Improving Communication Across Cultures

Once you can recognize cultural elements and overcome ethnocentrism, you're ready to focus directly on your intercultural communication skills. To communicate more effectively with people from other cultures, you need to overcome language barriers, study other cultures, develop effective written skills, and develop effective oral skills.

By choosing specific words to communicate, you signal that you are a member of a particular culture or subculture and that you know the code. The nature of your code—your language and vocabulary—imposes its own barriers on your message. For example, the language of a lawyer differs from that of an accountant or a doctor, and the difference in their vocabularies affects their ability to recognize and express ideas. Barriers also exist because words can be interpreted in more than one way. In fact, it's often said that the United States and the United Kingdom are two countries divided by a common language (see Table 3–2). The barriers become greater still when you're communicating across cultures. You must be able to communicate effectively both with people who speak English as a second language (ESL) and with people who don't speak your language at all.

Table 3–2	U.S. versus British English
U.S. English British English apartment flat eggplant auberg cleaning lady charwoman elevator lift first floor ground level long-distance call trunk call organization organisation pharmacist chemist rare underdone roast joint string bean French bean sweater pullover

Of the many millions of people who use English as a second language, some are extremely fluent, and others have only an elementary command. When dealing with those less fluent in your own language, you may miss a few subtleties, but you are still able to communicate. Even so, don't assume that the other person understands everything you say. Your message can be mangled by slang and idioms, by local accents, and by vocal variations.

Languages never translate word for word. They are idiomatic—constructed with phrases that mean more than the sum of their literal parts. For example, if a U.S. executive tells an Egyptian executive that a certain product "doesn't cut the mustard" or that making the monthly sales quota will be "a piece of cake," chances are that the communication will fail. When speaking to people less fluent in your language, try to choose words carefully to convey only their most specific denotative meaning. Use words that have singular rather than multiple meanings. The word high has 20 meanings; the word expensive has one.³²

Even when people speak your language, you may have a hard time understanding their pronunciation. After transferring to Toyota's U.S. office, some English-speaking Japanese employees had to enroll in a special course to learn that "Jeat yet?" means "Did you eat yet?" and that "Cannahepya?" means "Can I help you?" Some nonnative English speakers don't distinguish between the English sounds v and w, so they say "wery" for "very." At the same time, many people from the United States are unable to pronounce the French r or the German ch.

Some people use their voices differently from culture to culture. Russian speakers tend to use a flat, level tone, so to some U.S. listeners they sound bored or rude. Middle Easterners tend to speak more loudly than Westerners and may therefore mistakenly be considered more emotional. On the other hand, people from Japan are soft-spoken, a characteristic that implies politeness or humility to Western listeners.

Even though English is widely spoken in the global business marketplace, the language of business is the language of the customer. Increasingly, that language may not be English.³³ So U.S. companies are realizing that they can no longer get by speaking only English—even in the United States. One of every seven people in the United States speaks a language other than English when at home. After English, Spanish is by far the most commonly spoken language in the United States, followed by French, German, Italian, and Chinese.³⁴ When communicating with people who don't speak your language at all, you have three options: You can learn their language, use an intermediary or a translator, or teach them your language. However you choose to overcome language barriers, remember that effective communication requires a major commitment—even on the Web.

Overcoming language barriers by avoiding slang and idioms is a constant pursuit in a company like NEC Corporation, which has offices in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. NEC is recognized as a world leader in high technology, and its goal is to link the world and transform it into a cooperative global village.

If you're planning to live in another country or to do business there repeatedly, you might want to learn the language. The same holds true if you'll be working closely with a subculture that has its own language, such as Vietnamese Americans. Even if you're doing business in your own language, you show respect by making the effort to learn the subculture's language, or at least to learn a few words. One problem is that language courses may take more time and more money than you can afford.

Because so many international business letters are written in English, U.S. firms don't always worry about translating their correspondence. However, many other forms of written communication must be translated. Advertisements are almost always translated into the customer's language. Warranties, repair and maintenance manuals, and product labels also require translation. For example, the warranty for a Hewlett-Packard laser jet printer cartridge is written in English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Japanese. In addition, many multinational companies translate policy and procedure manuals for use in overseas offices. Reports from foreign branches to the home office may be written in one language and then translated into another. One multinational company, E. I. Du Pont de Nemours & Company, translates roughly 70,000 pages of documents each year. ³⁵

An experienced translator can analyze a message, understand its meaning in the cultural context, consider how to convey the meaning in another language, and then use verbal and nonverbal signals to encode or decode the message for someone from another culture. Whenever possible, arrange to meet translators ahead of time to give them a sense of what you are presenting and to discuss specific words or concepts that could be confusing.³⁶ Some companies use back-translation to ensure accuracy. Once a translator encodes a message into another language, a different translator retranslates the same message into the original language. This back-translation is then compared with the original message to discover any errors or discrepancies.

