7 Ways to Improve your Intercultural Communication Skills
Welcome to my newest article on intercultural communication and be inspired.
The world today is more connected than ever. This has opened up a lot of opportunities for businesses to grow, but it also introduced new challenges. As international leaders, project managers and cross-cultural teams are becoming the norm rather than the exception, you may need to improve your intercultural communication skills, if you want to lead your teams and projects to success. In my post on Leading Across Borders I have already outlined three non-negotiables, which are absolutely essential if you want to see real leading success in an international and multicultural business environment. Now, I like to focus on one particular aspect of intercultural competence: communication and how you are able to develop your skills.
Reason for ineffective intercultural communication
The most obvious reason why we struggle to communicate effectively in an intercultural setting are the cultural differences. Communicating effectively in your own language and with people with a similar background as you is difficult enough, add in a language barrier and the difficulty level increases further. Even people from countries that speak the same language can commit a blunder. Take English as an example. Even English native speakers can use different words for the same thing, or a word can have a different meaning in American English than in British English. But not only spoken language poses a challenge, understanding non-verbal cues and body language can be even trickier.
How can you improve intercultural communication? This I am going to tell you in the next seven possible ways:
1. Be aware of your own culture
After my experiences working in multinational companies and multicultural environments, I have realised that self-awareness is the first step to effective intercultural communication. Step back and think about the way that you communicate. Are you direct or indirect? Do you use nonverbal gestures frequently or rarely and in what contexts? Do you seek agreement from the people who are listening to you when you make a statement? Now think about how you developed your communication style. What aspects of your culture shaped the way you interact with others?
It’s often said that you can only understand others if you understand yourself - the same goes for understanding culture. Most people are not actively aware how much their culture influences their behaviour and view of the world. Identifying the things that are unique to your own culture makes you understand that this is true for other cultures, too.
2. Be curious
When you are trying to solve a problem with people from all different parts of the world, you know that you have a rich opportunity for learning. Try to focus less on asserting your own opinion or ideas and instead, try to find out what other people's ideas are, how those ideas might reflect their own culture and how various points of view could create a stronger solution to your problem.
3. Experience different cultures regularly
Travelling is the best way to inspire curiosity about other cultures but you can also have exposure to different cultures by e.g. joining social groups for international professionals. Increase the variety of cultures that you encounter in your daily life. Curiosity is important when you are dealing with different cultures. If you aren't curious about other cultures, then you probably haven't had the chance to experience them. The challenge and the exciting thing about intercultural communication is that everyone is operating on different assumptions and values.
4. Listen and observe
In some western cultures, there is a lot of emphasis placed on the value of speaking and voicing your opinion but not as much value is placed on observing and listening. There is so much that you can gain if you are willing to listen more than you talk and watch how others communicate. How do your international colleagues communicate nonverbally? How close do they stand to the people they are talking with? How do they change their intonation or speaking rhythm and what purpose does that serve? Nobody expects you to know everything about a culture from the get go. You can start by researching (online and/or offline), read and learn as much as you can about it. But the best way to learn is still to go out and interact with people. You should stay open and inquisitive. If there is something that seems curious to you, ask about it. People appreciate it if you show genuine interest in their culture and are happy to explain it to you. By observing how people talk and use gestures, you will get a feel of how they communicate with others.
5. Learn to ‘read’ body language and understand non-verbal cues
Communication is not just what is spoken, very often the real message lies in what is not voiced. Learning the language and customs of a country is only the first step. The next step is to actively engage with people to learn how they use body language to convey meaning and how you can interpret certain non-verbal cues, such as nodding or shaking of the head. Did you know for example that in China shaking the head during a conversation does not mean assent, but is merely a signal to the conversation partner that they are listening? Learning the meaning of these non-verbal cues can reduce the risk of misunderstandings and confusion. If you want to avoid others misinterpreting your non-verbal communication it is better to say it with words.
6. Be aware of cultural differences and individual cultures
You have to understand that just because someone does something differently, does not mean that it is any less valid or that it is inferior to how you would do it - it’s just that: different. Some countries emphasize the collective, whereas others value individuality more; some countries prefer directness, others prefer subtlety; and so on. Learn to appreciate the diversity of customs and viewpoints, which can help you broaden your horizon - personally and professionally.
7. Simplicity is key
When talking with someone whose native language is not English, it is best to avoid slang words, abbreviations, acronyms or difficult idioms. People usually learn the ‘proper’ language and are often not familiar with colloquial phrases. For example, French learners are taught that you should say “Qu’est-ce que c’est?” if you want to know what something is. However, in France people will usually say “C’est quoi?” in everyday use.
In today’s international and global business community, I think, there is no single best approach communicating with one another. The key to cross cultural success is to develop an understanding of, and a deep respect for the differences.