These occur when we take our past experiences with a person and assume that the same type of experience will happen with all people who are similar to the first.  Prejudices are partly due to culture and partly due to personal preference or experience.  Not all prejudices involve a negative characteristic.  E.g. you could consider all of one group to be smart.  When you encounter input that triggers one of these prejudices, you will automatically be making judgements or assumptions that may color your communication as well.  The problem with prejudices is when they start to influence how or to whom we communicate.  To get an idea of how this could be happening in your workplace, consider how you may complete the phrases below.  If you can’t think of a way to complete it from your own experience, complete each phrase with a stereotype that you may have heard in the past.

• Women in the workplace are …
• Young people in the workplace are …
• Seniors in the workplace are …
• Working mothers in the workplace are …
• Supervisors at work are …

When we categorise people like this, we eliminate their individuality.  If you are communicating to a person through a perceived prejudice or stereotype, at the very least you are greatly limiting the chances of your communication being successful or producing the desired result.  At the most, you are alienating or insulting someone with whom you are trying to build a working relationship.

Your goal should be to see each person as an individual that is separate from any preconceived notions that you might have about them.  It takes practice, but you would like to be seen and communicated with as an individual and not as a sum of different labels that can be placed on you.