Importance and Challenges of Gender Communication in Business Organisation

In business organisations human resources can be both males and females. As we had already discussed that male and female have different conversational style, in many cases there is high chances of having misunderstanding between male and female office personnel.

Though there is work division for an individual, in most of the cases there should be the proper coordination and communication between both male and female employees otherwise their output would be ineffective which will not produce productive outcome. If such situation occurs both the male and female employees have to confront the charges from the managerial level.

Lets talk about the communication teaching department of Manukau Institute of Technology. There are both male and female lecturers. For example sometimes if the program coordinator Sandy has to instruct or explain some important things to other male lecturers, she may explain it in rapport style which may not be liked by other male lecturers. On the other hand if the male lecturers like Nuddy has to explain about the progress report of the students regarding his topics, he may just use report style and Sandy may expect more about it. 

If there is no proper coordination between Sandy and Nuddy or among other male and female lecturers of the communication department, there won't be effective planning regarding the ways of teaching and other factors related to the course which will not only affect students but also create controversy among the lecturers in the communication department.

But as the courses have been effectively taught by both the male and female lecturers, we can say that our both male and female lecturers have proper coordination and communication among each other.

In this age of globalisation and commercialisation we have to work in a multicultural environment. It means that we may have to work with males and females from different countries having different cultures. The difference in culture also mean the different in communication style as well. In such situation we should be very  careful while communicating otherwise there may arise critical conflicts among us.

In different business organisations males and females have to be very careful about both the viable and non viable communication and communicate in a proper way deciding which communication style would be very appropriate in a particular situation. 

In most of the shopping centres and in different organisations we find the involvement of more females as sales person or receptionist as they can rapport in a proper way with the consumers. The way how they establish relation is very important because when they can establish intimacy with the customers they will use their product and services. So their communication style has a lot to do with the success of business organisations.

When messages are transmitted from males to females or vice versa in the organisation, there is a potential for distortion of the message due to how it may be perceived. Differences in communication between males and and females may be a result of this distortion or differences in the style and content of the messages. The styles of gender communication have been expressed as "debate versus relate", "report versus rapport", or "competitive versus cooperative". These different styles of communication are believed to be the cause of miscommunication. The commonly accepted differences in these styles of interaction can be summarized as follows:

• Competitive 
• Make more commands 
• Limited emotional content 
• Quantity of speech limited 
• Use of slang and/or swearing 
• Gives information Relational  
• Ask more questions  
• Discuss feelings and perceptions 
• Higher quantity of speech 
• Polite speech and
• Others

So males and female office personnel working in different level and positions in the organisation or in different branches of an organisation should be aware about the above mentioned points and use the proper conversational style to communicate as per the need and demand of situation of the workplace. It doesn't mean that female office personnel should necessarily adopt male's report style and vice versa, it means according to the nature of working place they should collaborate with each other in communication should that they can work effectively with the proper communication style that won't let conflicts arise among them.

Causes of Report and Rapport Conversational Style

The culture indicates the lifestyle of the people within a group and denotes the values, beliefs, artefacts, behaviour and communication. Culture is learned being passed down from generation to generation, providing guidance for ethical and moral behaviour. Gender communication can be considered to be a sub-culture since it is passed down from generation in the interactions that children have with their parents and other adults. This idea appears to validate the theory of nurture and its effect on communication. Tannen (2001) has shown that the role of culture is critical to the understating of the communication skills of a person. Tone, aggressive speech, and interruption of the speaker all depend on cultural background. In Asian culture, aggression is not considered to be appropriate behaviour, with both men and women showing politeness in their conversation with others. Depending on status, tone is used to indicate displeasure.

Recent studies on structural differences in the brain of men and women account for the greater verbal fluency by showing that the corpus callosum (the huge crescent-shaped band of nerve fibres connecting the brain hemispheres) is larger in women than in men (Lippa, 2002). Since parts of the corpus callosum as well as the anterior commissure, another connector, appear to be larger in women they are thought to permit better communication between hemispheres. Anne Campbell's (1989) work on brain lateralization supports the theory of brain structure differences accounting for differences in gender communication. The planum temporale, a region of the brain involved in verbal ability has been shown to have greater symmetry in females (Allen and Gorksi, 2002). Campbell concluded that the female brain is therefore better organized for communication being less lateralized with functions spread over both sides of their brains. This she states explains the reason why women use words more expressively than men. Based on brain differences women are better communicators than men, a difference that probably existed at birth.

Here are some pictures that show the differences in the structures of male and female brain which affect in the conversational style in the gender communication.

Rapport Vs. Report talk in gender communication

In the classical conversational style females typically talk to build rapport and while males typically try to report during conversation.

Rapport is the connection that is cultivated between us and the people that we come in contact with. Rapport is the reason why we feel comfortable and trust some and lack of rapport is why we would feel unease and skepticism with others. Rapport is a way to come into a direct understanding with a person's unconscious mind. To build rapport is to speak and act in such a way that the person or people you are interacting with begin to see a commonality in you.

Tannen (1990) reveals a very different conversational style by men and women. Women, Tannen says, use conversation to make connections and establish intimacy and community, what she refers to as "rapport talk". Conversation is more cooperative than competitive, although sometimes competition is masked by apparent operation.

Men, on the other hand, see conversation as a means of establishing status and power. Information giving, or "report talk" is one way to achieve a higher status in the conversation.

Generally, the communication style of women has been described as being more emotional than men. Women focus on feelings and building relationships while men focus on power, and status. This is also shown in problem solving, where men take a straightforward approach compared with women who tend to establish intimacy, show concern and empathy. Additionally women are also seen to foster cooperation rather than competition.

Men display a higher percentage of task behaviors -- providing information, direction, or answers, and direct disagreement than women do (Eckes, 2000). They use problem solving as an opportunity to demonstrate competence, ability to solve problems and their commitment to the relationship. When thinking about the problem, they expect solutions, exerting power to accomplish the problem solving task. On the other hand, use problem solving as a way to strengthen relationships, focusing on sharing and discussing the problem rather than the end result.

In the following video, Dianna Booher has clearly explained the difference between Report and Rapport conversational style that takes place in gender communication communication.

Introduction

Communication is the process by which information and ideas are spread from person to person. In order to express feelings, emotions, opinions and values, to learn and teach, and to improve their status, people communicate with each other. that's why Communication vital to human interaction whether between parents and children, bosses and employees or even husband and wife. The diversity and characteristics of those involved in any interaction can thus affect communication. Taking account of any diversity in interaction rather than assuming uniformity is important to achieving effective communication.

Talking about "Gender Communication" many people use the words gender and sex interchangeably, however the meaning of these words is different. The word sex refers to the genetic and biological status of being male or female, while gender refers to the psychological and social manifestations of being male or female, i.e. the socially defined, learned, constructed accoutrements of sex, such as hairstyle, dress, nonverbal mannerisms, and interests (Lippa, 2002). Gender therefore focuses on the social construct regarding the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with one sex. It concentrates on the roles and responsibilities, expectations, and aptitude of men and women that are learned, and modified as a result of the interaction of culture, society and environment.