The week my blog will focus on how I communicate with
different groups of people. Communication
can be seen in one manner with one group of people and completely different
when communicating with another group.
My communication style is different with each type of group I engage in
but I try to be effective in each group.
As an African American professional, I tend to communicate differently
in my professional relationships than how I would communicate others. I also have a way that I communicate with my
friends, those that I know from church, or people that I met.
I often have reserves when speaking with others that are
Hispanic. This is mostly because I feel
that I am not communicating effectively for them to understand what I am
saying. Many of the parents of the
children in the after school program I direct speak limited English. I keep eye contact with them so that I can
notice when they are looking for another child to translate for them. Their body language helps me to identify if
they do not fully understand what I am saying.
When I notice that they do not understand, I often ask their child to
translate or one of the other children will assist me in communicating with the
parent.
I notice that I communicate differently with my colleagues. I often will open up and communicate about
things pertaining to work but I keep my private and personal life out of the
lines of communication. The only
exception to this is if it relates to a topic that is being discussed and I
feel that my information would help the person.
One of my colleagues has five children that attend the after school
program and they all have discipline issues to the point of which I have to
stand between them so that they would not fight each other. In my communication with my colleague, I have
to stop myself from giving her advice on how to discipline the children. I just advise her to get the older ones some
help with anger but this advice was only given when she asked me what she
should do because she was tired of the instances.
I also find that my language is different when I am speaking
with a friend and someone that I attend or know from church settings. I am reserved with the church friends and
might not speak openly on certain subjects as I would with a friend outside of
church. However, my best friend is
someone that I met in church and we talk about anything that comes to
mind. I know I do not speak to others in
church as I would with my friends because of the judgmental hat that “saved”
people wear at times. I also do not feel
open to discuss my views on something because of fear of judgment.
Overall, I am a friendly, talkative person that can
communicate with different races and sexes.
I do not discriminate during a conversation and will talk to others
without knowing them personally the same way I would speak to someone that I
know. However, I do tend to stop
communicating when I think the conversation is becoming too personal. The strategies I could use to help me become
a better communicator are to adapt the topic and level of intimacy of my
conversation, adapting by withholding or avoiding information, and adapting
through my choice of language. (adapted
from Beebe, Beebe & Redmond, 2011, p. 113)
Reference
Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). (6th ed., p. 85–114). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, Inc.
Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). (6th ed., p. 85–114). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, Inc.
Janine,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post and I enjoyed reading about your different communication styles and techniques for specific groups of people that you engage in conversations with. We do find ourselves communicating differently with people that we spend more time with, especially when they are friends. It is very hard to remain professional when you work with friends and or their children. I had my own center for 12 years and I did not take care of any of my friend's children. I had to draw a line and not cross it in order to maintain a professional manner. I communicate differently with my friends than I do with my daycare children parents. That communication is based on the relationships that we have with others, and these relationships have to be respected. Great post Melissa
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ReplyDeleteJanine,
ReplyDeleteI understand how hard it is to communicate with your fellow colleague about their children. I bring my children with me to work (Cogan is a school-ager and Lillie is in Private Kindergarten) and it can be difficult to talk to the teachers about difficult situations. I want them to treat me as a parent and not as their boss or even their colleague. This is because I want them to treat me with the same respect as they would a parent. Sometimes working together I think they tend to forget that I am a parent and not just their friend or coworker. When my oldest son, Jake, was just starting to get potty trained, one of my coworkers confronted me about potty training him and how I should do more training at home. I feel as though this was done very unprofessional and when I expressed my concerns to my boss, she overlooked it because I did work there. Thanks for sharing
Rachael