Jackie BlackEnglish UK, SW

24 October 2015

Understanding the impact of culture on communication

What’s your communication style?

Personal Communication StylesDistanced Personal

Systematic Organic

Formal Informal

Proactive Reactive

Complex Simple

Direct Indirect

Emotional Neutral

Expansive Concise

Closed Open

Problem-oriented Solution-focused

Encouraging Assertive

Statement-maker Question-maker

Content-oriented Relation-oriented

Silent listener Active listener

Norwegian-French stylesmore consensual ←→ more competitive / confrontationalmore collectivist ←→ more individualistlower energy ←→ higher energyquieter ←→ noisierslower paced ←→ faster pacedlinear ←→ circularmore patient ←→ less patienttaking turns ←→ talking over each otherconcern to save face ←→ some may lose facerespect shown through listening ←→ respect shown through engagingpractice first ←→ theory firstexperience admired ←→ intellectual argument admiredmore egalitarian ←→ more hierarchicalcomm. managed by the chair ←→ comm. managed by the bossmore belief-based (heart)? ←→ more analytical (head)?

International dialogue patterns

Riding the Waves of Culture: Understanding Cultural Diversity in Business, FonsTrompenaars & Charles Hampden Turner

1.

2.

3.

One view of culture

Culture and Diversity

Which one are you?

Personal perceptions

Coconuts see peaches as … Peaches see coconuts as …

- superficial - not to be taken seriously- childish- too playful - in

- unapproachable - hard- rigid in approach - impolite- lacking humour - gruff- Unfriendly / unsociable

Negative:

Positive: Coconuts see peaches as … Peaches see coconuts as …

- open - enthusiastic- friendly - humorous- flexible

- reliable - proper- clear - honest

- ustworthy

Handling diversity

Coconuts see peaches as … Peaches see coconuts as …

- superficial - not to be taken seriously- childish- too playful - insincere

- unapproachable - hard- rigid in approach - impolite- lacking humour - gruff- Unfriendly / unsociable

Negative:

Positive: Coconuts see peaches as … Peaches see coconuts as …

- open - enthusiastic- friendly - humorous- flexible

- reliable - proper- clear - honest- trustworthy

What are the practical implications of this model?

How do we work?

Do you think you live and work in a high or low context culture?

High Indirect communication

Implicit messagesContext important for understanding

Avoid saying “no”Maintain harmony

Long-term relationshipsStrong personal networks

Low Direct communication

Words contain the real meaningSay “no”

Surface conflictShort-term relationshipsTask-based networks

Culture, directness and trust

High context Indirect People important

Low context Direct Task important

Take the “Person or task?” quiz

Task-focused or Person-focused?

Concentration of technical aspects of work.

Little small talk, distance from personal questions.

Interest created by information, logic, technical data

Customers stay with the product even if the sales representative changes.

Results have priority over harmony and “face”.

People with expert knowledge are valued.

Distance from people who are not useful.

Conflicts resolved by logical use of arguments, contracts, laws and compromise.

People concentrate on the task.

Friends and colleagues are kept separate.

Concentration on relationships with people at work.

A lot of small talk, interest in personal questions.

Interest created by relationships, trust, prestige.

Customers stay with the sales representative even if he or she changes firm.

Results come from harmony and “face”.

People with many relationships are valued.

Distance from people who are not loyal.

Conflicts resolved by evidence of loyalty, prestige, mediators, authority figures and new formulations.

People mix work and private life.

Colleagues are also friends.

Task-focused or person-focused?

Place yourself along the line.

If you have more in column “P”, you are people-focused

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

If you have more in column “T”, you are task-focused.

What’s going on?A group of German academics were meeting for a Friday afternoon seminar. A paper was presented, after which there was a heated discussion. An American guest professor was disturbed by the atmosphere, and had the impression that the professors didn’t like each other at all. She was surprised that after the discussion had ended they all left the room in a good mood, wishing each other a good weekend. 

The German professors were focused on the task at hand (i.e. the discussion of the academic paper), while the US colleague was concentrating on the

relationship between the people present and misinterpreted the tone of heated discussion as meaning that the people didn’t like each other.

Managing Communication channels

Virtual team experiences

Relationships / Interpersonal factors

We never meet.

We don’t have any chance to build a relationship.

I don’t really know how to work with him.

We’re not really a team.

