Okay, this wraps up a 3-part series on cross-cultural communication (for now)! Here are more quick tips to improve and check yourself on how you are building bridges every day across cultures.
Send me your feedback! What have you experienced when it comes to this topic? What have I missed? What has been helpful?
Avoid idioms and jargon. Create a list of idioms, humor, and “secret language” that your team may use that would be confusing to someone who didn’t grow up in your culture. For example, “We hit it out of the park!” will not make sense to someone who has not grown up in a baseball culture. Host a discussion with your team to help others be more aware of how language choices are an important aspect of increasing inclusiveness and clear communication between all.
Do not assume. We cannot assume everyone from a certain culture or background will act the same way, and if we make this assumption, we will end up damaging relationships, undermining our own credibility, and being seen as ignorant in the workplace. Do your research when you are in doubt, listen more than you speak, ask open-ended and non-personal questions to allow the other person to drive the conversation, and keep an open-mind when you hear their response.
Do your research to gain some basic insights into another culture (but don’t think it makes you an expert!). Read a novel by an author from that country. Visit a place of worship. Attend a cultural event. Accept an invitation if a colleague invites you to their family dinner or event.
Listen and remember. If someone does decide to share more about their identify with you, keep an open-mind, practice active listening and remember what they say so that you can build on the trust that you are forming.
If they share words from their language with you, learn how to pronounce these correctly and use them in conversations if you think it is appropriate. If you aren’t sure, ask them!
If they share current events with you, keep an open-mind, ask open-ended questions and research some of these events in your own time. Follow-up with them, particularly about positive current events, if they appear to be excited to speak more about these.
If they tell you about a holiday or celebration of theirs, do some research to learn more, mark it on your calendar, and ask them about it if they are willing to share.
5. Avoid creating “cultural burden”. Don’t expect that someone else needs to teach you about their culture - this is what I call “cultural burden”. Take it on yourself to research, make the effort, and ask questions when it seems appropriate. But if you don’t get the response you were hoping for - don’t blame that person. They have their own lives and burdens to worry about. Once you can remove a sense of expectation or entitlement from the reason why you want to learn more, things will become much easier to form natural bonds.
6. Be aware of time zones. Who is the one having to wake up early or get on a call late? Typically it is the folks who aren’t at the headquarters. Create a rotating meeting schedule and share the burden of joining calls outside of work hours.
7. Be patient. Building trust takes time, months, years, decades, even. There will be ups and downs, success and failure, just as we experience with any relationship. Keep this in mind and remember to:
Show humility
Apologize when you make a mistake
Move forward with the best intentions for the group, not just you.
Check out this article on nuances in body language cues across cultures.