“Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain’t I a woman?” Since joining the “real world,” Sojourner Truth’s words have resonated with me. As I child, I was taught to be self-reliant because there would be times when I could not count on anyone else. However, I was also taught to expect certain things from a gentleman: holding the door open, helping with packages if I seem overwhelmed, respect, cordiality. And when I worked mostly with other African-Americans, I received those little gestures of chivalry more often than not.
But once I entered a more diverse workforce, I noticed a shift in the attitudes and actions towards not just myself but black women as a whole. One particular incident stands out in my mind: Another woman and I were both exiting the building where I worked. One of my coworkers was walking in, but stopped to hold the door open for the white woman who was only maybe three feet ahead of me. Once she was out of the door, he looked at me and walked on in, letting the door close and nearly knocking me down. I was dumbfounded.
If that were an isolated incident, I wouldn’t have any ground for beef. But I’ve seen and experienced many incidents where black women were simply not given the same courtesy as white women, in the workplace as well as in random social situations. The perpetrators have varied in age and race, which left me even more perplexed. Those acts of geniality aren’t necessarily required, and I’ve come to not expect them either. But I have to wonder why there is a difference between the way black women are treated versus the treatment of our white counterparts. Is it because black women are supposed to be strong enough to not need assistance? Are we considered less than worthy of such small displays of cordiality? Or is it not necessarily about us, but rather about the pedestal that many people place white women on?
My query is not a complaint, but one of simple curiosity. Even in small, somewhat trivial matters, we see a discrepancy in attitudes and actions. One hundred and sixty years later, I’m still asking the same question. “Ain’t I a woman?”
Showing posts with label workplace. Show all posts
Showing posts with label workplace. Show all posts
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Jesus Loves Me... Even If I Don't Forward This Email
I'm not sure why, but I've never been a fan of those cutesy little forwarded emails. Not the ones about how we're all sisters so let's bask in our girl power. Not the generic forwarded prayers. Not the kittens in baskets (although the puppies and babies can get me a little misty-eyed, depending on the time of the month). It's not that I'm completely cold-hearted, they just seem like a waste of time to me. But the thing that irks me most is when people decide to send these forwards to my work email.
Why?!
There is such a thing as email etiquette, and it is especially important at work. Certain things are simply frowned upon, and for many employers, this is one of them. So if you are a forwarding fanatic, you may want to take the following precautions:
1. Don't send every forward you receive
I promise Jesus will still love you, you still love your country, and your luck will not suddenly spiral. There is no reason to flood someone's inbox with forwards. This is especially true at work, and doubly true for coworkers with whom you don't even regularly associate. Which leads me to...
2. Make sure the receiver wants your forwards
A lot of people do like the little inspirational poems and animated squirrels dancing, but there are some like me who don't. Try not to end up in someone's spam list because you decide you want to share with the whole company. At best, folks will just delete it. At worst, you could end up being reprimanded for abusing company email (depending on the policy there). But there is an easy way to avoid that...
3. Send forwards from your personal email to the receiver's personal email
If you have a couple of people who you share non-work emails with, why not get their personal emails and send them there. That way you get to maintain professionalism on your work email account (which is most likely being monitored anyway) and still share a smile with your friends. Everybody wins!
Are you guilty of being the forwarding friend or coworker? Has it ever been a problem where you work?
Why?!
There is such a thing as email etiquette, and it is especially important at work. Certain things are simply frowned upon, and for many employers, this is one of them. So if you are a forwarding fanatic, you may want to take the following precautions:
1. Don't send every forward you receive
I promise Jesus will still love you, you still love your country, and your luck will not suddenly spiral. There is no reason to flood someone's inbox with forwards. This is especially true at work, and doubly true for coworkers with whom you don't even regularly associate. Which leads me to...
2. Make sure the receiver wants your forwards
A lot of people do like the little inspirational poems and animated squirrels dancing, but there are some like me who don't. Try not to end up in someone's spam list because you decide you want to share with the whole company. At best, folks will just delete it. At worst, you could end up being reprimanded for abusing company email (depending on the policy there). But there is an easy way to avoid that...
3. Send forwards from your personal email to the receiver's personal email
If you have a couple of people who you share non-work emails with, why not get their personal emails and send them there. That way you get to maintain professionalism on your work email account (which is most likely being monitored anyway) and still share a smile with your friends. Everybody wins!
