Cultural Communication

            Although I do my best to communicate with respect, I do find myself communicating differently with different groups.  I see it most when I am with a group of my peers versus a group of my co-workers.  Even when looking at communication with my co-workers, I communicate differently especially if my supervisors are around.  Through this self-reflection, I see how I have differing levels of self-monitoring depending on who is around.  When my supervisors or co-workers are around, I have higher levels of self-monitoring.  I think to be a more effective communicator I need to be a better self-monitor.  I stress out when talking with my supervisors and can obsess over everything that they say or do.  I get caught up in saying the correct things and their reactions that I usually forget important points of the conversation and forget what I originally wanted to talk to them about.  I need to relax more and stress less so I can remember the important points and maintain the focus of the conversations.

            When I am around my peers, I can tend to slip into perceptions based on the group that I am in communication with.  I let their perceptions become my perceptions even though I know better.  This is especially true when talking about cultural myopia and stereotypes.  Thankfully my work in a Cultural Competence Breakthrough Series Collaborative and my last course has really helped me discover who I am, my perceptions, and be a more culturally competent communicator.  When I am around my group of peers I need to be a better culturally competent communicator model and maintain my perceptions instead of following into the group’s perceptions.  Maybe through this modeling, I can start to change the group’s perceptions and create more awareness. 

            Last but not least the idea of being other-oriented and the Platinum Rule made me think about how I handle myself in situations and with communication with others.  I realize that no matter whom I am communicating with, I need to be more aware of how they want to be treated.  I am sometimes so focused on my thoughts, emotions, and perceptions that I forget to think about the other person.  I admit I have left conversations kicking myself after realizing how I treated the other person.  I was not mean or rude, but realized I could have handled situations differently if I took into account their perceptions and how they would have liked to be communicated with.  This was one of the first lessons I learned when I became a supervisor.  I handled communication and a situation with a matter of fact attitude.  That backfired in my face and I came to understand that my team members needed to be communicated with in a more gentle manner and less of a like it or leave it attitude.  Keeping this in mind will help me become a more effective communicator regardless of the group I am communicating with.