How can you improve communication across cultures?

I would expand this advice to include learning about all of your different co-cultures, the cultures with which you identify such as race, ethnicity, country, gender, age, and any other groups you are a part of. All of our co-cultures can bring different culture dimensions, and we each end up with our own unique way of seeing the world and choosing which cultures we most align with.

As a leader navigating a globalized and diverse world, effective cross-cultural communication is paramount. Misunderstandings, conflicts, and stereotypes can arise when communicating across cultures, hence the importance of building trust and rapport with people from different backgrounds, values, and perspectives. The first step in this journey is understanding my own culture: I examine my cultural assumptions, biases, and preferences, asking how they influence my expression, listening, feedback, negotiation tactics, and conflict resolution methods. I contemplate how these behaviors reflect my cultural norms and how they might differ from or clash with others.

I believe that understanding one's own culture is indeed the essential foundation for improving communication across cultures. From my perspective, by recognizing our cultural assumptions, biases, and preferences, we become more self-aware and gain insights into how our communication style may be perceived by others from different backgrounds. By embracing this understanding, we can adapt our approach, appreciate diverse perspectives, and foster a more inclusive and effective intercultural dialogue.

The first step, in my experience in leading research across different African markets, we underestimate the cultural nuances. This is the environment that influences thoughts and behaviour, values, habits, relationships and unwritten cultural rules. One key area of research is lifestyle behavior or psychographics. Getting to understand the "why", helps unearth how a population will react or choose to respond to a brand, a product, a market intervention or a new market entrant.

From my experience, learning about other cultures is crucial for improving communication across diverse backgrounds. By understanding their unique communication patterns, expectations, and preferences, we can adapt our approach and effectively navigate cultural differences. By showing respect and curiosity, we foster an environment of inclusivity, open-mindedness, and mutual understanding that facilitates meaningful connections and collaborations across cultures.

As someone who has managed dispersed global teams, this topic is extremely relevant. I have had to help manage numerous escalations and conflicts that really came down to communication styles and cultural differences. One of the best things I ever did was organize a global leadership offsite where I was able to facilitate a workshop on communication styles across the international group and cross functional teams. The level of understanding people walked away with about themselves and others changed the way people viewed each other and interacted after that point. Results included: - reduced escalations - increased productivity - happier & more collaborative teams Get creative, find ways to bridge cultural gaps & learn, impact is 📈➕

The second step in improving cross-cultural communication involves learning about the cultures of those I interact with. I delve beyond surface-level facts and etiquette, striving to understand their communication patterns, expectations, and preferences. I consider how they utilize verbal and nonverbal cues like tone, gestures, or silence. I examine how they view time, hierarchy, relationships, or emotions, and how they handle ambiguity, uncertainty, or risk. By expanding my knowledge of other cultures, I move beyond stereotypes and generalizations, demonstrating respect and curiosity and, in turn, enhancing my ability to communicate effectively across cultural divides.

The second step, you should also consider, how our culture views hierarchy. Ever wondered why in some formal meetings, people will stand when a person of high hierarchy walks in. It’s an impact of the environment you come from. There are times I simply see misunderstandings in the corporate world, not on principle but on the lack of understanding of the other the “why”, that makes one react to certain things, instead of responding. Regardless of the positions we hold in the corporate world, we are products of our environment which often, has more impact on us that we are willing to accept.

The third step to enhance cross-cultural communication is adapting my communication style to the context and audience. This involves flexibly adjusting my words, tone, body language, and actions to align with the situation and expectations of the other party. For instance, certain circumstances might call for me to be more direct or indirect, formal or informal, assertive or cooperative, contingent on the culture and the communication's purpose. By being malleable with my communication style, I can bolster my clarity, credibility, and rapport, fostering more fruitful dialogues and connections across cultural boundaries.

The third step is to know your audience. How do they react or respond to you when you get into a room? Or when you start speaking? How do they react / respond when you kick off with a small exercise to create a rapport? Do they willingly participate, or do they open their gadgets and switch off? Rapport creation in my view sets the tone of how you will engage formally or informally or whatever format of flow for communication to happen.

The fourth step is the art of questioning. How often do we ask questions instead of making assumptions. I was taught a valuable lesson that, “always ask questions until we get to a better question. This helps reinforce that we are not just hearing our audience but actively listening.

The fourth step to refine cross-cultural communication is seeking feedback and clarification. This involves being open and responsive to the signals and reactions from the other party, inquiring or confirming understanding when there's uncertainty. It's also about offering feedback and clarifications in a constructive, respectful manner while sidestepping assumptions or judgments. Pursuing feedback and clarification helps to prevent or rectify misunderstandings, conflicts, and errors, making way for more effective communication and productive relationships in a multicultural world.

Embracing other backgrounds and cultures helps create a more equal workplace. Being open to others’ ideas and experiences cultivates a welcoming atmosphere where all individuals feel comfortable sharing and participating. By listening and asking questions, assumptions are avoided and learning opportunities are created. These actions lead to an environment that’s prime for innovation and success.

The fifth step to honing cross-cultural communication is embracing diversity and viewing it as a chance for growth and innovation. I maintain a positive attitude, appreciating the uniqueness and similarities across people and cultures, and acknowledging the value they offer. Humility also plays a part, as I am always willing to learn from others and share my knowledge and experiences. This receptiveness to diversity and learning fosters an environment of inclusion, collaboration, and creativity, helping to build stronger and more dynamic cross-cultural relationships.

The fifth step is to always remember that there’s someone who understands the environment you want to tap in more than you do. For example, especially when we undertake market entry study, ask how perhaps customers respond to products or brands from different geographies? What makes them do that? Ask for guidance of how they would approach a problem and how they would solve it. Allowing others to share their perspectives, unlocks more barriers than challenges.

This skill is critical for anyone looking to be a leader in a global/international business. A couple things I’ll add here: - be open minded and empathetic. Try to put yourself in other ppls shoes and understand their perspective. Try to avoid judgement. (I did this with an employee experiencing war, for example) - some ways in which you can expose yourself to other cultures is be traveling, joining multicultural organizations, etc - basically immersing yourself in diverse environments where you can learn firsthand about different cultures - this is one of the best ways IMO. I have countless examples where applying these skills in practice have completely changed my relationships with colleagues for the better and where I have grown.

The sixth step to enhancing cross-cultural communication is cultivating intercultural competence - the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in diverse cultural scenarios. This goes beyond acquiring the aforementioned knowledge, skills, and attitudes—it also requires motivation, awareness, and sensitivity to apply them in real-world situations. Developing intercultural competence necessitates continual learning, introspection, feedback, and exposure to varied cultures and contexts. By honing my intercultural competence, I am better equipped to be an effective and successful leader in an increasingly globalized and diverse world.