Diversity Training

I spent the entire day in a 'diversity in the workplace' training session. Although the initial reaction is ugh, I have better things to do, it turned out to be a good session. Our instructor had a good sense of humour, made the situations relevant and interesting, and managed to hold our gnat-brain attention spans for the entire time. Personally, I think I am a very culturally-aware person. It comes from traveling all over the world, being open to new cultures and new experiences in a non-tourist fashion. Alot of the information wasn't new, but some points he raised were surprising. One of the most interesting points raised was the fact that only 7% of communication is verbal - 52% is body language (goes to show how email can be a real problem!!).

The other interesting exercise was to look at the differences in values, work ethics and experiences of the four different generational groups:

Traditionalists (born between 1920 and 1940)
Baby Boomers (born between 1940 and 1960)
Generation X (born between 1960 and 1980)
Generation Y (born between 1980 and 2000)

It's amazing that ANY effective communication happens between these four groups!! It's no wonder why a work place tends to have a certain degree (alot?) of conflict given the inherent value systems that each generation has grown up with. It explains when change is often difficult to implement in a workplace when the upper hierarchy is of the Traditionalist or Baby Boomer generation. Us in the GenX and GenY categories are much more willing to step outside the box, are open to change (and less patient!).

The instructor we had also does conflict resolution training. I'm beginning to think that this course might be an excellent training opportunity as well, made mandatory for everyone...

Otherwise, I'm so happy it's the weekend. I'm looking forward to having the weekend to myself, doing some errands, just going down to the Market and doing some shopping, having coffee. The dog is roaching on the couch beside me, enjoying a friday evening as well.

I need to go and buy some winter cycling gloves. This week looks to be somewhat warm, so I'm thinking of biking to work. With my mountain bike of course - I don't want to subject my road bike to the salt and sand on the roads right now. The OBC has Santini winter gloves for sale. But the office is only open in the morning.

Going to find Doritos...