Business and Professional Communication, 3rd edition
Kelly M. Quintanilla, Shawn T. Wahl
Chapter 5: Geflng to Know Your Diverse Workplace
Lecture Notes
Learning objective:
5-1 Describe each phase of the assimilation process
5-2 Assess the culture in your organization
5-3 Define key concepts related to diversity in the workplace and the important role they play
5-4 Discuss examples of di$erent kinds of diversity that you may encounter as you enter the
workplace
Outline:
I. Introduction Example of Google
A. Google admi(ed in 2014 that the company was far from being a diverse workplace.
i. The statistical data show the company is mostly men and mostly white.
ii. Google pointed out that computer science degrees among women and minority
B. How is your workplace?
II. Learning Your Workplace Culture
A. You learn about your workplace’s organizational culture through assimilation.
i. We are assimilated by socializa(on, or the experiences that shape our a4tudes,
functioning in society.
B. Organiza(onal culture refers to the way an organization operates.
C. The assimila(on process is the adjustment period of se(ling into a new job.
III. Assimilating College Students
A. Students gain information about the organizational culture using seven tactics
i. Overt ques(oning
ii. Indirect ques(oning
iii. Third-party ques(oning
B. Students also gain information about the organizational culture using artifacts.
i. Ar(facts are temporary objects characteristic of a culture or institution.
ii. Artifacts provide information about the organization.
C. Students learn cultural rituals.
i. Cultural rituals are practices, behaviors, celebrations, and traditions common to
an organization.
IV. Diversity in Your Workplace: Some Important Concepts
A. Cultural Diversity Awareness and Worldview
i. As a professional, strive for cultural diversity awareness.
ii. Workplaces are filled with people with di$erent worldviews, meaning a person’s
cultural orientation of viewing the world.
B. Cultural Competence
i. Cultural competence is the level of knowledge a person has about others who
C. Mutual Respect
i. Mutual respect or mutual understanding helps prevent cultural tensions,
misunderstandings, and conflict.
ii. When mutual respect is absent, discrimination, the act of excluding or denying
people of product, rights, and services, can occur.
V. Examples of Diversity in Professional Contexts
A. Gender
i. Men and women are part of di$erent cultures.
B. Ethnicity and Race
i. Race is the categorization of people based on physical characteristics such as
skin color, dimensions of the face, and hair.
ii. Ethnicity refers to a social group that may be joined together by factors such as
shared history, shared identity, shared geography, or shared culture.
iii. Stereotypes, the way humans categorize or understand, can impact our
understanding of ethnicity and communication.
C. Language Di$erences
i. Globaliza(on brings us into greater contact with the rest of the world and gives
our daily lives an increasingly international orientation.
a. Globalization brings us into contact with accents, or how people
c. When you experience language barriers, ask and answer questions to
ensure a clear understanding.
d. Transla(on services provide interpretation systems to assist with
language barriers and communication concerns.
D. Religion and Spirituality
i. Religion and spirituality can a$ect the diversity in the workplace.
ii. Seek to understand di$erences that may exist in the workplace.
E. People with Disabilities
i. People with disabili(es in the workplace may have a visible disability or an
invisible disability.
VI. KEYS to Excellence in getting to Know the Diverse Workplace
A. In relation to the first key, know yourself, Google should have practiced cultural
competence.
B. The key of evaluate the professional context is essential for Google because the company
should strive to be audience centered and aware of potential for cultural di$erences in