What about parties your company throws for Cinco de Mayo or Chinese New Year or Kwanzaa? Give them a whirl, says Hewlett-Packard’s Reel: “People blow them off as fluff they don’t have time for, but they get you out of your daily routine and give you new ways to engage people,” including some you might not otherwise spend time with, she says.
Anne Tsui, PhD, an expert in workplace psychology and a professor at the W.P. Carey School of Business in Tempe, AZ, recalls a former colleague who always organized a lavish banquet dinner for Chinese New Year. “It became this fun thing that people looked forward to, and a very multicultural group would show up to enjoy it,” she says.
And if, during the course of your workday, some behavior or habit intrigues you, summon up the nerve to ask your colleague a question about it. “We all like to talk about ourselves, as long it doesn’t feel invasive,” says Redia Anderson Banks, chief diversity officer at Deloitte & Touche.
Acknowledging any awkwardness you feel will help to diminish it. So try prefacing questions about culture, food customs or even an unfamiliar work style by saying, “This might seem like a silly question,” or “Please let me know if this seems intrusive, but I’m curious about something,” Banks says. Colleagues will usually appreciate the interest and the invitation to strike up a conversation.
“Be prepared for it to be uncomfortable at first, and believe you’ll get past it,” says Yrizarry. And rest assured that what you’ll gain in the process of forging a new connection will quickly make any momentary discomfort worth it.
By Eileen P. Gunn
Photograph courtesy of Peter Chin. All in the family, Verizon’s Magda Yrizarry (seated center front) finds that “you need to tune your ear to hear everyone’s opinions, not just people who are familiar to you.” Her team includes (from left) Poonam Chawla, Jeffrey Sampson, Lynda Patton, Cynthia Bernal, Kathy Tobin, John Keegan and Kathy Williams.
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