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Module 03 - Communicating across Cultures
There are so many different cultures! How can I know enough to
communicate? LO 3-3
Focus on being sensitive and flexible.
The broad range of cultures in the United States and the world makes it impossible to discuss
how to work with each individually. However, as PP 3-19 shows, some general guidelines by
Brenda Arbelaez can help students make adjustments. These include being
Aware that their preferred values and behaviors are influenced
by culture and are not necessarily “right.”
Flexible and open to change.
Sensitive to verbal and nonverbal behavior.
Aware of the values, beliefs, and practices in other cultures.
Sensitive to differences among individuals within a culture.
Are differences among generations changing the workplace and how we
communicate? LO 3-4
According to some observers, yes.
Students should understand—if they don’t already—that Baby Boomers and Millennials,
sometimes called Generation Y or the Internet Generation, have made headlines in recent years,
clashing over such issues as appropriate dress, ethics, hierarchies, expectations, and
responsiveness in the workplace.
Teaching Tip: Even experts disagree on how to define different generations. Use
the FYI box on p. 48 to point out how some experts define generations.
Some people may feel that the conflicts been blown out of proportion, and they might be right.
After all, friction among members of generations can be found throughout history. But there’s
no denying that corporate America, in particular, has reacted strongly to generational differences.
Let them know that corporations have gone so far as to hire consultants to sort things out, and
billions of dollars are spent annually now to help accommodate and motivate employees. How
America’s two largest generations are able to resolve their differences, real or perceived, has
profound implications for changes in the workplace.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
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Module 03 - Communicating across Cultures
Teaching Tip: A discussion on generational differences has the potential to devolve
into conflict, especially if people turn it into a critique of one generation or another.
To keep the discussion on track, establish ground rules. For instance, note that if
students point out a strength or weakness of one generation, they need to do the same
about the others, including their own. Remind them, too, if necessary, that the
objective of any discussion on generational differences is to understand better how to
reduce conflicts, not inflame them.
In-Class Exercise: Ask students with work experience to share any challenges
they’ve faced in the workplace that might relate to generational differences. Then
share any such experiences you may have had. Is there overlap? Which challenges
might be a factor of being a Baby Boomer, Gen-Xer, or Millennial compared to
which might simply be universal experiences shared by younger compared to older
employees? Novice compared to experienced ones?
Not everyone is in conflict, but patterns among those who are have emerged. While some
Millennials shake their heads at Baby Boomers’ mandates that employees start at entry-level jobs
or work well beyond 40 hours per week, some members of the older generation lament perceived
impertinence, poor communication skills, and what consultant Bruce Tulgan refers to as
“self-esteem on steroids.” Differing values may be involved, too. According to a Pew Research
Center Poll, 81% in Generation Y say being rich is their most important life goal.
In-Class Exercise: Ask students to list on the board what they believe are
characteristics of their generation. Do they coincide with the findings in the book?
What does this suggest about how different audiences may view generations? About
the limits of making broad-based claims about large groups of people?
As shown on PP 3-20, Millennials’ strengths, include optimism,
confidence, enthusiasm, organization, and goal orientation, but their
greatest may be with technology. No generation has ever been as plugged
in as the Millennials, who are accomplished multitaskers, so it’s probably
unsurprising that a Deloitte Consulting study found that 84% text
message, 62% watch YouTube and similar sites, and 56% create their
own entertainment.
Accordingly, supervisors relying on “snail mail,” voicemail or even e-mail messages to contact
Millennial employees may find they’re better off texting or adopting newer technologies, and
vice versa. Unlike significantly smaller Generation X, whose also tech-savvy members were
born after the Baby Boomers but before the Millennials, Generation Y has a reputation for
wanting to work in peer groups and with close direction from supervisors, much to the chagrin of
co-workers valuing autonomy. Workstations that allow face-to-face communication,
opportunities to access social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace and increased use of
mobile technologies, such as iPods, laptops, or cell phones, are attractive to many Millennials.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
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Module 03 - Communicating across Cultures
As illustrated on PP 3-21, tips to help Millennials impress colleagues and supervisors include:
Read often to enhance literacy.
