Managing the other sex
by Paul MacKenzie-Cummins 
‘Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus’ was a light-hearted observation of the differences between the sexes, though why we needed to read a book to figure this out is rather baffling.
However, the book did succeed in pointing out the fact that men and women have varying emotional needs that affect the way that they deal with each other. And, there is no more obvious an environment to observe this than in the workplace.
Pushing political correctness aside, women and men have different ways of approaching their work. It is dangerous to generalise, but there are differences between the sexes – not in skills, in style.
Several surveys have found that, on average, male bosses are preferred by 77% of women and 60% of men. So what are the key differences? And why is having a male boss favoured much more than one of the female variety?
Men and women have not evolved that far from our Neanderthal days where the man was the hunter and the woman acted as gatherer. In the modern office, women generally ‘gather’ information as opposed to the ‘go for the kill’ mentality of men.
In other words, women, on the whole, ask more questions than men and tend to be more inquisitive in order to collect information to avoid making snap decisions that may have future detrimental consequences.
Men will rarely call another man just to have a chin-wag. They call other men to pass on information, comment or arrange a meeting.
So, when confronted with the resistance of a male colleague or if called to resolve a problem created by a male employee, women bosses are more likely to seek information and analyse the facts because they want to understand an issue.
Therefore, the assumption here is that men are more prone to making decisions quickly.
Julia MacKenzie, city-based secretary, says: “I’ve had good working experiences with both male and female bosses, but in a way I find working for a man easier. They can be more direct in giving instructions than women and easier to read – women can be more unpredictable. It’s not so hard to manipulate a male boss if you want to take a long lunch break or leave early”.
Perhaps the key difference between the sexes is competitiveness.
It is important for female bosses to recognise the competitive nature of men and most do. In general, female bosses will tend to focus more on identifying and praising the positive aspects of a persons work and praise a job well-done.
Workplace studies have revealed that men work longer hours, are willing to sacrifice family/relationship commitments and endure more hardships than their female counterparts.
Indeed, only 10 per cent of the top 100 FTSE companies have a female chief executive at the helm. That said, it may seem that women have a smarter and healthier approach to work and can ‘multi-task’ better than men.
Steve Lyward, management consultant says: “I definitely prefer working for a male boss because I think that men communicate better with men and get the job done quicker”.
Both sexes bring different skills to the workplace and it stands to reason that the contrasting styles can cause a breakdown in communication.
However, men and women are more alike than different and if each sex recognises the overriding fact that we both think differently, then communication difficulties become remedial.
For instance, when issuing an instruction to a male colleague, women managers will tend to use language that avoids ambiguity. They are more likely to stipulate the who, what, where and when of a request largely because men, by nature, are less likely to ask questions for clarification.
Take map reading as an example. A lost couple are driving and the woman is imploring the man to stop and ask for directions. Will the man respond and say ‘Yes, what a good idea’?
Probably not, because men typically refuse to accept that they may be lost because they don’t want to show any signs of weakness. Women, on the other hand, will typically approach such a dilemma and say ‘I need to get there so I have no problem asking for help’.
Regardless of whether you have a male or female boss the bottom line is to maintain a professional relationship. Understanding the opposite sex from either a management or employee point of view will go a long way to bridging the gender gap in the workplace.
