Tweet

Culture and Communication

Guest post by: Sue Barrett

Article Overview: Selling and servicing across cultures is more common now than it has ever been. And as more and more of us come across international sales opportunities I thought it would be worth while looking at some of the challenges we may come across when trying to communicate effectively cross culturally in sales or other business areas. In many of the articles I have written I advocate for open, honest, trust based relationships. And I still do, however being a direct, no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is person that is what I value most. Therefore, by contrast, I can often find indirect, seemingly non-committal, indecisive communication a real chore. ‘Just get to the point’ I hear myself say. Or ‘are you just saying “yes” to just be nice or do you really want to go ahead?” Aaggh.

Culture and Communication

Selling and servicing across cultures is more common now than it has ever been. And as more and more of us come across international sales opportunities I thought it would be worth while looking at some of the challenges we may come across when trying to communicate effectively cross culturally in sales or other business areas.

In many of the articles I have written I advocate for open, honest, trust based relationships. And I still do, however being a direct, no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is person that is what I value most. Therefore, by contrast, I can often find indirect, seemingly non-committal, indecisive communication a real chore. ‘Just get to the point’ I hear myself say. Or ‘are you just saying “yes” to just be nice or do you really want to go ahead?” Aaggh.

I don’t think I am alone, however, in recent times I have really had to take a look at Direct vs. Indirect communication styles as we are quoting for some sales and service training in Asia. I have trained in Asia before, but I really need to be much more aware about the potential communication divide and the value different cultures place on Direct versus Indirect communication. Especially when I am putting relevant sales and service programs which are all based around effective communication.

For instance a well known company have located a main part of their internal services off shore. The people in this offshore team need to answer queries, solve problems and pro-actively deal with their Australian counterparts. While the technical aspects of the job are easy to train, the issue lies in how to equip these people with Direct Communication styles that suit their Australian audience. Some of us have seen Asian call centre staff being trained in the Australian vernacular i.e. G’day mate, etc. However it is so much more than that.

Tackling this issue is not easy especially given the cultural / communication divide. Understanding the core competencies and specific behaviours needed in the offshore team at each level is critical to gaining clarity and providing evidence as to the standards of work performance expected in each role would make a good start. Understanding the business and personal values shared by the people, in each country team, is also critical. These shared values can provide a link and bridge to connect with each other. Building a further bridge between different communications styles and cultural morays is the challenge.

This issue is one of the communication dichotomies which can cause problems between Asian and Western co-workers. Each of these styles has its own intrinsic, often unspoken, rules. When a person used to communicating under one set of rules is thrust into a situation where another set of rules is being used, it ultimately leads to frustration.

Frustration is what the company I referred to before is experiencing. You can try cultural training but unless it is backuped by direct behavioural interventions, shared values, links between direct and indirect communication and ongoing support then nothing will change.

I am no expert in this area, but if I am going in to train a team that uses Indirect Communication in their daily life and culture in Direct Communication approaches and techniques that are part of another country I had better sort it out fast. Here is some information I found as part of my ongoing study in this area. A great article I found really expressed some of the issues and options very well:

SOM@Work > Blog Archive > How to Communication with Your...

Some cultures, such as in the Australia, U.S., Germany and the U.K. generally value a direct style of communication. They like to “get down to business,” “cut to the chase,” and “get to the point.” They do not feel offended or shamed by the kind of direct statements that might be considered offensive in indirect cultures such as in Asia. In fact, when things are not stated directly, people from direct cultures (such as Australian co-workers) can become confused and frustrated, and might not understand the message at all. They are used to communicating with people whose mantras are “say what you mean, and mean what you say” and “let your ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and your ‘no’ be ‘no.’” In these cultures, being direct is how people show respect.

In cultures that use an indirect communication style, such as India, China, Japan, and other Asian cultures, it is very common to encounter situations where people communicate in a way that would not cause someone to lose face. Thus, communication happens indirectly. Messages are subtly implied rather than explicitly stated, and people are accustomed to reading between the lines for the message. Words such as “perhaps” and “maybe” are often code for “no,” since saying “no” could risk shaming someone. In these cultures, being indirect is how people show respect.

Those from indirect cultures think of their own style as polite and face-saving, and sometimes see direct communication as rude, blunt and overly aggressive. Those from direct cultures think of their style as open and honest, and sometimes think of indirect communication as “beating around the bush” and a sign that the communicator is trying to be difficult, shifty, or maddeningly vague.

Akio Morita (co-founder of SONY) once said that when Westerners “ask questions or express an opinion, they want to know right away whether the other party agrees or opposes them. So in English, ‘yes’ or ‘no’ comes first. We Japanese prefer to save the ‘yes’ or ‘no’ for last. Particularly when the answer is ‘no,’ we put off saying that as long as possible, and they find that exasperating.”