Edit for grammar and proofread for spelling.
Avoid e-mail abbreviations in business
correspondence and be mindful of netiquette.
Use the appropriate tone, format, and language for
the intended audience.
Build common ground when negotiating with
others.
Find a mentor or role model to further develop skills and adapt to what the
organization wants.
As Generation Y has also shown great facility with gathering information but may want to go
deeper while analyzing the credibility of information, especially on the Internet.
Remind students that people are individuals as much as they are members of groups, and for
many Millennials, Gen-Xers, and Baby Boomers, intergenerational conflicts are nonexistent. If
they do sense tension, though, students should be flexible and think about the situation from the
other person’s point of view.
Dealing with discrimination LO 3-5
The struggles for civil rights in this country seem like a distant memory to many of today’s
students, who grew up in the shadow of much progress. For some of them, accepting that
discrimination still widely exists—even in the face of statistics, research, and anecdotes—is itself
difficult, especially if they view members of their own generation as particularly enlightened in
these matters. Some students challenge the notion that women, minorities, or other groups
historically disempowered face greater problems than anyone else or argue that “reverse
discrimination” is actually more rampant.
The point of this BCS box is not to point the finger of blame at anyone, nor to create a sense of
“us versus them.” While we cannot ignore the reality of who is most likely to face
discrimination as well as how the federal government defines protected classes of people, we
must show students that problems certainly do still exist in the workplace and how they are most
likely to manifest themselves.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
3-3
Module 03 - Communicating across Cultures
Teaching Tip: Students often report that they have not practiced discrimination nor
harbor any discriminatory feelings against anyone. You might, however, ask the
class to share experiences where they felt as though they faced discrimination. Most
people can come up with experiences where they felt as though they were on the
“outside looking in” or where the will of the group conflicted with their own
personal ideas. In sharing, students can also seem the common threads that unite
discriminatory practice.
As PP 3-22 shows, to deal with discrimination effectively involves
several key steps, including:
Recognizing that not everything is discrimination
Deciding on a strategy
Charting your own path
Taking the high road.
In addition, resources may exist to help employees who feel they are the victims of discrimation.
Most companies have a diversity or Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) manager, but if not,
government EEO offices exist to help.
Perhaps the most important philosophy to glean from this BCS box is to deal with discrimination
constructively.
How can I make my documents bias-free? LO 3-6
Start by using nonsexist, nonracist, and nonagist language.
Students should use bias-free language when communicating. As
PP 3-23 through PP 3-30 show, this includes nonsexist, nonracist,
nonagist, and people-first language. Use it to illustrate ways to
reduce biases in language.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
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Module 03 - Communicating across Cultures
In-Class Exercise: Ask the students to share situations when they may have
encountered language that wasn’t bias-free. What were their reactions? How did
they view the speaker or organization using such language? If they could substitute
terms, what would these be? Have the students bring in correspondence or messages
that contain biased language. Share these examples with the class and ask what
could be done to improve the content. (Note: Preface this exercise by excluding
messages designed to inflame or insult the reader. Useful messages for this
assignment are ones where the biased language is likely inadvertent.)
Biases occur in words, phrases, job titles, and pronoun use. Photos can
also be biased. As PP 3-31 shows, students should review the content of
any photos or illustrations to see what biases may occur. For instance,
an illustration showing only male executives seated around a conference
table while a female secretary serves coffee may imply that women are
only in the workplace to serve men.
Last Word: Perhaps frustratingly, no “one-size-fits-all” approach to working with
people from different cultures exists, and critics may question the need to be culturally
sensitive in the first place. The reality is that the workplace, as with the rest of the
world, is changing rapidly. Awareness of cultural differences is no longer a luxury but a
necessity. As your students enter a 21st Century workplace, give them the advantage of
at least being sensitive to cultural differences—and the sensitivity to work positively
with people unlike themselves.
© 2014 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution
in any manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
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