Are you guilty of being the forwarding friend or coworker? Has it ever been a problem where you work?
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Understanding Personality Types at Work Using MBTI
Anyone who has any work experience knows the frustration that comes along with working with different people. Often, we cannot understand why they do the things they do or act the way they do. However, there is a method of understanding people's personalities that can explain some of their tendencies and help create a more harmonious work environment. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is an accurate, easy to understand tool to determine personality types.
According to Introduction to Type, Isabelle Myers and her mother Katharine Cook Briggs studied the ideas of psychiatrist Carl G. Jung and applied those ideas in order to better understand the people around them. Developed in the 1940s, the MBTI has been used by numerous companies and organizations around the world to better understand their employees and develop training and career planning. This method looks at four factors and, using all possible combinations of these factors, places everyone in one of 16 personality types. The factors that are examined are energy, information intake, decision making and how we deal with the outside world.
Often we mistakenly think that being an extrovert simply means being loud while being an introvert means being shy and quiet. Yet there is more to it than that. Extroverts tend to process information externally. They will be the ones to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind in a meeting, and if no one else is around they can be found talking out loud to themselves. They draw their energy from other people, and as a result tend to visit fairly often, especially when they need to bounce ideas off of someone. Extroverts usually don't mind speaking at the spur of the moment.
Introverts, on the other hand, process information internally. These are the folks that will sit quietly in a meeting, perhaps jotting down notes, and will have questions or suggestions afterwards. They tend to think things over before speaking. Introverts are not unable to speak publicly; instead they simply need time to prepare. If an Introvert has an office door, you can expect it to be closed. Their energy tends to be drained by other people, so time alone is their chance to recharge.
Not everyone processes information the same way. When it comes to Sensors, a "just the facts" approach is best. Sensors are data-driven; they take in info through what they see, hear and read. They tend to be very by-the-book and have an eye for detail. Don't expect Sensors to stray from standard operating procedures. Their motto is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Sensors are often seen as very grounded people, as their focus is on present realities.
Their somewhat flightier counterparts, Intuitives, are focused more on future possibilities. As such, they tend to question why things are done a certain way and seek out easier/better ways to do them. Intuitives like to see the big picture, but details can bore them. They are idea-driven, so instead of giving them facts and figures like you would a Sensor, explain how the information can be used to improve, increase, or enhance.
Don't let the names fool you. Thinkers do have feelings and Feelers can and do think! But when it comes to making decisions, everyone falls to one side or the other. Thinkers are logical and analytical. They will remove themselves from the situation to weigh the pros and cons. These objective decision makers look for a standard to apply in all similar situations. They believe that fairness means everyone is treated equally.
Feelers, on the other hand, are more empathetic. When making decisions, they do so with others in mind and are guided by their personal values. For Feelers, the goal is peace and harmony. Their decision making is objective, and their idea of fairness is that everyone is treated as an individual.
Out of all the factors, this is the one that causes the most friction in the workplace. On one side, you have Judgers. These people are very planned, orderly, and organized. They are methodical and systematic with their work, and make short-term and long-term plans. If a meeting is called for 9:00, expect them to be there at 8:55 at the latest unless something disastrous happens. Judgers are extremely time-sensitive.
It's no wonder that they would clash with Perceivers. It had to be a Perceiver that came up with the concept of "9-ish," because time is not concrete to them. Perceivers are flexible and spontaneous; they usually find routine to be boring and monotonous. They take a more casual approach to work and life than Sensors do. They welcome change and like to leave things open-ended, even up to the last minute. Not surprisingly, Perceivers are often prone to procrastination.
It is important to note that there are varying degrees of each of these traits. People with the same personality type may exhibit some characteristics more than others based on how strong their preference is towards that trait. It should also be noted that just because a person's preference is toward a certain characteristic, it doesn't mean that their behavior cannot be modified to fit a certain role. On the contrary, many people learn to adjust to fit a job, but there must be some outlet in their personal life that allows them to be their true self.
Hopefully, you will be able to better understand yourself and your coworkers (as well as your loved one) through the MBTI, and use it to create a peaceful, productive work environment.
Myers, Isabel Briggs. Introduction to Type. Mountain View, CA. CPP, Inc., 1998.