Each of us intrinsically feels that our style is the “right” style, and the other is the “wrong” style – but in the end, it’s not a matter of right or wrong, but of getting on the same wavelength.

The author of the article suggests the keys to effective cross-cultural communication are to:

• try to understand the rules by which people are playing
• play by their cultural rules as much as possible when we communicate with them,
• give them grace when they have trouble understanding and playing by the rules of our culture.

Related Articles
  Culture Creates Your Brand's First Impressions
  Importance of Culture and Communication in Leadership
  Effective Leaders Clarify Expectations
  Who's Driving
  Tips for Leaders on Cross Cultural Communications
  Shame Leadership - Communicating Across Cultural Boundaries
  Business Etiquette Seems To Have Gone Out The Window
  Does a Leader’s Communication Really Impact the Corporate Culture?
  Lesson #4: Create a High Hiring Bar
  Managing Cross-Cultural Conflicts – Expressive or Instrumental
  Leading Cross-Cultural Conflict Resolution
  Five Essential Steps for Creating a Coaching Culture
  100 Ways to Succeed #93
  9 Vital Principles of Communication
  Developing a Cultural Hermeneutic to Conflict Resolution
  An Antidote for Executive Stress
  Lost in Translations
  Drucker, Culture, and Safety
  Cross-Cultural Communication and Change
  Lesson #1: “To become really good, you need to live it and sleep it”

Article Tags: australian audience, australian counterparts, business areas, call centre, centre staff, challenges, communication styles, different cultures, effective communication, indirect communication, mate, nonsense, offshore team, queries, relationships, relevant sales, rsquo, sales opportunities, technical aspects, vernacular



Related Forum Posts
English teachers learn Japanese as Interns - Yasunori, what about the many students that leave N. America to teach English in Japan. They may want to learn Japanese (maybe Business Japanese is a bit different) and the Japanese Business Culture.
Re: Essential Leadership skills - Vision Values Mission Strategic Thinking Decision Making Communication Team Bonding People Development Coaching / Mentoring / Guiding / Grooming Presentation Thanks Robert
Re: LEADERS - Nice post, i like the Doers and the listeners comments from my handbook 8.5 HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW ABOUT LEADERSHIP? Planning Problem Solving Vision Innovation Leadership Emotional Intelligence Delegation Communication Self-Development Relationship Building Commercial Financial skills Personal Energy Ethics Transparency Even there I see that we are missing "PASSION"
Business Coaching Internship Review - I joined in during the first phase of the internship and at this point we are committed to doing research and development of RSC Business Group operating in Toronto. RSC Business Group already has products and services in Coaching Small businesses in Los Angeles but we didn't want to assume that the same products were wanted and needed in the Toronto market. Our goal at this point is to commit to interviewing 1000 business owners to capture this data. Through the teleconference internship I've been involved in we've been focusing on Communication Skills and on active listening which are practiced when we conduct our interviews and Coach our clients when they come on board. This is a lot harder than it sounds! Part of the internship is also creating the Toronto RSC Business Group's departments, job descriptions, Marketing and Communication plans etc that a business owner would create for their own company. This trains us in the way we would coach a company as well. The internship is phased in two parts and there is compensation plan involved as well for the clients you personally bring in. These clients are coached directly by Robert Chun as you begin but you are given a chance to learn his techniques. I haven't gone through this experience yet though. It's hard to explain Robert Chun's method of Coaching as it happens at a psychological level in his ability to listen and question the person being coached into the next steps they need to take. The Teleconferences are 2 hours long but it's very interactive. If you have a desire to explore this area of Business I'd recommend contacting Vwodek listed above and get invited to a Coaching Conference call. You can decided then if it's for you. Note: it is a commitment but the skills you walk away with whether you plan on working with RSC Business Group or not is invaluable.
Franchise Support. What is it to you? - I do a lot of due diligence on franchises that we work with. Most of the time I call up existing franchisees and act like I am interested in buying a franchise in their system. I ask a ton of questions just like any normal buyer, they do not know that I am an experienced franchise consultant. My question for this forum is: What do you consider support from the franchisor? Is it: - Communication? - Brand growth? - Advertising? - Assistance? - Or something else? The reason I ask this is that some franchisees tell me that they don't get enough support from the franchisor and when I ask them what support they would want, they don't have an answer outside of "helping me get more business". So I thought I would throw this out to the group and ask you what you consider would be support to a franchisee. .


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How do I finance a franchise?

Designing Employee-Enhancing Training Programs

Making the Most of Your Trade Show Experience

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.