Nelson Anderson

Cross cultural communication.

A typical American cultural characteristic is having broad expectations that other cultural groups will conform to the “standard” American culture (language, dress, food, traditions); while in America and abroad.  Fostering the values and principles of cultural diversity and inclusion is essential in facilitating deep dialogue.  Create an environment where cross-cultural diversity is highly valued.  Create new cross-cultural learning opportunities and build strong team connections through cross-cultural class dialogue exercises and cross-cultural projects.   

In every culture there are basic standards for social interaction such as personal space distance, eye contact, gestures, negotiating style, etc.  For instance, in America, we prefer distance (around 18 inches) when engaged in normal conversation; prefer very direct eye contact; and negotiate very directly always asking the other party for their “bottom line”.  Basic social interactions in other cultures, such as the traditional Japanese culture, include the need to avoid touching in public, and to avoid prolonged eye contact since it is considered rude.  Also, the first part of a formal meeting may focus on establishing an atmosphere of friendliness, harmony and trust.  The workgroup is strongly united with no competition; all succeed or all fail. Decision-making is by consensus.  When communicating in a culturally diverse environment, be aware of these differences and do not jump to conclusions if someone reacts in an unexpected way.

Cultures may have very different norms around hierarchy, structure and power.  They may be more individualistic or more collective in how decisions are made and how problems are solved.  For example, in some cultures, employees may expect managers to explain something and provide very clear direction.  In other cultures, the manager and employee may have a conversation together to plan the outcomes and do the work together.  In another example, a busy meeting might be highly collaborative and include participatory decision making or, in contrast, decision making and negotiation might rest with the senior leaders.  Take Korea where job titles are extremely important as organizations are run top down and promotions are based on seniority and tenure.  Often, leaders in Korean business are greeted with a job title and superiors are seldom called by first name.  In contrast to the United States, promotions are generally conducted based on performance and first names are used much more commonly when communicating with superiors. Be mindful as to what might be the hierarchical structures in another culture. 

Cultures may be predominantly masculine or feminine and these tendencies may shape communication standards for those cultures.  For example, more masculine cultures may favor assertiveness and decision making by males.  More feminine cultures may be the opposite with more equality between sexes in decision making.  In cross-cultural communication, be aware of the differences that may impact who does most of the talking, how power is balanced, how emotions are expressed and how decisions are made.  In the United Arab Emirates, it is considered improper to inquire about a man’s wife or daughter as family life that involves female members is kept extremely private.  It is important to look at it from the perspective of the other culture and to respect those differences.

Research the culture you are going to visit/live in. Understanding the language is always useful. Non-verbal communication is up to 75% of the message you are portraying that means that your body language is most of the message that others are getting. Facial expressions are the only body language to be universal across all cultures. From culture to culture the interpretations of and certain uses of expressions can change. The basic expressions of anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, and surprise are the most recognizable. The responses from others facial expressions can give you information. The key with cross cultural communication is to not make assumptions with the data. Confirm your assumptions by asking questions.  

In American culture you can make a joke by emphasizing certain details. Humor does not always carry over to other cultures. Try to avoid using things like sarcasm and humor especially in cultures that have tonal languages. In tonal languages (such as Arabic, and Chinese) the way that you say a word denotes the meaning of that word.  That means that if you say the word with a deep, bass filled voice versus a high nasally voice it can dramatically change the meaning of the word. All languages use tone to show emotional value and covey other information. Be aware of the words that you use as well as how you say them. If you stress or emphasize the wrong words in different ways it dramatically changes the meaning of what you are saying.