The option of teaching other people to speak your language doesn't appear to be very practical at first glance. However, many companies find it beneficial to offer language-training programs. For example, Tenneco instituted an English language-training program in New Jersey for its Spanish-speaking employees. The training concentrated on practical English for use on the job, and thanks to the classes, accidents and grievances declined and productivity improved.³⁷ Some multinational companies ask all their employees to use English when writing to employees in other countries, regardless of where they're located. For example, Nissan employees use English for internal memos to colleagues around the world, even though the corporation is based in Japan.³⁸ Of course, requiring employees to use a specific language when they're on the job can create tension and may be considered discriminatory.

Learning all you can about a particular culture is a good way to figure out how to send and receive intercultural messages effectively. Read books and articles about these cultures, and talk to people who have done business with members of these cultures. Concentrate on learning something about each culture's history, religion, politics, values, and customs. Find out about a country's subcultures, especially its business subculture, and any special rules or protocol. Studying culture is especially important if you interact with people from a variety of cultures or subcultures, like Target's Rodriguez.

"In dealing with American businesspeople," says Y. A. Cho, chief operating officer of Korean Airlines, "I'm amazed at how naive most are about other cultures and the way that others do business."³⁹ Something as simple as a handshake differs from culture to culture. For example, in Spain a proper handshake must last five to seven strokes, and pulling away too soon may be interpreted as rejection. However, in France the preferred handshake is only a single stroke. In Arab countries, you'll insult your hosts if you turn down food, drink, or hospitality of any kind. But don't accept too quickly, either. A polite refusal (such as "I don't want to put you to any trouble") is expected before you finally accept.

However, don't expect ever to understand another culture completely. No matter how much you study German culture, for example, you'll never be a German or share the experiences of having grown up in Germany. The trick is to learn useful general information while remaining aware of and open to variations and individual differences. You can communicate more effectively if you follow the tips from successful intercultural businesspeople:⁴⁰

•	Assume differences until similarity is proved. Don't assume that others are more similar to you than they actually are.

•	Take responsibility for communication. Don't assume it's the other person's job to communicate with you.

•	Withhold judgment. Learn to listen to the whole story and accept differences in others without judging them.

•	Show respect. Learn how respect is communicated in various cultures (through gestures, eye contact, and so on).

•	Empathize. Before sending a message, put yourself in the receiver's shoes. Imagine the receiver's feelings and point of view.

•	Tolerate ambiguity. Learn to control your frustration when placed in an unfamiliar or confusing situation.

•	Look beyond the superficial. Don't be distracted by things such as dress, appearance, or environmental discomforts.

•	Be patient and persistent. If you want to communicate with someone from another culture, don't give up easily.

•	Recognize your own cultural biases. Learn to identify when your assumptions are different from the other person's assumptions.

•	Be flexible. Be prepared to change your habits and attitudes when communicating with someone from another culture.

•	Emphasize common ground. Look for similarities to work from.

•	Send clear messages. Make both your verbal and nonverbal signals clear and consistent.

•	Deal with the individual. Communicate with each person as an individual, not as a stereotypical representative of another group.

•	Learn when to be direct. Investigate each culture so that you'll know when to send your message in a straightforward manner and when to be indirect.

•	Treat your interpretation as a working hypothesis. Once you think you understand a foreign culture, carefully assess the feedback provided by recipients of your communication to see if it confirms your hypothesis.

This advice will help you communicate with anybody, regardless of culture.

Checklist: Communicating with a Culturally Diverse Work Force

ACCEPT CULTURAL DIFFERENCES Adjust your message to employees’ education level. Encourage employees to discuss their culture’s customs. Create a formal forum to teach employees about the customs of all cultures represented in the firm. Train employees to see and overcome ethnocentric stereotyping. Provide books, articles, and videos about various cultures. Stamp out negative labels by observing how people identify their own groups.   IMPROVE ORAL AND WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS Define the terms people need to know on the job. Emphasize major points with repetition and recap. Use familiar words whenever possible. Don’t cover too much information at one time. Be specific and explicit—using descriptive words, exact measurements, and examples when possible. Give the reason for asking employees to follow a certain procedure and explain what will happen if the procedure is not followed. Use written summaries and visual aids (when appropriate) to clarify your points. Demonstrate and encourage the right way to complete a task, use a tool, and so on. Reduce language barriers: Train managers in the language of their employees, train employees in the language of most customers and of most people in the company, ask bilingual employees to serve as translators, print important health and safety instructions in as many languages as necessary.   ASSESS HOW WELL YOU’VE BEEN UNDERSTOOD Research the nonverbal reactions of other cultures; then be alert to facial expressions and other nonverbal signs that indicate confusion or embarrassment. Encourage employees to ask questions in private and in writing. Observe how employees use the information you’ve provided, and review any misunderstood points.   OFFER FEEDBACK TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION Focus on the positive by explaining what should be done rather than what shouldn’t be done. Discuss a person’s behaviors and the situation, rather than making a judgment about the person. Be supportive as you offer feedback, and reassure individuals that their skills and contributions are important.