Communication is a necessity for any relationship -- whether personal or professional; without communication there is not a relationship. Though communication is the basis of every relationship, there are good forms of communication as well as not-so-good forms of communication (which we are all probably very aware of). Good communication is imperative in the professional sphere because communication in the workplace is synonymous with information (Dainton & Zelley 2010, p. 2). Good communication, however, is a rather uncertain term or idea because of the fact that what one considers good communication may not necessarily be understood by another depending on that person's culture and/or gender -- thus making it "bad communication." This causes misunderstandings and frustration within individuals, perhaps blaming themselves or the other person for not "getting through."
Men and women see the world very differently because their individual experiences are vastly different. Not only that, but communication is largely biased towards the male population because of men's dominance in our society. What seems pretty clear is that language is not neutral, whether it is because of gender differences or cultural differences. Communication is subjective and axiological as well (Mulvaney 2011) and once we know this, we can therefore understand that everything we say carries an attitude with it and attitudes precede acts (2011). What this means is...
This means that everyone in the group has to understand the problem, but how often do people understand problems in the same way? Critical thinking skills as well as specific procedures are just a couple of the approaches that can go into helping groups communicate and coming to decisions as a whole unit.
Communicating in groups where there are both men and women can be a challenge. Lind (2010) suggests that the "communication channel usage differs by gender" (p. 234). Lind found that women value connection and cooperation more than men, but at the same time, women tend to want to continue conversations longer than men, which is evidence of insecurity (2010, p. 234). Lind also claims that there is evidence to support the idea that women do not get "overloaded" with information the way that men do. Another finding was that women perceive email differently than men, but in practice they do not use it differently than men (2010, p. 234). Are these things important to know when thinking about communication? While they are somewhat curious, what findings like Lind's do show is that in everyday communication, whether it be face-to-face or over email, men and…
