Importance of Learning Cross Cultural Communication Skills in Today's Work Place

chillibreeze writer — Rahul Gopal Chaudhari

Planning to build a team of workers with diverse competencies, coming from varied cultural backgrounds? Worried about how the interpersonal communication will work out? Or have a team of brilliant and motivated individuals, but one that is plagued by miscommunication and misunderstandings? Excited by what latent potential such a team might unleash, but disappointed by the joint productivity that it barely manages to achieve? Looking to push your business frontiers internationally and enter new markets?

We live in an age revolutionized by technology, fast transport and ever-faster means of communication. It is not rare that bosses and managers face situations of teaming up workers with heterogeneous backgrounds. That is why it is necessary to ensure that those teams achieve productivity quickly and sustain it in the long run. But easier said than done! Cultural differences between colleagues creep in and interfere at every level. Nationalities, languages, religious beliefs, work ethics, past work experience and styles of functioning may vary widely. Under such circumstances, it might even be impossible for a group of people to function collectively. If not handled proactively at the right time, work atmosphere risks destruction, as distrust and intolerance breed among colleagues. This situation further escalates as deadlines are missed, customers driven away and valuable workers leave. Naturally, all of this is bad for your business.

Humankind has evolved to its present state over thousands of years. Along the way, societal customs and protocols of interpersonal interaction have undergone varied and unique transformations across the world geography. What is seen as acceptable in one culture might be completely contradictory when viewed in the context of another.

Let us look at some representative examples. While directness and clarity of expression are hallmarks of one culture, “beating around the bush” without getting to the point directly might be more of a norm in some other. The origins of such behavior might lie in the fact that while some cultures promote objective and practical approach to work for the sake of scientific, industrial and economic development, some others lay heavy emphasis on hierarchy and avoidance of conflicts, especially with superiors. While some cultures foster excessively formal workplace relationships, some others are characterized by a very casual work atmosphere. While it is unthinkable for some to arrive late for meetings, it might be more of a habit to some others.

Incompatibilities between colleagues with different cultural backgrounds might generate difficult workplace conflicts. There is a high chance that body language is misinterpreted between colleagues, complicating workplace relationships. Everyone likes to think of themselves as compassionate and considerate people. However, even deeds with good intentions behind them might be misread as being arrogant or offensive if not expressed appropriately. Cultural stereotyping is often a common hindrance to collaborative work. However, generalizing an observation from a few instances to apply to entire group is, not only inappropriate, but also unfair, and should be dissuaded.

Nowadays, high-speed telephone and Internet links have offloaded a lot of physical face-to-face interaction to communication media. This makes it even more difficult to communicate with unfamiliar cultures. For example, exotic accents, cultural references and use of non-standard vocabulary might turn telephonic interactions into unpleasant affairs. Similar problems, and more, characterize Email communications.

All said and done, ultimately, colleagues have to team up together and work their way towards common goals. Although cultural conflicts are unavoidable in the first place, it is a blunder to leave them to resolve themselves automatically. Without professional aid, nobody seems to have a clue why the work atmosphere worsens, and blame games begin. Unless employees are made to see highly multicultural environments from perspectives other than their own, an open, tolerant, collaborative and jointly productive workplace is hard to achieve.

Getting familiar with the ways and customs needs international experience and exposure. No matter how good our cross cultural skills innately may be, there are some aspects that have to be learned and experienced first-hand. Some behaviors even have to be unlearned or revised. Self study, formal training and observation of conflict resolving and preventing approaches are key to successful cross cultural communication.

The need for “learning” cross cultural communication skills requires to be identified at an early stage. Workers must be professionally trained with techniques for effective cross-cultural communication. Appropriate books on the topic, occasional seminars, workshops, team-building exercises and interaction in informal and relaxed atmospheres go a long way in that direction.

Editor's note: Most articles submitted to Chillibreeze go through a selection process. Only 30 percent of submitted articles are accepted for publication on the Chillibreeze.com featured article list. All accepted articles are edited and proofread for glaring errors of punctuation and grammar. Sentence structure is changed in certain cases and sometimes, entire sections are rewritten. If you notice any errors that have slipped through the cracks, do let us know! (Email us at info at chillibreeze dot com).

Chillibreeze's disclaimer: This is a contributed article and was published on Chillibreeze in October, 2011. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of Chillibreeze as a company. Chillibreeze has a strict anti-plagiarism policy. Please contact us to report any copyright issues related to this article. The relevance of the facts and figures cited (if any) could change after a period of time.

More on Chillibreeze.com

Other popular articles on Chillibreeze

Top Ten Restaurants in Ahmedabad
Adult Education and Its Different Forms
Relocating to India: Points to Ponder Before Making the Shift
How to Edit Your Own Work
Romantic Paris in a Day

Out of 5 “chilies”, our editorial team gave this article...

—About our writer:

Rahul is a communications engineer by education. Although audio/video media floods the internet today, he believes that text-based dissemination of information will live forever. Having published a number of scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals in capacity of a scientific researcher, he specializes in technical writing. He has developed key perspectives to functioning and teamwork in an international multicultural environment, having studied and worked in one himself. He has an excellent command over English and German.

>> Read more articles written by Chillibreeze writers:

More resources for Writers on Chillibreeze.com

Chillibreeze offers Indian writers the opportunity to work on customer projects. We are also India’s biggest writer network and a one-stop shop for Indian writers and editors. The writers’ section on Chillibreeze offers freelance writers and editors a variety of tools to advance their careers. Resources for writers include:

Assessment of your writing, editing and proofreading skills

Writing courses

Expert Feedback on your article

An opportunity to promote yourself on our website

Top websites for Indian writers

Tips and resources for Indian freelancers

Book Publishing services

And more………………..

Explore our writers’ section using the links on our left-hand side menu.