Working with people from diverse groups can be challenging. Diverse groups refer to groups of people with distinct cultural affiliation, ethnicity, race or religion. We interact with these people in different places. When it comes to your work, you have to develop effective strategies to work with them. The task can be marred by a lot of challenges, given the difference you may have with these people. There are, however, approved effective practices that can help one work with diverse groups in the workplace. Below are some of the best practices in working with people of diverse groups
Encouraging Empathy
It is important to acknowledge the fact that people tend to have different feelings and behaviors as a result of cultural differences. It is therefore important to be empathetic and considerate of the feelings of people from a diverse group. Being empathetic also means offering a helping hand to these people whenever you have a chance. Eventually encouraging empathy within an organization helps people from diverse groups form relationships that are able to improve the interaction people have.
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Develop a Stereotype Free Working Environment
One thing about dealing with people of diverse groups is that we tend to develop several stereotypes about their culture and about them. Stereotypes affect a good relationship between people of diverse groups and us. It is, therefore, important to promote a stereotype free environment. This can be done through training, among others. The decision, however, depends on an individual. People from these groups should be viewed just like any other person from the same group. A stereotype free environment deters challenges that prevent people from having a good relationship with people from different cultures or groups.
Develop an effective communication Channel
Communication is very important in any work environment and can be even more of significance in a case of people of diverse groups. People of diverse groups may have different cultures features such as language difference. It is therefore important to come up with a blueprint of an effective communication channel that is responsive to the language barriers in the workplace. The communication channel should also be designed to encourage engagement between working in the organization (Podsiadlowski et al. 2013). A feedback system should be featured in the communication channel where these people can express their views freely.
The grouping strategy
Mixing up of people of diverse cultures, beliefs, religion and ethnicity among other dynamics of groups can help create a bond between people. If you are therefore given a task to perform and group with a person of diverse culture, it will be easy to create a bond between the two of you. The grouping strategy works through grouping employees or people from diverse groups to perform specific tasks. Through these practices, these people will be able to share ideas and learn about each other’s weaknesses. It is another way of encouraging relationships and trust among people of diverse groups.
Team Building
Many organizations continue to encourage the practice of team building. Team building is a practice that can work anywhere. It can be among College students, family members and workers, among others. Team building can include activities that include employees who are encouraged to know each other and improve on their work-related experiences. There is a special bond that is created between people by experiencing the real world outside what one is used to. Team building can include simple activities such as lunch and can also include a month vacation during holidays. You will get out of these team building activities, having learnt a lot about a colleague’s cultural differences or views and religion, among others.
Being Accommodative
In order to work with people of different cultures, it is important to be accommodative to the differences that exist between these diverse groups and the host’s cultural characteristic, views and any other affiliations. Encourage each other to respect the differences that exist among people of diverse groups. Being accommodative also means treating everyone with equity and equality. For example, it is important to respect the holiday dates of some employees even though they may not be recognized by the organization’s management. Giving these employees a day off during these holidays is a good gesture and means the management of an organization is accommodative (Loden, 2016). Acknowledging these differences and respecting them is the first step towards accommodating and working with people of diverse groups.
Experiencing New Cultures
One way of appreciating the cultural diversity among people of diverse groups is actually a first-hand experience of the cultures. There are several ways that we can try cultures of people that are working with. Frequent talks and engagement with these people are one of these ways. The other ways is by trying new foods affiliated with the diverse groups we are working. Hosting a worker of a different cultural affiliation is another way of creating a new cultural experience. Through these experiences, we are able to have a better understanding of our colleagues’ cultures hence a likelihood of being accommodative and working together effectively.
Conclusion
Working with people from diverse groups can be challenging and have negative impacts on people. It can affect the productivity of employees in the workplace. It is, therefore, important to employ effective strategies that are able to promote a harmonious work relationship with these people. The practices as detailed in this paper include team building, being accommodative, the grouping strategy, and developing an effective communication channel among others. These practices can help improve the interactions we have with people of diverse groups.
References
Loden, M. (2016). Implementing diversity (p. 16). Chicago, IL: Irwin.
Podsiadlowski, A., Gröschke, D., Kogler, M., Springer, C., & Van Der Zee, K. (2013). Managing a culturally diverse workforce: Diversity perspectives in organizations. International Journal of Intercultural Relations , 37 (2), 159-175.
