The Brain Science Behind Gender Bias in the Workplace: Communications Explored

Interview: Carol Barkes

Some talking points for an interview on
women on gender bias in the workplace:

  • As one of the San Francisco Bay Area first female firefighters and now a woman in a still largely male dominated legal field, I regularly experience gender bias.  In fact, we all do and some of it cannot be helped.
  • Biases come in two forms extrinsic and intrinsic.  Intrinsic biases happen “under the hood” or unconsciously.  They are our brains way of filtering information that is ancestral in nature—is someone a friend or is someone a potential threat, for instance.  Extrinsic biases are consciously driven in that we choose to have them.  For instance, I choose not to hire a woman. Continue reading “The Brain Science Behind Gender Bias in the Workplace: Communications Explored”

5 Ways to Fine-Tune Workplace Communication

Interview: Carol Barkes on Workplace Communication.

Carol Barkes is a conflict resolution expert, mediator, national speaker, educator and bestselling author who uniquely applies neuroscience to the fields of conflict resolution and negotiations. Her expert perspective is always fresh and relevant.

Talking Points from Carol Barkes on
How to Fine-Tune Workplace Communication:

Effective communication is an integral part of having positive, successful interactions with the people around us. For some, good communication skills seems to come naturally, and that’s great. But for others, it is a challenge to communicate in a way that both articulates our thoughts and doesn’t rock the boat. Poor communication can lead to arguments, loss of opportunities, hurt feelings——and the list goes on and on. In the workplace it could mean conflicts with the people we work with and for, loss of credibility, a decrease in production, and other negative-affecting career circumstances. Here’s some tips on how to fine-tune workplace communication:

1) Conflict in the workplace is similar to family conflict in that conflicts can build over time as people have continual negative interactions with a person. Consequently, when a situation arises with someone we’ve had problems with in the past, it is very easy to blow the current problem out of proportion. It is important to try to look at each occurrence with its own lens so past experiences don’t negatively bias our approach.

Continue reading “5 Ways to Fine-Tune Workplace Communication”