COMBATING COMMUNICATION ISSUES IN A SOCIALLY DIVERSE ORGANIZATION

Combating Communication Issues in a Socially Diverse Organization

Ysenia Elizondo

Tiffany Domine

Jessica Saenz

Kayla Ramon

Management Theory

Abstract
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There are many problems that can arise with an organization that is socially diverse. There can

be communication issues that management and employees are faced with. The problem is that

there can be misunderstanding and negative stereotyping of different social groups. The goal of

this research is to understand the influence of social diversity on communication in a workplace

and how managers deal with these situations. The purpose of this research project is to learn

different strategies on improving and maintaining effective communication between employees

and management within a social diverse workplace.

Problem
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One problem with in the work place is how social diversity can affect communication

between employees and management in an organization. There are many factors within diversity

that can influence cooperate relationships such as age, gender, and ethnic culture. While diversity

may be beneficial for many organizations, if not handled properly, it can reduce the quality of the

workplace environment. Differences in age and gender can lead to gaps in understanding and in

turn, communicating with each other. There are also risks for an organization that decided to

become more ethically diverse. For instance, there can be an increase of prejudice and rifts

among coworker that are based on skin color or ethnic backgrounds. Increasing ethnic cultural

diversity within an organization can also cause issue with stereotypes.

Research Goal

The goal of this research is to understand the influence of social diversity on

communication in a workplace and how managers should handle it. Knowing how to properly

integrate various age, gender, and ethnic groups can be beneficial to all organizations. The goal

of this research is to find the potential problems that diversity can cause in an organization and

formulate effective plans for managers to promote effective communication.

Purpose

The purpose of this research project is to learn different strategies on improving and

maintaining effective communication between employees and management within a social

diverse workplace. Understanding the rifts that cause miscommunication can allow employees

and mangers to correct these barriers and improve communication.

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Research Question

 How can we close the age gaps for effective communication?

 Why it is important to recognize the communication differences between

genders?

 How can we decrease miscommunication between ethnic cultures?

 How to improve overall communication despite diversity without stereotyping?

Literature Review

A potential disadvantage in communication would be the lack of an open mind that age

gaps can sometimes cause. As mentioned in The advantages and disadvantages of age diversity

in a workplace, when older employees are anchored to their own style and are just workers, it

might be hard for the younger generation to talk to them and be good coworkers, vice versa with

the younger workers (Dorlon, 2017). Younger employees might be prejudice and assume

inaccurate beliefs of the older employees. Or assume that that the older group will slow the team

down or not be as open minded. These potential stereotypes can greatly hinder effective

communication. However, if manager were to proactively incorporate the different perspectives

of all ages, it is considered that diversity in age group has a positive effect on productivity. As

mentioned in..Gellner, Backs (2013) Positive effects of ageing and age diversity in innovative

companies, older employees will rely on their past experiences to fall back on while the younger

generation will rely on their academic skill and mixture of skills and abilities (Backes & Veen,

2013).
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While differences in age may lead to massive gaps in perception and methodology,

difference in gender tends to have more underlying communication barriers. Men and women,

for the most part, have different ways of communicating with others - "men tend to assert

independence...and women tend to seek connections." (McKee, 2012, p. 112). Through various

social experiments, Robin Lankoff noticed that women are spoken about in a way that

marginalizes them, and Deborah Tannen noted that from a young age, girls are taught that

sounded too confident in themselves is essentially bad for them while that same action benefits

boys. While women are being more empowered nowadays, Judith Oakley noticed "different

behaviors are expected in behavioral double binds." All of these examples show how there are

very present barriers of communication between genders but now organizations are learning how

to benefit from the strong qualities of communication that women tend to have. So for managers,

being able to identify a person's strengths, regardless of gender can be very beneficial to the

many aspects of an organization.

