Communication and Culture Tips for Global Managers

Culture Matters: Communication and Culture Tips for Global Managers


By Karine Schomer

When offshore outsourcing or other cross-border business ventures run into implementation difficulties, managers and team members often point to "communication problems" as the root cause. This attribution occurs both in anecdotal responses and in formal surveys.

But what is meant, exactly, by "communication problems"? Weaknesses in the project management aspects of communication? Generic weaknesses in the art of effective communication on the part of individuals in your teams? Cross-cultural differences in the approach and protocols of communication? Unless you can untangle this web and pinpoint where those costly communication gaps are (or may be in the future if your work is just starting), it's unlikely you'll be successful in either resolving or preventing them.

Click here to read the rest.

[from http://www.sourcingmag.com]

Survive Workplace Assholes

In every workplace environment there seems to be one or more persons who you don't get along with or like very much because you consider them an asshhole.  The reasons may vary and be long, but it is best to resolve any issues before causing long term damage.

In a global working environment, you could feel that people are assholes, where in reality there may be just be some miscommunication or cultural issues that you are not familiar with.  When dealing with foreigners take extra caution on how to deal with those you perceive as being assholes.  A little effort can go a long way to put those feelings aside.

In any case, click here to read about how to survive workplace assholes. 

Communicating Bad News

How to Communicate Bad News Professionally

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
"I have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?" "Oh, give me the bad news first. I want to end on an upbeat note." Prepare for it, because when you have bad news to convey in a professional environment, there are ways to do it correctly, and ways to make a mess of it. There are different approaches to this and different techniques, depending on (among other things) the nature of the news, the circumstances in which it is delivered, the gravity of the news, and how the news will be used. The following set of steps will give you some guidelines about how you can create the appropriate result with the appropriate impact. While reviewing these methods, you will see one that stands heads above the rest from a philosophical point of view, and it is presented last. The first methods you see are here because they are common techniques and you should know how to recognize them. Only the last one has the element of true character. That doesn’t mean, however, that you should ignore the first ones. They do have their place. Just be aware of when they are appropriate and when they are not. Never, never, never give bad news first!

Steps

The Spin Technique You might see this used in political venues and by corporations broadcasting to the public; no matter how bad things are, everything is presented in positive terms: "I’m pleased to report that at this pace he will finish with school and that he is currently in the upper 98% in his class of only 100 students!" The presentation may appear to be "off the cuff" but in reality it takes careful planning and well-timed delivery. (If you didn’t catch it, the quote above does not say he will graduate, and the upper 98% in a class of 100 means there are only two worse students. The word "only" is added for no reason other than to distract and confuse.)

1. Know your subject well: You are going to make bad news sound like good news. To do so effectively, you must be knowledgeable of other facts and issues that are close to the situation. If, for example, you are presenting bad news about the deterioration of a forest due to extensive lumber harvesting, you must also know about other environmental impacts (e.g. fauna habitats). In this approach, you will be questioned about ancillary items. Be prepared.
2. Use statistical references: Using numbers to back your presentation is a powerful tool. The truth is that, if carefully prepared, statistical references (this is different from real statistics that might weigh against you) can be used to back nearly any position. That doesn’t make the position right, but it does add power to your presentation. It’s a Sophist approach (Sophists focus on being able to argue either side with equal effectiveness – usually categorized as individuals without regard for "truth").
3. Do not present points that do not support your position: Having said that, it is possible there are points you know will be raised. It may be desirable to diminish those points during your presentation. If that is appropriate, do not disparage or "brush off" the opposition, but rather indicate why those opposing points are either irrelevant or incorrect. Don’t spend a lot of time on this – the more time you take the more solidly the opposing positions will be anchored. Address them and move on. "To address animal protectionist concerns, we have thoroughly studied the impact on local fauna and conclusively proven it to be negligible. We will make our studies available to appropriately qualified reviewers." End of story – no questions.
4. Give the appearance of being intellectual: You don’t have to be a Rhodes Scholar to make your point, but it’s important that the audience believes you are well versed on this, and other related subjects. References to obscure but pertinent facts can have a powerful psychological impact. "As most of you know, the six-year-old gymnogyps mates in the early fall and our efforts are clearly sensitive to this important event."
5. Be upbeat: There is a line, often crossed, between an upbeat presenter and a snake oil salesman. "Trouble with a capital ‘T’ and that rhymes with ‘P’ and that stands for pool!" Even if you are selling snake oil, you don’t want to come across that way, right now. Remember, this is a bad news presentation.
6. Be ready for fallout: This technique is almost always transparent on an intellectual level. You are appealing to an immediate emotional reaction. After that reaction fades, the hope is that your sound bites will have enough exposure to carry. You will definitely get commentary on the "glossed over" areas. How you handle that is not within the scope of this document.

