A Guide to Male and Female Business Communication Styles

Women and men have been co-existing since the beginning of humankind but it isn’t until recent years that women have had the same rights in the workforce as men. The earliest form of integrating equality between the two genders came about in 1903 when the National Women’s Trade Union League(WTUL) was established to advocate for improved wages and working conditions. It’s no wonder that just 100 hundred years later, studies have shown distinct differences in business communication stylesbetween men and women.   

While stereotypes and generalizations don’t apply to all men and women, we have gathered specific differences between men and women that you may be able to relate to. This guide lays out some of the ways men and women communicate differently at work. You decide for yourself how accurate these statistics and studies portray the two genders.     

Priority Differences of Male and Female Business Communications Styles

 We all, as unique individuals, have various priorities in our lives and different points of view in personal and professional settings. Studies have shown that male and female priorities are inherently different and at times, can often be conflicting.  

A recent collaboration of research from nine different studies and 4,000 participators showed a distinct and consistent gender gap across the board. Let’s take a closer look at some of the staggering findings.    

DO YOU AGREE? Men are more results oriented while women focus on recognizing effort.  

John Gray and Barbara Annis wrote an insightful book, Work With Me: The 8 Blind Spots Between Men and Women in Business. The authors recognize the results oriented versus effort recognition as gender intelligence; after receiving input from over 100,00 employees. “Women need to understand that men prioritize and sequence their work and focus on results rather than on the effort to get there. Men should realize that women care about goals but they also care about the process of reaching them.”

DO YOU AGREE? Women prefer to be attentive with goals while men focus on the outcome.

The various studies lead back to the trend that women are more attentive to making and establishing specific goals to achieve a certain outcome. Men are more focused on the actual outcome and the direct and correlating tasks needing to accomplish the desired result.

Women are shown to care more about how the outcome is reached and how well everyone was able to come together to achieve it. Men tend to bypass all the discussions of how the project was completed and focus on the mere fact that it’s completed.   

Business Communication Styles of Both Genders

If men are from Mars and women are from Venus, what language do they speak once they join each other in their office atmosphere here on Earth? For the most part, the differing business communication styleshave been able to come together and find a common ground at work. There still remains to be residual communicational differences between the two sexes.      

DO YOU AGREE? Women disagree with men that think critical feedback leads to tears.

According to Forbes recent publication, “79% of men feel they have to be careful and indirect when giving women critical feedback. Some 82% of women say they want to get direct feedback from men.”

How can men and women have such a strong disagreement on how to behave when it comes to providing feedback. Since the results were extreme opposites, we leave it to you to decide if this finding is accurate in your professional experience.    

DO YOU AGREE? Women are gravitated to collaborations while men prefer to be pack leaders.

Business Know-How shares that one gender is more equality-minded, “Women try to maintain an appearance of equality amongst everyone. They are concerned with the effect of the exchange on the other person, and want to make sure everyone feels like a worthy contributor.” The studies further showcase that men generally prefer to be the alpha male; the key decision maker and are less likely to solicit advice from coworkers.

Hop on our Facebook by clicking here and participate now. Let us know your opinion on whether or not you agree or disagree with this report finding.   

Why Both Business Communication Styles Are Essential 

Being in an industry that is 100% reliant on clear communication, our telephone answering service believes that both business communication styles are needed to create a harmonious balance. Taking gender out of the equation, you can show appreciation for the different approaches to business. Having diverse perspectives working together towards a common goal can help a company be more creative in reaching their desired results. Just like two heads are better than one; two sets of tactics are better than one.

Final Takeaway: Men and women who collaborate in the workforce are able to achieve the best outcomes by using one another’s strengths for the benefit of the company as a whole.