Ch.7-Gender Differences at Work

In Chapter 7, gender and differences at work are discussed with regards to the differences in communication styles between men and women. When men communicate with one another they are attempting to seek status by “one uping” each other through assertive expression, story-telling (fish story), and knowledge. Women on the other hand tend to communicate with relationship or rapport in mind. Women accomplish this through “matching experiences, providing support and responsiveness, tentativeness, and conversational maintenance.” (204) These differences can sometimes cause confusion, distrust, lack of confidence or value, and miscommunication between the genders when neither gender truly understands what the other is trying to communicate. We have all been there. Just think about the experiences we have had with the opposite sex when trying to explain something.

The workplace adds another element of difficulty because the level of comfort between the genders may not be the same as being at home, with your church group, or other family members. The work environment is generally a professional atmosphere with some sort of hierarchical structure. Employees have their workplace roles (manager, lower management, CEO, etc...), within each of these roles is a set of unspoken rules for communication. Take for example a department meeting. A male supervisor in the department begins to share ideas about new sales strategies for the organization. A female supervisor chimes in and states that she agrees with the male supervisors suggestions but also offers an additional set of strategies. The conversation continues with almost little acknowledgement of what the female supervisor contributed. The meeting continues and another male in the meeting shares his thoughts about building company profits and almost mirrors what the female supervisor had just shared. Additionally, the male adds “his winning moment” (story) to the group, and suddenly his ideas are thought of as great. The female supervisor at this point is feeling under-valued and not appreciated for her contribution. What could have occurred here?
Perhaps when the female supervisor shared her responses the group was not prepared. Perhaps the group was not ready for her answers and the timing was off, or she may have low credibility. A number of reasons could have contributed to the outcome.

Another communication difference I have noticed in my work is the way men and women communicate with the public during certain calls for service (law enforcement). For example, I was called to a loud music complaint at 11 PM on a weekend night. I responded and spoke with the occupants of the home explaining that this was the third time that law enforcement was called to their home that evening. I explained the noise ordinance laws to the occupant and told them I was going to write them a citation. While the occupant did not like the idea of receiving a ticket, they were cooperative. A few minutes into the situation a male officer arrived on scene. Almost immediately the male occupants of the home who I had been speaking with and built a reasonable rapport with became agitated by the presence of the male officer. The male officer, not tolerating the agitation in the occupant’s body language began to order the occupants to follow directions. Almost immediately a physical confrontation ensued between us and the occupants of the home over a measly music complaint that I initially had control of.
Ultimately, a difference in communication style between the male officer’s style and the occupants led to the physical confrontation. The whole situation could have been avoided had there not been an immediate power struggle between the officer and occupants. Had the male officer not shown up at the situation the outcome would have been much different. I had already established defining the problem with the occupant and building a rapport. I would have walked away with a simple ticket and no injuries.

Definitely a difference in communication styles.