Originally posted at Suite101: Understanding Personality Types at Work Using MBTI | Suite101.com
According to Introduction to Type, Isabelle Myers and her mother Katharine Cook Briggs studied the ideas of psychiatrist Carl G. Jung and applied those ideas in order to better understand the people around them. Developed in the 1940s, the MBTI has been used by numerous companies and organizations around the world to better understand their employees and develop training and career planning. This method looks at four factors and, using all possible combinations of these factors, places everyone in one of 16 personality types. The factors that are examined are energy, information intake, decision making and how we deal with the outside world.
Extrovert vs. Introvert (Energy)
Often we mistakenly think that being an extrovert simply means being loud while being an introvert means being shy and quiet. Yet there is more to it than that. Extroverts tend to process information externally. They will be the ones to blurt out the first thing that comes to mind in a meeting, and if no one else is around they can be found talking out loud to themselves. They draw their energy from other people, and as a result tend to visit fairly often, especially when they need to bounce ideas off of someone. Extroverts usually don't mind speaking at the spur of the moment.
Introverts, on the other hand, process information internally. These are the folks that will sit quietly in a meeting, perhaps jotting down notes, and will have questions or suggestions afterwards. They tend to think things over before speaking. Introverts are not unable to speak publicly; instead they simply need time to prepare. If an Introvert has an office door, you can expect it to be closed. Their energy tends to be drained by other people, so time alone is their chance to recharge.
Sensing vs. Intuitive (Processing Information)
Not everyone processes information the same way. When it comes to Sensors, a "just the facts" approach is best. Sensors are data-driven; they take in info through what they see, hear and read. They tend to be very by-the-book and have an eye for detail. Don't expect Sensors to stray from standard operating procedures. Their motto is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Sensors are often seen as very grounded people, as their focus is on present realities.
Their somewhat flightier counterparts, Intuitives, are focused more on future possibilities. As such, they tend to question why things are done a certain way and seek out easier/better ways to do them. Intuitives like to see the big picture, but details can bore them. They are idea-driven, so instead of giving them facts and figures like you would a Sensor, explain how the information can be used to improve, increase, or enhance.
Thinking vs. Feeling (Decision Making)
Don't let the names fool you. Thinkers do have feelings and Feelers can and do think! But when it comes to making decisions, everyone falls to one side or the other. Thinkers are logical and analytical. They will remove themselves from the situation to weigh the pros and cons. These objective decision makers look for a standard to apply in all similar situations. They believe that fairness means everyone is treated equally.
Feelers, on the other hand, are more empathetic. When making decisions, they do so with others in mind and are guided by their personal values. For Feelers, the goal is peace and harmony. Their decision making is objective, and their idea of fairness is that everyone is treated as an individual.
Judging vs. Perceiving (Dealing with the Outside World)
Out of all the factors, this is the one that causes the most friction in the workplace. On one side, you have Judgers. These people are very planned, orderly, and organized. They are methodical and systematic with their work, and make short-term and long-term plans. If a meeting is called for 9:00, expect them to be there at 8:55 at the latest unless something disastrous happens. Judgers are extremely time-sensitive.
It's no wonder that they would clash with Perceivers. It had to be a Perceiver that came up with the concept of "9-ish," because time is not concrete to them. Perceivers are flexible and spontaneous; they usually find routine to be boring and monotonous. They take a more casual approach to work and life than Sensors do. They welcome change and like to leave things open-ended, even up to the last minute. Not surprisingly, Perceivers are often prone to procrastination.
It is important to note that there are varying degrees of each of these traits. People with the same personality type may exhibit some characteristics more than others based on how strong their preference is towards that trait. It should also be noted that just because a person's preference is toward a certain characteristic, it doesn't mean that their behavior cannot be modified to fit a certain role. On the contrary, many people learn to adjust to fit a job, but there must be some outlet in their personal life that allows them to be their true self.
Hopefully, you will be able to better understand yourself and your coworkers (as well as your loved one) through the MBTI, and use it to create a peaceful, productive work environment.
Sources
Myers, Isabel Briggs. Introduction to Type. Mountain View, CA. CPP, Inc., 1998.
Originally posted at Suite101: Understanding Personality Types at Work Using MBTI | Suite101.com
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