Compare and Minimize You probably see this most frequently in reviews of activities gone wrong. "Things could have been much worse. Yes, there may have been mistakes made but we had a good plan and executed it perfectly. Remember how bad things were when the same thing happened two years ago? Well, this was much better in every measurable way." This type of presentation is often used to (try to) conceal fault. It rarely does that, but on a positive note it allows the presenter to admit mistakes and save face at the same time. On the downside, it will appear childish and petulant, if not performed well. "But mom! Nobody did good on the test and Johnny and Mary even got an F and the test next week is the important one!"

1. Identify common references: You want to find other, similar events that had less favorable outcomes. You will use these as comparisons. Generally speaking, the more the better, but don’t use the entire list – keep some in reserve for backup. Definitely, the worse those other things are, the better the comparison. "The outcome of our efforts was phenomenal when you consider that three of the other teams failed to recover over 30 times as many."
2. List every good thing that was done: You’re not going to ignore the bad news, but you want the focus to be on the effort rather than the result. "Despite the hazardous working conditions and the lack of proper funding and the obvious lack of local support those men and women persevered and overcame - they deserve our deepest thanks!"
3. Focus on the future: Catastrophes are nothing more than opportunities to improve. When you start talking about the future, you must expand on recent efforts. Don’t point out the things that weren’t done, but rather stick to how this lesson showed how the good things that were done can be improved and can be done better and faster. "I'm going to work even harder to make sure the fallout from events like this are minimized, even further!"

The Sandwich Method Good News – Bad News – Good News In business environments you will often find that the earlier "slick" presentations just don’t work. This is particularly true when ethics and accountability are held to high standards. This method gives you a way to present bad news in a way that both starts and ends on a positive note without "smoke and mirror" techniques. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to report that our new testing procedures have improved our failure detection by 97% over the past three months. We had one catastrophic failure which, regrettably, resulted in the loss of an expensive robotic arm, but on a more positive note, the arm was scheduled for replacement during the next fiscal year and this event allowed us to advance our retrofit which has further increased productivity."

1. Identify the good news: Before the negative event, what was going well? Find something that was on the up swing that is related to the bad news. It’s important to present this first. Do not ever present the bad news first. If you do that, the audience will often focus on that and you will lose their attention – they won’t even hear the good news. Give them something interesting so they’ll want to hear more.
2. Present the facts: After the initial good news, lead directly into the bad news. Don’t segue with "and now the bad news" or you’ll deflate the positive impact the previous good news brought. When you state the bad news try to be be somewhat monotonic in nature but don’t waiver and don’t be apologetic.
3. Outline the positive results: You’ve stated exactly what happened. Now, most importantly, what did you learn from it? Bad things do happen; accept it. But you can use those events to improve. This is most commonly called a post-mortem analysis. Done properly, such an analysis can lead to dramatic improvements. When you present your summary of the post-mortem, you will be telling the audience how this negative event poses a future benefit.
4. Avoid excuses: Yes, it happened. No, it wasn’t a good thing. No, you’re not trying to dodge responsibility. Your objective is to state the news and nothing but the news. You’re simply going to put it in such a way that the audience recognizes you as a person of integrity. When done properly it’s likely you’ll get a round of applause by using this method.
5. Avoid finger-pointing: Instead of a blame fixer, be a problem fixer. Don't try to assign the bad news to someone - not even to yourself. Quibbling over who did what to whom behind which barn isn't going to solve anything. We were having a good day, something bad happened, here's what we're doing about it.

Tips

• Whenever possible, use the Sandwich Method. It shows maturity and character. The other methods are highly specialized and require very distinct circumstances and very experienced presenters.
• Rehearse! Don’t try to do any of these without practice. If you have the opportunity to work with friends or associates first, that’s a very good way to learn of potential objections or to judge audience reactions.
• In the Spin Method, you need to be slick and talk fast. If you’re asked a follow-up question, nod a lot during the question as though you already know the answer. Always remember you can avoid answering follow-up questions by referring to future release of information to "appropriately qualified reviewers." See How to Spin Bad News for a more detailed presentation.
• In the Compare and Minimize Method, it is sometimes helpful to talk about the comparison bad news in a sympathetic way. Inducing sympathy in the audience toward other bad news will often carry across to yours.
• There is one method not mentioned here that is obvious by its absence. This is the "factual presentation." It’s omitted because in the environment where it’s used, there really isn’t any such thing as bad news. In that scenario (lab experiments, for example) there is only supporting data and non-supporting data. Reporting that a wheel failed during a test is not bad news – it’s simply data.
• The Sandwich Method is a very good way to offer constructive criticism (coaching) to modify behavior (with employees, friends, children, spouses). See How to Give a Feedback Sandwich for additional uses and a different presentation of this technique.

