* Intercultural Communication *

My 3rd Free Tuesday Tip on Communication is here, thanks for tuning in! 

(Please note, possibility for Feedback included in the practice section)

** Intercultural Communication **

Working in an increasingly globalised world, having an understanding of different cultures can give you a clear advantage in many work related situations. 

Doing team work with a multicultural workforce can easily create conflicts, that are difficult to work through, if you do not know anything about the cultures you are working with.

The most basic differences in cultures around the world, come down to mindset and basic understanding of: 

- Having an individualistic vs. collective mindset

- Power and Authority

- Direct vs. Indirect communication

FOCUS of today: Direct vs. Indirect communication

In general, you can divide culture into categories based on where in the world they originate from. Cultures from the northern hemisphere normally have a tendency to have a mindset based on: 

- Individualism 

- Low Power and Authority distance

- Direct communication

(Let's call this group of people "Individualitsts")

where cultures from the southern hemisphere generally tend to lean towards: 

- Collectivism

- High Power and Authority distance

- Indirect communication

(And these guys are "Collectivists")

These differences communication style, can make relations between co-workers a bit complicated at times, due to the expectations of the different cultures.

Individualists tend to have a "straight to the point" kind of attitude, where Collectivists tend to focus more on creating interpersonal relations, before ending up at the main point.

In business situations this needs to be understood and respected by all parties, especially for the individualists, with a very direct communication style, when doing cross-cultural business interactions and teamwork. In business relations, Individualists tend to want a short, straight forward answer to any query they might have. For them, spending time on building a relation between sender and receiver, most of the time, seems unnecessary, depending on the nature of the request of course.

When interacting with others, for Collectivists, one of the most important things in communication is to establish a relation between the communicating parties. 

In written communication, this can be expressed by adding a level of empathy and a sense of caring towards the receiver, such as:

- "I hope this email reaches you well", 

- "I am highly aware of your concern", 

- "your best is in my highest interest", etc.

For Individualists, a more direct approach is recommendable. Remember to include:

- a short recap of the goal of the message

- what/if you have researched 

- the answer to the query, shortly summed up in a clear and precise manner

People working with businesses in Lisbon, no matter which of the "extremities" you originate from, need to remember this Tip, to avoid conflicts with eventual and current business partners as well as clients and associates.

PRACTICE: 

Create 2 different answers to the question below, 1 written for a person with a direct communication style and 1 written for a person with an indirect communication style.

Question: 

I am looking for a new sofa, and I need something simple and inexpensive. Where can I find this here in Lisbon?

Write your 2 answers and, if you feel like it, send them to me so I can give you a few words of feedback.

Thanks for tuning in!

"Quality is a Passion worth Sharing"