If you've ever left the Portland area to live where English wasn't the main spoken language—or even lived in a neighborhood of Portland where English was less common—you know the challenge non-native English speakers face daily. Even people with impeccable language skills must process many cultural, contextual, and idiomatic elements of the workplace while also doing whatever work you hired them to do.

The United States gains a lot of strength from being a place where people from anywhere can find their place and succeed. If your workplace has hired non-native English speakers, you must make an effort to promote strong communication between colleagues of different backgrounds. You may also need to account for more considerable language barriers, such as when coworkers or employees do their work well but with intermediate English language proficiency, resulting in misunderstandings.

By improving office communication and helping everyone get on the same page, you can make your workplace a safe and prosperous environment for native and non-native English speakers.

Many people have approached the United States' increased focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in different ways over the past few years. Reading books about lesser-known histories of cultures in the United States has been eye-opening for some. For others, it's more relational, talking to friends, family, and coworkers to see if their experiences can help inform more equitable and positive experiences and relationships in the future. 

No matter how versed we are in workplace experiences, most people still have areas of improvement to find when it comes to conflict management. After all, as many as 85% of people experience conflict in the workplace, according to a CPP Inc. Global Human Capital Report. 

During the unprecedented COVID-19 interruption we've adjusted and retooled the delivery of our programming - and for the first time are offering Professional Development & Training courses remotely using Zoom. Unwrap new skills, or practice and enhance the ones you already have - from the comfort of home. 

Different people use different methods to resolve conflict, and most people have one or more natural, preferred conflict resolution strategies that they use regularly. It is possible to scientifically measure an individual's inclinations toward specific conflict resolution strategies. In this article, we will discuss the five different categories of conflict resolution from the Thomas-Kilmann model, as well as their advantages and disadvantages.

PCC's Continuing Education programming offers professional development workshops in addition to its long term certification programming. This Fall, PCC Professional Development & Training offers 4-8 hour courses in communication, leadership, delegating, resolving conflict, supervision and project management. 

Our personal and professional development courses offered this Fall provide advanced training in communication skills, motivating others, leadership and real estate, among other subjects.

Updated Feb. 15, 2022

Supervisors play an integral role in the organizational structure and hierarchy of a company. They help manage other employees in the process of carrying out their daily tasks and ensure business operations run smoothly and efficiently, often handling entire teams.

There are many ways that people communicate throughout the world, including facial expressions, verbal cues, and body language. Since there are many ways to convey a message, it’s important to make sure one is clear in their intent when communicating. This is especially true in the workplace when you’re engaged with a team to finish an important task or project.

As political polarization has gotten steadily worse over the last few election cycles, so too has political tension in the workplace. In the close quarters of a work environment, political differences, especially when combined with the pressures of work, have the potential to get out of control. Fewer than a quarter of employers have formal, written policies on political conversations in the workplace. So, it’s important to have an understanding of the management skills that can help you handle these conversations before they escalate into heated debates. We’ve put together some management communication tips to help you do that.