Warnings

• Never give the bad news first! Your audience will lose interest in everything else you’re going to say. They won’t even hear the good news.
• Once you start down a path, it is very difficult to reverse course. If you choose the Spin Method, for example, you will find it difficult to switch to one of the others.
• The worst possible way to present bad news is to lie about it. Lying is out of the scope of this document, but there are articles you can reference if you truly believe that is your only option.
• Always show respect for those who are affected by bad news.

Related wikiHows

• How to Give a Feedback Sandwich
• How to Spin Bad News
• How to Break Bad News
• How to Be Honest
• How to Lie
• How to Communicate Your Weaknesses
• How to Accept Criticism While at Work
• How to Respond to a Job Performance Review

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Communicate Bad News Professionally. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

How to Communicate Effectively

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
No matter your age, background, or experience, effective communication is a skill you can learn. With a little self-confidence and knowledge of the basics, you'll be able to get your point across. Here's how to do it.

Steps

Creating The Right Environment For Communication

1. Choose the right time. As the cliché states, there is a time and a place for everything, and communicating is no different.
   • Avoid leaving discussions about heavy topics such as finances or weekly planning until late evening. Few people will be thrilled to be faced with sorting out major issues when they're at their most tired. Instead, leave heavy topics for mornings and afternoons when people are alert, available, and more likely to be able to respond with clarity.
2. An intimate conversation]]Choose the right place. If you need to tell someone something that isn't going to be well received (such as news of a death or a breakup), don't do it in public, around colleagues or near other people. Be respectful and mindful of the person receiving the communication and communicate to them in a private place. This will also enable you to provide space to open dialog with them about the communication, and helps to ensure that the two-way process is occurring properly.
   • If you are presenting to a group of people, be sure to check the acoustics beforehand and practice projecting your voice clearly. Use a microphone if needed to ensure that your audience can hear you.
3. If the phone rings, laugh it off the first time, then turn it off immediately and continue talking]]Remove distractions. Turn off all electronics that could go off during the conversation. Do not allow external distractions to act as crutches that keep sidetracking your concentration. They will distract both you and your listener, and effectively kill the communication.

Organizing Your Communications

1. Organize and clarify ideas in your mind. This should be done before you attempt to communicate these ideas. If you are feeling passionate about a topic, you may become garbled if you haven't already thought of some key points to stick to when communicating it.
   • A good rule of thumb is to choose three main points and keep your communication focused on those. That way, if the topic wanders off course, you will be able to return to one or more of these three key points without feeling flustered. Writing these key points down (if it's appropriate) can also help.
2. Be clear. Make it clear what you're wishing to convey from the outset. For example, your purpose could be to inform others, obtain information or initiate action. People need to know in advance what you expect from your communication.
3. Stay on topic. Once you start addressing your three main points, make sure everything you're saying adds to the conversation or debate. If you have already thought through the issues and the essence of the ideas that you wish to put across, it is likely that some pertinent phrases will stick in your mind. Do not be afraid to use these to underline your points. Even very confident and well-known speakers reuse their key lines again and again for major effect.
4. Thank your listener(s). Thank the person or group for the time taken to listen and respond. No matter what the outcome of your communication, even if the response to your talk or discussion has been negative, it is good manners to end it politely and with respect for everyone's input and time.

Communicating Through Speech

1. Set the listener at ease. You want to do this before launching into your conversation or presentation. It can help sometimes to begin with a favorite anecdote. This helps the listener identify with you as someone like them.
2. Be articulate. It is important to speak clearly so that the message comes across in a way that every listener can understand. Your words are remembered because people instantly understand what it is that you are saying. It means uttering your words distinctly, preferring simpler words over more complex ones and speaking at a level guaranteed to be heard, but without coming across as too quiet or disengaged.
3. Avoid mumbling. Take special care to enunciate highlighted points you need to make in order to avoid any kind of misunderstanding. If mumbling is a defensive habit that you have fallen into out of fear of communicating, practice your message at home in front of the mirror. Discuss what you want to communicate with those you feel comfortable around first in order to better develop the message in your own mind. Both the practice and the development of your words for the messaging will build your confidence.
4. Be attentive when listening and ensure that your facial expressions reflect your interest.]] Listen actively. Communication is a two-way street. Remember that while you are talking, you are not learning. In listening, you will be able to gauge how much of your message is getting through to your listeners and whether or not it is being received correctly. It can be helpful to ask listeners to rephrase some of what you have said in their own words if they appear to be returning confused or mistaken views to you.
5. Be vocally interesting. A monotone is not pleasing to the ear. A good communicator will use "vocal color" to enhance communication. Norma Michael recommends raising the pitch and volume of your voice when you transition from one topic or point to another, and to increase your volume and slow down your voice whenever you are raising a special point or summing up.[1] She also recommends speaking briskly, but pausing to emphasize keywords when you are requesting action.

