Participants need to feel that they are being understood and respected throughout the organization. They need to feel that their ideas and concerns are being heard. Those conditions create strong motivation and momentum for change. It can be a major challenge to work in multicultural environments where your clients’ organizations have values, beliefs and certain conventions that are distinctly different from yours. An organization’s culture is driven by the values throughout that organization. Quite often, decisions in organizations are based on the strong values among its members. To help your employees or clients make meaningful decisions and to understand decisions that they may have made already it is extremely important that you have some understanding of the culture and values of other groups or organizations.

1. Communication in a Multicultural
Workplace
Moriba Touray
Devry University, Keller Graduate School of
Management, GM410

2. How to Communicate in
the workplace
• The ability to be opened to learning about and accepting
of cultural diverse groups.
• Note the following:
Prejudice Sexism
Stereotype Multiculturalism
Cultural sensitivity Ethnicity
Racism Race
Discrimination Ethnocentrism

3. Why address cultural differences in a
multicultural workplace
• Help organizations build environments that include
all workers.
• Explore the concept of intentional and unintentional
intolerance.
• Recognize the strength of diversity as a leader.
• Address the issue of stereotype i.e. generalization
characteristics that applied to members of a cultural
group.

4. What groups do we include in our
list of cultural differences
Race
Gender
Faith Ethnicity
Language
Nation

5. The specific cultural approach to
differences
• Understanding and awareness of cultural issues.
Reduces the chance of stereotyping.
• Not to discriminate or make difference in treatment
on a basis other than individual character.
• Recognize and acknowledge societal diversity. In
addition, there exists many ethnicity, sexual
orientation, religion, gender and class.

6. Recognition of group identity with
respect
• Communication and language
• Dress and appearance
• Time and time consciousness
• Rewards and recognition
• Relationships
• Values and norms
• Sense of self and space
• Beliefs and attitudes

7. Recognition of cross-cultural factors
• Food and eating habits
• Personal hygiene, habits and appearance
• Cultural values in Asia and the American workplace
• Understand workplace ladder

8. Incorporating diversity into
workplace communication
• Come out of our comfort zones
• Communicate in way that new groups can understand
• Become sensitive to our own culture and value and
respect differences
• Promote mutual respect
• Stimulate to strategic and critical thinking
• Seek to help members to different cultures when
interacting with them.

9. Facilitate communication across
cultural boundaries
• Recognize differences
• Build your self-awareness
• Describe and identify, then interpret
• Don’t assume your interpretation is right
• Share experience honestly. Don’t evaluate or judge others.
Avoid cultural blindness: it could camouflage reality.
• Acknowledge discomfort, hesitation or concern. Practice
politically correct communication.

10. Communication strategies to
promote understanding
• Patient
• Select words carefully, and avoid slang
• Use nouns, not pronouns
• Ask specific questions-when, how, who, what etc.
• Praise and criticism should be clearly distinguished
• Recognize eye contacts, accent and personal space.

11. Better Communication in the diverse
workplace
• Learn how the source culture best receives
communication
• Train foreign employees to avoid misunderstanding
and confusion
• Practice open-door communication carefully
• Company wide communications, avoid jargons
• Play by the rules and stick to business

12. Individual path to multicultural
communication
• Accept/respect – allowing other cultures be what they are
and is fine for things not always fit our paradigms.
• Appreciation/value- see worthy things in things that fall
outside our own culture
• An individual begin using things that were initially outside
our own cultural paradigms
• Recognize multiculturalism- integrating our lives with
other cultures

13. Communication as a tool to
empowerment in the workplace
• Strive to be responsible to all sectors within the
workplace
• Facilitate workplace empowerment
• Implement inclusion and build relationships at all
levels
• Encourage and support cultural competent members

14. Continuum of communication in a
multicultural workplace
• Should be characterized by acceptance of and respect for
differences, continuing self-assessment, regarding cultural
dynamics, and continuous expansion of cultural
knowledge
• Holding other cultures at very high-esteem.
• Combat stereotyping, scape-goating, and other
misinformation
• Recognize values, respect and build the diversity within
the organization

15. References
Bove’e, C. & Thill, J. 2006. Business
Communication Essentials, Second edition,
Apprentice Hall, Pearson Education, Inc. Upper
Saddle River, New Jersey 07458.

16. Thank you!