Culture & Communication!

I had the privilege of participating in a three month Business Communication course led by Prof. Bringi Dev at IIM Bangalore. A Key take away of the course was exploring the topic of communication barriers, where I found the impact of cultural differences on communication effectiveness particularly enlightening.

In the global business landscape, where companies operate across borders, understanding and navigating these differences is crucial. Our organization, especially within the IT professional services industry, continually adapts to these dynamics. The increase in cultural diversity has led to a variety of workplace behaviors, impacting everything from communication styles and conflict attitudes to task completion methods, decision-making approaches, and levels of openness.

When individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds collaborate, these differences can lead to tensions and conflicts that might not obviously seem rooted in cultural disparities. For instance, in one my previous roles at a Product company, I navigated challenges involving managing expectations between culturally distinct leadership teams from India and China. Recognizing and understanding our differing cultural perspectives was crucial for working together effectively and achieving our objectives. We took significant steps to understand each other's cultures, including addressing misconceptions, exploring dietary preferences, and social etiquette. These efforts led to tangible improvements in our collaboration, allowing us to handle situations with greater empathy and understanding.

Strategies for Success in my experience would be:

• Organizing Cultural Workshops about cultural norms and values can bridge understanding gaps.
• Open Communication Channels always encourages transparent dialogues where team members can express concerns and suggestions.

If you’ve noticed cultural differences at your workplace, how did you handle them to create a better environment? Share your stories below; they might help others too!

Regards, Deepa

"Diversity in not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another's uniqueness" - Ola Joseph.