Introduction
How many times have you experienced misunderstanding at work? Perhaps someone misinterpreted a message you sent, thinking you were angry when you were just in a hurry or focused on the task? Maybe you assumed a colleague’s lack of response meant approval, when in fact it was an expression of disagreement?
These examples illustrate the unspoken language —the body language and the cultural contexts that permeate any and every conversation we have.
While manoeuvring through the global world, it is crucial that we recognize that everything that we see, do, and even think, has been influenced by our own cultural background. In the same way that introverts are not better than extroverts (nor vice-versa), one cultural trait is not better than another. Rather, they are just different. To bring about change in our personal and professional lives, and to better communicate cross-culturally, it is equally as important to recognize and understand these differences.
With this in mind, let’s begin learning about Indigenous communication styles, nonverbal communication, and relational communication in the workplace now!
“A wholistic organizational culture puts people before profit and prioritizes wholistic values that align with Indigenous people’s ways of being and knowing. Indigenous employees shared that within the workplace this is translated through communication, understanding, trust, collaboration, flexibility, trust, and an overall genuine interest to make things better for the Indigenous community and all of our relations.” (Hunt, 2021)
Learning Goals
By the end of this lesson, I will be able to:
- Understand cultural differences in communication and how these may affect interactions.
- Identify the basic hallmarks of Indigenous communication styles.
