Language can be a powerful tool to remove biases of all kinds. Yet, there are certain limitations when it comes to some languages because of their inherent grammatical rules and sentence structures. It is never easy overcoming these challenges, especially when communicating in the workplace.
No matter which language we communicate in, there is an imperative to be sensitive to the audience we are interacting with. At the end of the day, our readers and audiences become more important than our own words or messages, don’t they? Their challenges and requirements would need to guide the manner we communicate in. Because, I believe, communication needs to be empathetic and balanced, with inclusive perspectives.
When we communicate to a diverse world — corporate or otherwise — we also need to take into consideration the different cultures, the backgrounds, the rich heritage and traditions of the people we are interacting with.
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But occasionally, even competent and imaginative communicators can confuse their audiences if there are cultural disconnects. I still remember a letter I received from an uncle, when I was little. In the letter, he referred to “icicles growing on his nose”. As a child, that image and phrase struck me and I wondered what he meant. At that time, he was living in a city known for its extreme winters and summers. However, I’d never seen icicles or snow simply because my city experienced summer all through the year.
Effective communication
In the workplace, the manner in which we communicate — the language, the data and the business documents we present to our audience — needs to be balanced and inclusive to the extent possible. Especially now when we are working towards a new future beyond COVID-19, when we are looking at a better world, only diverse and inclusive viewpoints can help us build that future.
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The process of choosing messages, business documents or presentations carefully and composing them sensitively, takes time, skill and experience, of course. But it is a skill that can be learnt and acquired over time. And this skill can be applied to strengthen global and inclusive environments. Employees benefit from such multi-cultural viewpoints and work environments, as they also enhance overall harmony.
Today’s technologically connected world enables easy access to excellent content in many languages from different parts of the globe. Investing some time observing and reading articles from multi-lingual media also helps us in developing our own language and communication skills. Paying attention to the nuances in spelling, sentence structures, punctuation, choice of images to support the text, and so on, can go a long way in ensuring well-balanced and inclusive communication.
It is in this context that language needs to become the means to embrace differences, while removing biases, one word at a time.
The author is a writer and literary journalist. She also heads Corporate Communications at UST Global. Views expressed are personal. Twitter: @anupamaraju