It’s difficult to build trust.

Communication

I can’t get hold of him.

I don’t know what is going on.

I can’t read the body language.

I can’t understand him.

I don’t know what she’s thinking.

I can’t get a word in.

I contribute more than the others.

I can’t get a decision.

Task versus technology

Synchronous AsynchronousThreaded discussions Messaging SMSWikis E-mail

VoIPWeb MeetingsVideo ConferencingAudio ConferencingPersonal WebcamsPhoningTelepresence

http://blog.timebarrow.com/2009/09/media-richness-theory/

Rich Communication

Case study: the right message?

Background: Tim (British) and Janine (Australian) are both leaders of small teams which are part of a much bigger multinational team spanning 5 continents.They have never met , but have worked together on several projects in the past. They have always communicated with each by email because of time differences.Situation: the current project is due to end shortly but there are some tasks outstanding and deadlines are fast approaching. Tim is anxious to know what is going on so meets with Phil one of his less experienced team members based in Kuala Lumpur. He returns to London worried and drafts a mail to Janine.

Matching technology to task

Delayed-time collaboration

• Relationships• Results

• Communication

Real-time collaboration

VoIP Web Meetings Video Conferencing Instant Messaging Audio Conferencing Threaded discussions

Email Smartphones

Complex collaboration

Sim

ple

colla

bora

tion

Best practices

• Maximise any opportunity for face to face contact, especially at the beginning of a project to allow for relationship building

• Don’t rely too much on email. Use email for information exchange not sensitive communication.

• Avoid giving any kind of feedback via email where possible.• Book phone calls well in advance because task and time-oriented

people may not cope well with unexpected calls.• In virtual projects, use the phone to build relationships but also

consider using on-line presentations to bring the team together.• Use conference calls for top-down messages as it allows the team to

respond personally.• Communicate frequently to ensure everyone knows what’s going on.• Remember the acronym KISS in all forms of communication.

Native English speakersDo• Speak slowly and build in more pauses• Use simple words and sentences (active vs passive / if / complex frames)• Articulate clearly and project strongly• Take care with contractions, weak forms and ends of words• Avoid unnecessary filling phrases• Reformulate, summarise, and check understanding often• Facilitate others• Listen to other people and listen to yourself • Ask someone for clarification if you don’t really understand their point

Don’t• Try to be funny• Be ambiguous• Make local (i.e. British / American etc.) cultural references• Use idiom, colloquial expression or complicated grammatical forms• Dominate the talking time with overlong interventions

What the British say ...

Thanks for listening!Any questions?

SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL

Building relationships

• What is do we mean?• Why is it important?• How good are you at it?• What skills do you need to exercise it?• What advice would you give someone who

needed to improve their relationship building skills?

DIVERSITY Germany UK Spain Switzerland (D)

North America

Leadership and organisationalcharacteristics

Technical expertise

Status driven‘Serious’

Territorial Collectivist

GeneralistsPragmatic attitude

False modesty’

On the surface ... flatter

hierarchies than others

Personal, charismatic and

creative (not ‘position’ based)

Personal alliances

(Benevolent autocracy)

Sophisticated manner

Networking behind the scenes

‘Upward and downward flow

‘Job-hopping’generalists

Inspirational Open door policy

Informality

Measured rolesOpportunity to

outperform

TeamworkSpecialists with clear roles led by responsible

experts

Individualist orientation but

belief in collaboration and

participative decision-making

Building personal

relationships to support doing

the task

Structured with time for

relationships

Individualists with A-team ethic

PlanningDetailed

AnalyticalRule-boundConsensus-

oriented

Increasing systematic approach

Risk tolerant Value flexibility and creativity

Detailed and methodical

Action oriented Short termism

Professionalcommunication

StructuredFormal

Data focusedImplicit

feedback

Pragmatic and harmony seeking

HumourLinguistic cleverness

Unstructured, creative

and showy

Task-based and structured

‘Can do’Positive feedback

Self-marketing

Relationships‘Authentic coconuts’

Polite and indirect Personal warmth although some

initial reservation

‘More easy going than Germany.’