Communicating Through Body Language

1. Recognize people. Sure, you don't necessarily know the people in your audience or that new friend in your group, but they're nodding along with you and looking knowingly at you all the same. This means that they are connecting with you. So reward them with your acknowledgment.
2. Clarity of meaning can be expressed through your body language, too.|right]]Use facial expressions consciously. Aim to reflect passion and generate empathy from the listener by using soft, gentle, and aware facial expressions. Avoid negative facial expressions, such as frowns or raised eyebrows. What is or isn't negative is dependent on the context, including cultural context, so be guided by your situation.
   • Be alert for unexpected behavior that suggests you're cross-culturally colliding, such as a clenched fist, a slouched posture, or even silence.[2] If you don't know the culture, ask questions about communication challenges before you start to speak with people in their cultural context.
3. Communicate eye-to-eye. Eye contact establishes rapport, helps to convince people that you're trustworthy, and displays interest. During a conversation or presentation, it is important to look into the other person's eyes if possible and maintain contact for a reasonable amount of time (but don't overdo it; just as much as feels natural, about 2-4 seconds at a time).[3]
   • Remember to take in all of your audience. If you're addressing a boardroom, look every member of the board in the eye. Neglecting any single person can easily be taken as a sign of offense and could lose you business, admission, success, or whatever it is you are endeavoring to achieve.
   • If you're addressing an audience, pause and make eye contact with a member of audience for up to 2 seconds before breaking away and resuming your talk. This helps to make individual members of the audience feel personally valued.
   • Be aware that eye contact is culturally ordained. In some cultures it is considered to be unsettling, or inappropriate. Ask or research in advance.
4. Use breathing and pauses to your advantage. There is power in pausing. Simon Reynolds says that pausing causes an audience to lean in and listen. It helps you to emphasize your points and allow the listener time to digest what has been said. It also helps to make your communication come across as more compelling and it makes your speech easier to listen to.[4]
   • Take deep breaths to steady yourself before you begin communicating.
   • Get into the habit of solid, regular breathing during a conversation that will help you to keep a steady, calm voice. It will also keep you more relaxed.
   • Use pauses to take a breather in what you are saying.
5. How does this gesture come across?|right]]Use hand gestures carefully. Be conscious of what your hands are saying as you speak. Some hand gestures can be very effective in highlighting your points (open gestures), while others can be distracting or even offensive to some listeners, and can lead to the conversation or listening being closed down (closed gestures). It also helps to watch other people's hand gestures to see how they come across to you.
6. Keep a check on other body language signals. Watch for wandering eyes, hands picking at fluff on your clothing and constant sniffling. These small gestures add up and are all guaranteed to dampen the effectiveness of your message.

Communicating Effectively In Conflict

1. Place yourself on even ground. Do not stand or hover over the other person. This creates a power struggle and pushes the conflict to another level. If they are sitting, you should sit with them.
2. Listen to the other party. Let them say how they feel. Wait until they are completely finished talking before beginning to speak yourself.
3. Speak in a calm voice. Don't yell or make accusations at the other party. Let them know you have heard their point and understand their side.
4. Don't try to finish the argument at all costs. If the person walks out of the room, do not follow them. Allow them to do so and let them return when they are calmer and ready to talk.
5. Don't try to get the last word in. Again, this could lead to a power struggle that may not end. Sometimes, you have to agree to disagree and move on.
6. Use "I" messages. When you're phrasing your concerns, try to start your sentences with "I...". This will make the other person more receptive to your complaints. For instance, instead of saying "You're sloppy and it drives me crazy," try "I feel like messiness is a problem in our relationship."

Video

This video shows you how to communicate effectively.

