Men and women are different in the ways they communicate to others due to their psychological gender differences. This difference has been a great advantage to the work industry. Their communication styles are used for several purposes according to the nature of work.
Way of communicating
The primary difference between men's and women's speaking styles comes from the purpose of their speaking. Both have different purposes for conversations. Men are more likely to see the conversation as a source to show their power, dominance, and independence to others and to get tangible results. They feel like a man if they can achieve results from their conversation.
While the purpose of conversation for women is to maintain relationships and to create a social bond with other parties. Women identified their sense of self when they can build good connections with others. These are the purposes of their conversations.
Men value asymmetry and difference in individuals. They want the other party should be their opponent or have different goals. Because they think the conversation is for negotiation or showing power and dominance. While women want others to have common goals and prefer equality because their purpose of the conversation is building connections and showing intimacy.
Men are unemotional and independent in their talk, so without considering others' emotions, they talk assertively which leaves the impression that they are more confident and always right. Women are emotional and don’t want others to get hurt by saying anything directly. So they talk tentatively and hesitantly which leaves an impression that they are less confident.
Men don’t like to take orders from others and consider it an attack on their ego. While women can easily come up to terms with others. Because they focus on building a good relationship with others which requires compromises.
Women like to be perfect in every way. They don’t want others to think unpleasant about them so they prefer to keep themselves shut in many situations. Men have nothing to do with what others might think of them. Therefore you have seen men cracking jokes because they are little concerned about what others would think of them.
Culture has also a great influence on the way they speak. Men are more assertive and goal-oriented in their conversations. Unlike men, women are tentative and more expressive in their talk. Women are always taught to speak politely to others. Throne and Henley in their research hypothesized that women tend less to interrupt conversations because of their perceived inferiority status. They are always considered inferior by the societal norms that set gender hierarchies, which lessen their confidence and weaken their statements due to the fear of being wrong.
Both gender face problems in solving conflict with each other. When a woman is complaining about something, she wants a man to listen and support her. But a man perceives it like she is facing a problem and she needs a solution. So he starts to offer solutions to her. It causes conflict between them.
Implications at workplace
How do these psychological differences in communications between them can be implied at the workplace for good outcomes? Both have different ways of managing and directing things.
Women can be chosen if needed to maintain harmony between the parties. They direct the subordinates while not hurting them. They use tags and intensifiers in their conversation such as “if you don’t mind”, “can you please”, what do you say” to make it polite. In Incall centers and customer service sectors, women are mostly preferred, by the way, they communicate. Women excel to men in communication. In the field of psychology, mostly women are preferred because they are better at understanding emotions and sympathizing with others.
Men's communication style is effective mostly in the business world. Their assertive communication style helps them to look more confident in their convictions. They can clearly express their wants and needs which leads them to reach a consensus with another party. Women, as they are passive communicators, are needed when handling a difficult client.
Women's collaborative approach can be used in the tasks of problem-solving and to look more for the deeper impact of interactions, decisions, and discussion at the workplace.
Both have different communication styles but it doesn’t mean that one is better than the other. They are just different. Both can be used for different good purposes. When we understand the difference of personalities between the two genders, we can perform better in an organization. It also helps to create a positive work environment and get things done efficiently. It would be wise if one is chosen carefully according to the nature of the task.
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