‘Friendly peaches.’ Positive and enthusiastic

ConflictDirect and

bluntConflict tolerant

Indirect Face saving

Expressive show of feelings

Belief in diplomacy

Tough

TimeEfficient time

focusedTime pragmatic Time flexible Strict time focus Quick time focused

1. Time Zones and Languages• 81% indicated time zones presented the greatest general hurdle

to virtual teams• 64% who found language (accents and dialects) to be a barrier

2. Communication style• 94% said the inability to read non-verbal cues is very challenging• 90% stated the absence of face-to-face contact interfered with the

ability to build a relationship (which is perceived as a challenge facing virtual teams)

• 81% said being virtual made it more difficult to establish trust and rapport

3. Cultural differences• 80% said that virtual teams slowed down decision making• 77% were hampered by different leadership styles • 76% felt the method of decision-making was a challenge

April 2010, RW3 CultureWizard:randomly selected employees of multinational corporations. 600 completed surveys

Ask questions to move the group forward in its discussions.

Make people feel comfortable to speak.

Paraphrase what others have said to confirm your (or others’) understanding.

Bridge between the thoughts and ideas of others so as to move the whole group forward.

Encourage alternative viewpoints from others.

What would be a good way to proceed here?Should we focus more on ...Could we move onto to look at ...I think time is pressing and we should discuss ...

Just feel free to give any ideas ...Let’s just collect a few ideas to begin ...Just say what’s in your mind about ...No decision has been made so feel free to ...

So if I understood you correctly, you mean that ...So for you the most important thing is ...To summarise what you just said, ...Just to make sure I understand, you’re saying that ...

John, you said this. Alex, you said that. Peter, any comments?Luis, what do you think about Bob’s idea?Can we take the best of these ideas and think about ...If we keep these ideas in mind, let’s move onto look at ...

Could you play devil’s advocate for a moment?Sue, is there another way of looking at this?Luana, how would a customer think about this?If we put ourselves into their shoes, what would ...

Processing the input (overview, documented complaints, anecdotal comments)Establishing connections for messaging / emailingStorming to norming - how to move towards a consensualised document (agenda)Carrying out processAgreeing on final output • Writing strips out the EMOTION so it removes the expressive element of

communication (voice, verbal discussion, interaction, rhetoric).• BUT... It enhances the procedural aspects of the task because it imposes

certain linguistic rules and boundaries in terms of comprehensiveness and appropriateness. It is multi-directional among 4 or 5 people and, if done with commitment and a positive and collaborative attitude, it can be a powerful and effective mode of communication.

• For those with less fluency in the language, greater opportunity for articulation and intervention

Using instant messaging

Critical incidents1.Team members from Sweden are losing patience with their French colleague. During teleconference meetings he never sticks to the point and keeps dominating and side-tracking the discussion with over-complex arguments. A great deal of time is wasted and often outcomes are not reached. The Swedes decide to set communication guidelines regarding meeting process to be implemented next month.

2. A team member from Italy finds her colleague from Finland very cold because he says very little and answers simply ‘Yes’ and nothing more to the personal questions she asks him in an attempt to make small talk at the beginning of their weekly conference call .

3. A U.S. manager working on an international project decides to praise a Japanese team member who has done a good job in front of his international colleagues during the next video conference call. Afterwards, he reflects that the Japanese colleague seemed uncomfortable with this approach.

Critical incidents 24. Simone is horrified following a contract negotiation in Beijing. She had arrived home following a meeting when there was explicit verbal agreement about changes to the scope of her project, and sent an email to her Chinese colleagues confirming the agreement. In her inbox is an email refusing to accept that an agreement was reached. It even states that some discussions summarised by Simone never took place.

5.Sylvie, a project leader from Germany, is irritated by her British colleagues. They often deliver engaging presentations to the Steering Committee of the project which are accepted. But when the German team has to implement the ideas they find that they are not well thought out and lack detail. Sylvie begins to see her British colleagues as unprofessional and playing games to win influence in the project. She tells her team to be careful of close collaboration with their British colleagues

6.Jack is a controller in New York. He has asked a local country manager in India to supply key data several times. Despite promises made on the phone the week before, nothing has happened. Jack decides to escalate the matter to his board member in order to speed up the process

Useful References

1. The International Profiler by World Work(psychometric tool for assessing people’s challenges when working internationally)2. Riding the waves of culture: understanding cultural diversity by Fons Trompenaars and Charles Hampden-Turner3. The peach and the coconut analogy; Fons Trompenaars and Susanne Zaninelli4. Cultural dimensions by Geert Hofstede