Tips

• Look on the Internet for examples of great speakers in action. There are plenty of role models instantly accessible through videos online. Treat them as your "personal communications coaches!"
• If you are giving a presentation to a group or audience, be prepared for difficult questions so that you're not thrown off course and left feeling flustered. To remain in a position of communicating effectively, Michael Brown recommends a golden rule for handling difficult questions in the context of a group or audience. He suggests that you listen on behalf of everyone present, including asking questions and repeating the issue. Share the reply with everyone, which means moving your eyes off the questioner and onto all present in order to have the whole group "wear the answer." Capitalize on this shared answer to move on and change direction.[5]
• Don't ramble. This will lead to your message not being understood or taken seriously
• Do not whine or plead. Neither is guaranteed to instill respect or interest in the listener. If you are very upset, excuse yourself and come back to the discussion later when you have had a chance to think it through.
• Be careful with humor. While a little humor injected into what you are discussing can be very effective, do not take it too far and do not rely on it as a crutch to cover up the hard-to-say things. If you keep giggling and joking, your communication will not be taken seriously.

Related wikiHows

• How to Teach Your Child Good Interpersonal Communication Skills
• How to Communicate to Evoke Admiration
• How to Avoid Misspeaking
• How to Say No To Your Boss
• How to Communicate With a Non Native English Speaker
• How to Communicate With Younger People
• How to Communicate With a Mentally Challenged Person
• How to Communicate in an Assertive Manner
• How to Speak Clearly
• How to Communicate Effectively With Children
• How to Give Verbal Instructions
• How to Communicate Effectively With a Teen
• How to Get Guys to Communicate More Clearly

Sources and Citations

• Some elements of this article were sourced from FEMA, Effective Communication: An Independent Study, December 2005, at PDF document - downloads on clicking, a US government copyright free information source.
• Center for Nonverbal Studies, (http://center-for-nonverbal-studies.org/ CN), is an organization dedicated to the study of all forms of non-spoken communication; here you'll find a thorough explanation of the various forms of non-verbal communication.

1. ↑ Norma Michael, How to Say What You Mean, (1988), p.33, ISBN 0-474-00303-5
2. ↑ Don W Prince and Michael H Hoppe, Listen and Watch for Cultural Differences, in Communicating Across Cultures, (2000), pp.14-19
3. ↑ Linda Talley, Body Talk, Career World, a Weekly Reader publication 38.6, (April-May 2010), p.6
4. ↑ Siimon Reynolds, Why People Fail; The 16 obstacles to success and how you can overcome them, (2010), p. 94, ISBN 978-0-670-07431-0
5. ↑ Michael Brown, Speaking Easy, (undated), Media Associates, NZ, p.114.

Article provided by wikiHow, a wiki how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Communicate Effectively. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

Cultural Barriers To Effective Communication

Cultural Barriers to Effective Communication

Effective communication with people of different cultures is especially challenging. Cultures provide people with ways of thinking--ways of seeing, hearing, and interpreting the world. Thus the same words can mean different things to people from different cultures, even when they talk the "same" language. When the languages are different, and translation has to be used to communicate, the potential for misunderstandings increases.

Stella Ting-Toomey describes three ways in which culture interferes with effective cross-cultural understanding. First is what she calls "cognitive constraints." These are the frames of reference or world views that provide a backdrop that all new information is compared to or inserted into.

Second are "behavior constraints." Each culture has its own rules about proper behavior which affect verbal and nonverbal communication. Whether one looks the other person in the eye-or not; whether one says what one means overtly or talks around the issue; how close the people stand to each other when they are talking--all of these and many more are rules of politeness which differ from culture to culture.

Ting-Toomey's third factor is "emotional constraints." Different cultures regulate the display of emotion differently. Some cultures get very emotional when they are debating an issue. They yell, they cry, they exhibit their anger, fear, frustration, and other feelings openly. Other cultures try to keep their emotions hidden, exhibiting or sharing only the "rational" or factual aspects of the situation.

All of these differences tend to lead to communication problems. If the people involved are not aware of the potential for such problems, they are even more likely to fall victim to them, although it takes more than awareness to overcome these problems and communicate effectively across cultures.

[from University of Colorado, USA:  http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/problem/cultrbar.htm]

Intercultural Business Communication: Part 2

The Dwyer Group Code of Values

When dealing with customers from around the world, it is good to establish a code of values to have good customer relations, as well as, good relations with foreign companies.

The Dwyer Group has their own code of values which is a good code to do business by.

Click here to read the Dwyer Group Code of Values.

Intercultural Business Communication: Part 1

Global Communication Challenge

This presentation gives tips on how organizations can address the challenge of global communications.

Solving the Global Communication Challenge

E-Mail Management Mistakes

With the billions of emails that get sent everyday, companies have the strenuous task of managing them.  And mistakes are made.

Click here to read the in-depth article about 5 common email management mistakes.