Managing Cross Cultural Differences

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By John Lau, DTM

What is Culture?

Culture in general is concerned with beliefs and values on the basis of which people interpret experiences and behave, individually and in groups. Broadly and simply put, "culture" refers to a group or community with which you share common experiences that shape the way you understand the world. The same person, thus, can belong to several different cultures depending on his or her birthplace; nationality; ethnicity; family status; gender; age; language; education; physical condition; sexual orientation; religion; profession; place of work and its corporate culture. Culture is the "lens" through which you view the world. It is central to what you see, how you make sense of what you see, and how you express yourself.

Four Cultural Dimensions

Cultures - both national and organizational - differ along many dimensions. Four of the most important are:

• Directness (get to the point versus imply the messages)
• Hierarchy (follow orders versus engage in debate)
• Consensus (dissent is accepted versus unanimity is needed)
• Individualism (individual winners versus team effectiveness)

Cross-Cultural Communication Challenges

Culture is often at the root of communication challenges. Exploring historical experiences and the ways in which various cultural groups have related to eachother is key toopening channels for cross-cultural communication. Becoming more aware of cultural differences, as well as exploring cultural similarities, can help you communicate withothers more effectively. Next time you find yourself in a confusing situation, ask yourself how culture may be shaping your own reactions, and try to see the world from theother's point of view.

Culture Shock

Failure to identify cultural issues and take action can lead to a culture shock. In order of priority, the most often found symptoms of culture shock are:

• feeling isolated.
• anxiety and worry.
• reduction in job performance.
• high nervous energy.
• helplessness

Not coping with culture shock symptoms when they appear can lead
to a very negative situation.

Respecting Differences and Working Together

Anthropologists discovered that, when faced by interaction that we do not understand, people tend to interpret the others involved as "abnormal", "weird" or "wrong." Awareness of cultural differences and recognizing where cultural differences are at work is the first step toward understanding each other and establishing a positive working environment. Use these differences to challenge your own assumptions about the "right" way of doing things and as a chance to learn new ways to solve problems.

Building Trust Across Cultural Boundaries

Research indicates that there is a strong correlation between components of trust (such as communication effectiveness, conflict management, and rapport) and productivity. Cultural differences play a key role in the creation of trust, since trust is built in different ways, and means different things in different cultures.

For instance, in the U.S., trust is "demonstrated performance over time". Here you can gain the trust of your colleagues by "coming through" and delivering on time on your commitments. In many other parts of the world, including many Arab, Asian and Latin American countries, building relationships is a prerequisite for professional interactions. Building trust in these countries often involves lengthy discussions on nonprofessional topics and shared meals in restaurants. Work-related discussions start only once your counterpart has become comfortable with you as a person.

Cultural differences in multicultural teams can create misunderstandings between team members before they have had a chance to establish any credibility with each other. Thus, building trust is a critical step in creation and development of such teams. As a manager of a multicultural team, you need to recognize that building trust between different people is a complex process, since each culture has its own way of building trust and its own interpretation of what trust is.

John Lau, DTM, is a businessman in Kuching, Malaysia. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Toastmasters International

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