To Communicate Better, Language Matters!
Culture matters, but language matters even more!
I was helping to facilitate a global learning program for a Big 4 accounting firm in Singapore. It was attended primarily by Partners from Japan, Australia and India. As usual, the Japanese were quiet in the large group discussions. The Aussies and Indians were quite active, no surprise.
During the breaks, I talked to many of the Japanese to try to understand the reason for less group interactions, thinking it was due to culture. What I found was a revelation, language matters a lot more than I thought.
- Most of them said that they only understood 30-50% of the discussions in English.
- Understanding of the facilitator and the material was challenging but could be overcome. However, it was during the group discussions in English where the comprehension was quite low. Adding to the understanding complexity were the accents of the Aussies and Indians. I’m a native English speaker, but can also find it difficult to understand the thick accents of some Indians and Aussies (not to mention my struggle with understanding Singaporeans).
If you understand less than half of what someone is saying, how can you possibly contribute to the discussion?
I know for me, I need to make some adjustments when I lead group coaching/facilitation sessions/meetings:
- Translate the written materials into their native languages, where possible.
- Provide handouts in advance, so they can follow along easier.
- Ask participants to talk in simpler sentences, avoiding idioms and slang.
- Allow time to increase comprehension: pause in between transitions, be comfortable with silence, etc.
- When in Asia, use Asian case studies, not just Western ones.
- I’m sure there are many other improvements to consider.
Implications for leadership
What adjustments do you need to make during meetings, especially conference calls where there are non-native English speakers attending?
Please share your thoughts on this.
Technical Product Manager at OmniIndex. Strategic Advisor at Loyal VC. Board Trustee at Diocese of Chichester Academy Trust. Experienced in Encrytion, blockchain, ML, Python, Cloud Infrastructure, and API dev
5 年Great to bring this subject to the fore, Lance. You will know that our Japanese colleagues are at least as if not, possibly more passionate, forthright, demonstrative and engaged than many other cultures we may be familiar with. So the goal is (as correctly stated) how do we get out of the way of engagement? What non-Japanese cultures, especially Western ones are prone to, which is counter-culture to the Japanese is to allow conversations, agendas to wonder with almost no discipline. Allowing our colleagues to have pre-notice of agenda and talking points allows them to prepare, but critically, we have to bring enough discipline to keep within those guidelines. The hierarchically sensitive cultures, also depend on facilitators to recognise their role and power - it is essential to step in to distribute the oxygen fairly, equitably in the room and to keep speakers on the published agenda or debating points.