SP2750: A Case Study: Diversity In Groups

Miguel Villagrana
May 8, 2015 SP2750
Research 5.1
Diversity in Groups Intercultural communication is a form of communication that aims to share information across different cultures as well as social groups. It’s used to describe the wide range of communication processes and problems that naturally within a group or socially that’s made up people from different backgrounds like religious, ethnicity, social and their education. Some refer it to communicating among individuals from different nationalities. It is a way to understand how people from different countries and cultures will act, communicate and absorb the world around them. Many people argue how the different cultures take the individuals messages, transmit and how they interpret the messages. With the increased globalization of workplace settings across most industries, manager’s today need a more precise understanding of intercultural communication to have an effective strategy to manage properly. It’s important that they proactively engage in communication skills and make the necessary adjustments to address the current needs in today’s diverse work environment. When doing so it is important to have a plan, know the team you are working with and do
your research on how you will go with your plan. The differences in verbal and nonverbal are impacted wherever you in, whether it’s a local restaurant or a different country.
At times in restaurants they don’t always speak our language and understand very little, so it comes down to pointing at what you want in the menu and nodding. The good thing is that in the states everyone speaks English. Say you go to a different country, how are you going to get around if you don’t speak their language, it will be a challenge. We may think nonverbal is universal, but it’s not. Every culture interprets body language different, gestures, posture and vocal noises. Like I mentioned above that you will nod to either say yes or no in a restaurant, it may have a different meaning or the opposite in another
country. To accomplish communication you must be careful to ensure that the message you are sending is clearly understood. Every cultural is different and even every individual can get different meanings what your gesture or comment. Make sure you are straight forward when communicating and if the other party seems lost, try to explain. Doing so can avoid some nasty situations. What strategies would I suggest in my life or profession to have better communication with other cultures? I would say to be careful what you are saying, your tone of voice and your hand gestures. Every bit can change what you are trying explain and express to others. If you have to, think before you speak to make sure it goes across in a respectful way. Since every culture was brought up differently and the language is different, there are many meanings to just one word, gesture, facial expression and so on.