Custom «Men and Women in the Workplace» Essay Paper Sample

Men and women have cohabited on the planet with all there idiosyncrasies which are well known and experienced by all of us at some stage of our life. Men and women who live together also at some places have to work together and in the process are known to get entangled with their personal perspective which involves issues like running the show, the authority involved and such other allied matters. The main reason for these differences is that men and women have evolved their own yardsticks in evaluating things and then communicating with others. Both men and women aspire, suggest and achieve things in a completely different manner. The timing of the requests is strangely completely different for the same issue and the style to do so is equally different leading to misunderstandings at the work place and completely different outcomes.

Men and women sometimes appear to behave in a manner which the other sex cannot simply understand. This is largely due to the fact that the men and women think, speak and decide differently for the same issue. For instance thinking by men has been found to be specific and very clear-cut while women have been known to think in a very general manner. Men are known to be extremely cold and detached mentally with the information at hand. Women appear to be more involved emotionally and are very serious about the issue till they have all the information they require. Men can switch from their work area to business or even to family within seconds while women take a lot of time to move from one operational zone to another.

It is the experience of many that men are known to discuss events in very short phrases and statements which carry little or no details. Women on the other hand have been observed to go into minute details to interconnect the entire facts so as to get the larger picture. Whereas men are quick off the block and there interest lies on rather how the event will conclude. Women are more interested in the events that lead right up to the event. The pleasure that a women enjoys in telling events that lead up to a story often distracts and annoys men who eventually get frustrated and tend to disagree with the women’s conclusion. Men have been known to communicate indirectly and the women directly but both the genders have never been known to communicate in the same way (Lakoff 627). If the two genders do not communicate in the same way there is bound to be serious conflict that could involve difference of opinion and other operational problems.

Women are in the habit of asking a lot of questions before they take up any assignment. They prefer to have all the facts with them before they start reacting. Men on the other hand simply jump into the task and enjoy and feel there is not a moment to waste. Men believe all hurdles would be tackled as they come along. They consider the fact collection and questions by women as merely a sign of weakness and their inability to take up the assignment in the overall organizational perspective. This different vision of the two genders leads to disregard for the other’s point of view and causes unnecessary differences of opinion. Right from their childhood girls have a habit of bonding with people and this continues throughout their life. Boys on the other hand prefer to lead over expressing friendship, and always cherish a desire to be a leader. The end result is that men wish to impose authority while women prefer to have a relationship first at the work place. Men consistently prefer to challenge others and in turn expect to be challenged to express their superiority.

All individuals bring into the office some version of the dynamics they have at their home. Men and women interact with colleagues, juniors, mentors or other employees who resemble the intimates in our personal lives, especially spouses. Men are known to unnecessarily harass women colleagues if their personal life is unsatisfactory at home with their spouses.

Women have reported facing various problems at their work place because of the vocabulary that men are known to use during their inter office communication. Men are quite easily known to refer to women as “Dear” while at the same time some women detest being addressed as “ladies” even. Men claim to possess a superiority status and are known to dictate their terms on colleagues and juniors including women. Men accuse women of not getting down to the job quick enough and cannot be considered one of the boys in participating in jokes and pranks or using curse words.

Over the years women have faced different challenges that require different skills not only to survive at their work place but also to rise within the organizational hierarchy. The amount of these differences has been dependent on the size of the organization, the level of management and the job duties assigned to them. The number of women in the work place has increased 5% since 1980 whereas the number of women in management positions has increased by over 19% in the same period (Powell & Graves, 2003). The number of women entrepreneurs is on the rise in every country as women have found ways to offer unique products and services to societies. These women communicate with their male and female counterparts as customers, suppliers, business partners and employees.

Although these trends are very heartening and give immense satisfaction research indicates that there is still a considerable gap between women and men regarding the compensation they claim for performing a similar sort of work. Historically men have dominated women and have accepted stronger duties leading to the phrase “Men hunt while women nest” right since the cavemen days. The role has been modified to some extent over the years and men are not considered to be the sole hunter and provider for the family needs. Women have a greater role entrusted upon them, yet differences continue to persist. However, the deferment of marriage coupled with increases in employment opportunities for women, with better education has led to more women taking on managerial roles at the workplace.

The way the office staff communicates amongst itself makes a significant impact on the performance of the company, and is a vital factor between winning or losing contracts, efficiency and inefficacy in the execution of projects, and ultimately making or losing money. The worst of situations can be turned around where the staff communicates under an able management which has formulated strategies upfront to encourage effective communication. The lead managers have to set an example themselves and need to regard that communication is a two way channel. Any respect shown to the opposite is the primary ingredient of successful communication. This is applicable to both written and oral communication.

It is vital to remember that staff does not comprise of men and women, rather of individuals who all possess different social and cultural backgrounds. It is this different upbringing that the staff contributes to the organization which is a part of the product and service provided. Men and women behavior has been well documented over the years and many believe that the feeling of superiority by any group or disregard for the others characteristics leads to inappropriate communication while conversing with the other gender. The moment the groups start respecting the other, gender the differences will come down and the workplace conditions improve drastically. The definition of a diverse work force is an environment where differences are accepted rather than denied. If people were to pay attention to gender differences, they might untangle the gender communications knots — and get the job done a lot faster.