Communicating Across Culture

To succeed in a cross-cultural business setting, it's important to understand the differences in how people communicate. Language isn't the only barrier. Pace, style, and nonverbal cues all affect how messages are received. If you do business on a global scale or in a diverse environment, adapting your communication strategy is critical to workplace harmony and the bottom line. There are simple techniques to build your cross-cultural communication skills: as a manager, peer, or coworker. Learn how to adapt your communication style, overcome hidden bias, and build rapport with colleagues around the world.

Overcoming cultural bias

Let me break down the difference between high and low-context cultures. In low-context cultures, messages are spelled out. Conversation is verbatim. And there's a lot of talking, verses silence. You'll see many visual signs and directions, and there are pamphlets with lots of instructions. Information seems to be over explained. In business settings, manuals are long. 

Agendas are detailed and documents are extensive. Low-context culture countries include Germany, Sweden, Norway, The Netherlands, the United States, Australia, and Canada. In high-context cultures, messages are not as explicit. You have to be able to read between the lines. Conversations seem to have more silence, and often the meaning of a message is carried by body language, facial expressions and intonation. In high-context cultures, people use more metaphors, and they reference history and the past. You'll find high-context cultures in the Southern Mediterranean, most of South America, the Middle East, and Asia. Being attuned to the rhythm of communication in the new, or different culture is key to communication success.

Fancy, or formal, or highly technical English does not translate well outside of the U.S. Simplify as much as possible. Be direct.

Factors effecting cross cultural communication: