with one another. I feel that women are also gaining a more competitive edge through sports and other organizations that are now present at a younger age that may not have been present in 1998.
ReplyDeleteIn my current position, communication is the main focus and is very laid back. Because there has been such an emphasis put on communication, the barriers that may have once existed do not. The effectiveness of our communication has set us up to succeed, not to fail, when talking with the opposite sex.
I think this article is totally valid today. The writer is right on with the comparisons. It makes complete sense. I think this cultural difference still exists. I think the communication gap has closed a little in the past decade. I believe this has to do with more women in the work place, which results in more communication between men and women.
ReplyDeleteI am in communication with females everyday in my job. By getting to know them and their tendencies, communication is very smooth. I did have issue with one of them. She thought she was above me in the company hierarchy. We have different positions but equal power. I dealt with the issue by giving another option and explaining (in a polite way) I know my job better than she does. This employee has had this problem with other co-workers before.
Men and women may sometimes have a hard time communicaing, but i feel that it has gotten better in the work place as time has gone by. More people are understanding what is going on in their surroundings and are working together to find better ways to communicate.
ReplyDeleteI have not ran in to this problem myself
I believe that the article is still pretty vaild. However I believe something things have changed. Woman have started taking on more important job and this makes them very confident and strongheaded just like men would act. Therefore, I dont beleive that the communication between men and women were as different as they were when the acticle was posted.
ReplyDeleteIn my life I thought it was kind of difficult to talk to my bosses at the bank I work with. They are much older men who can be kind of intimating. But I have started to become more comfortable with them because I have gotten to know them better.
Yes, agree with Nicole Paulson. Because the men mostly like to communicate with the higher torn and do pay attention on each item or thing per subject. I have seemed most of the women they are communicating with showing and closer to detail. They are also multi-conversation things at one subject. In workplace, I see most of the men communicate with body language style and the women also using the same communication to relocate the style too, but it’s lower torn then the men. However all the ladies and the men in my workplace of the management teams, some using the professional skills of communication style and the low education are still using the same style as normal style.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the article is still relevent today. There will always be a rift in communication between different genders, you just have to find a way to understand it from both sides.
ReplyDeleteWeather it is about men or women or women and women in the work place EVERYONE will have their differences. Gender is a good excuse for certain actions. There will always be that gender space between men and women.
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