Doing business better with cultural understanding. Kissing, hugging, or shaking the hand?

Kissing a business partner is not an appropriate business practice in Finland, but in Paris, one peck on each cheek is an acceptable greeting, same in the UAE but three, one on each side. But again, not with women. Physical contact is suggested to be avoided with women even handshake in Muslim countries unless the women initiate it. A firm handshake is widely accepted in the U.S but rude in other parts of the world. Sounds confusing, right?

Cultural customs and etiquette can be confusing and might harm communication badly. Cultural awareness can take anyone one step ahead while miscommunication can lead to a serious failure, be it a business deal, a vacation to Indonesia, or just making friends with people from other parts of the world. This is necessary even before engaging in greetings custom and physical contact – inter-culturally which can be a tricky area!

In this global era, getting into every culture and language to deal with might seem overwhelming. Because this might take several years to grasp only the very inner meaning of a locally used word. Many informal ‘terms’ never can be translated literally nor can be understood by explaining. This understanding can only be achieved by living that life, knowing the culture from inside. However, sending a couple of emails or being on a business trip to a foreign land doesn’t cost that much! Having a basic knowledge of cultural diversity, being aware of cross-cultural etiquette and most importantly, respect for local traditions and beliefs can help you to pull through. Without getting deep into cultures, perhaps the most important key to effective cross-cultural communication is to understand that every human being is sensitive and holds an emotional spot for their very own root.

It’s no wonder that business today has become more ubiquitous, exploring various geographical locations and engaging multi-cultures. Today’s workplace is rapidly expanding. Reaching a common goal with individuals who speaks a different language than yours can be challenging. Given the different cultural contexts, this has brought new challenges to the table. Even employees located in the same geographical area (for instance, the language difference between the Swedish-speaking Finns and Finnish speaking Finns) or speaking the same language (for example, American and British English speakers), there are still some cultural differences that should be sincerely considered to optimize the optimal communication benefits between two parties. There are thousands of marketing failure examples due to cultural miscommunication. A detergent advertisement showed using their detergent cleaned colored people and make them white gained huge public outrage since it fueled racism. Use of humor is a very popular way of dragging attention but can be notoriously mistaken if cross-cultural issues are not checked properly. Recently, a very well-reputed vlogger got criticized since it revealed that while doing the shooting in the Philippines, he was not respectful towards the local people and make fun of their English accent.?Food and dress code are two other vital subjects to consider when you are in an alien land. In India, cow is a sacred animal, and consumption of beef is mostly prohibited. In Muslim countries, alcohol and pork are publicly forbidden unless you are in a tourist place or a five-star hotel.

An effective communication strategy begins with the clarity of the message from the sender’s end and receiving the same from the receiver’s end. In many cases, if the sender and receiver belong to different cultural groups, surely, this introduces a certain amount of complexity and ambiguity. However, by learning the basics about cultures and being aware of sensitive issues like religion or politics anyone can reach the extra mile. The inter-cultural business succeeds when the special needs of the individuals you have on your team are considered. For instance, they might celebrate different holidays or have different hours of operation. Due to the time-zone differences, meetings and deadlines should be considered and set accordingly.?To top it all, respect, courtesy and a bit of basic understanding of culture will go a long way. And if there is anything, you cannot be sure of, there is always the option to ask! ?

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