There can be communication disadvantages with ethnic diversity within an organization

due to language barriers and different personal beliefs. Language barriers can lead to

misunderstandings between managers and employees. Language barriers is a tricky problem,

even the most skilled translators have issue translating concepts of emotion, which can lead to

misunderstandings. Also, there can be a lot of inaccurate stereotypes in a cultural diverse

organization. This can cause hostility, which can cause huge rifts in communication in an

organization. Working in a multicultural setting is inevitable for managers especially if the

organization is global. Managers need to have an understanding of the cultural background and
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language of their employees. Communication is a complex concept, which is why is it vital that a

manager figure out how to bring the organization together so that the organization can have

positive work efficiency.

Communication is key to a healthy workplace environment and it is a manager’s job to

ensure that communication is not hindered despite social diversity. Being aware of the “enemies

of communication” (McKee, 2012, p. 135).is the first step to properly handing this diversity.

Selective perception, stereotypes, or prejudice, can be overcome through keen self-awareness

and active inclusion of all socially diverse backgrounds within the company. Aside from being

self-aware, it is a manager’s job to foster social awareness throughout the organization and

perhaps even provide cultural training to enhance the employees nonverbal communication

skills. Having social and self awareness are essential in breaking down communication barriers

between the various social diversities present in the world today, whether it be age, gender, or

ethnicity.

Project Plan and Methodology

Our project plan and methodology to address and continue our own research on this issue

of communication between socially diverse organizations will be through surveys and research.

We can do more in depth research by further reviewing the various studies that have already

been conducted regarding social differences within organizations. We can find out which

training had more effect within organizations and learn more about what factors hinders people

with open communication between management. Through the use of qualitative and quantitative

research, including interviews and surveys, we can observe the communication patterns between
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diversified groups and figure out which factors contribute the most to communication barriers in

each group. This can be done with open-ended, qualitative surveys or it can be done based on a

numeric ranking system through surveys for quantitative data. Further study of social and

emotional intelligence and awareness, as well as H. Paul Grice’s four maxims toward effective

communication can also be helpful in learning how to properly combat the various

communication issues caused by social diversity.

Timeline

In line with our project plan and methodology, more detailed studies on the various

socially diverse groups, such as age, gender, and ethnicity, would be required. Following that,

learning about the ways these groups have affect on communication in a workplace would be a

large part of the research. In order to learn which methods are best for fostering healthy

communication in a workplace despite social differences, we would need to fully understand

what the problems are in the first place. Then, we would conduct our surveys asking about
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different communication statuses in the workplace to employees in various organizations noting

their age, gender, and ethnicity to support past research on how each socially diverse group can

be affected in terms of communication. After analyzing the data, the answers would help show

which special communication issues are more present in the different social groups. This would

then allow us to find the proper methods and techniques, avoiding stereotyping and selective

perception, that can be used my management on the various social groups to help ensure better

communication. Finally, the compilation of all of this information would allow us to formulate a

report to be sent after adequate review.

Research Study Conclusion

Though it is important for an organization to have a socially diverse setting in the work

place, there can be many issues that can arise. These issues in communication include age,

gender, and different ethnic groups. Due to the vast social diversities there is need for a higher

level of awareness in combating combatting the communicate barriers. Managers and

organizations must learn to adapt to different social diverse environments to ensure the high

quality productivity. Managers need to take the time to give out annual qualitative survey from

their employees and implement polices that produce more effective communication within the

organization. There needs to be a clear expectations and specifications that are required of the

employees in order to avoid any miscommunication between socially diverse work

environments. There needs to be a better understanding of social diversity. Different perspectives

can lead to great solutions.

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Resources:
Backes, U. G., & Veen, S. (2013). Getting the Benefits of Age Diversity in the Workplace. From

http://www.ioatwork.com/age-diversity-in-the-workplace/
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Dorlon, D. (2017, October 20). The Advantages and Disadvantages of Age Diversity in the

Workplace. From https://www.employmentcrossing.com/employers/article/

900049084/The-Advantages-and-Disadvantages-of-Age-Diversity-in-the-Workplace/

McKee, A. (2012). Management: a focus on leaders (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.