Why Cross-Cultural Communication Matters?

We say thousands of words every singly day. Woman, unsurprisingly, are able to voice around 20000 words daily whilst men come in at a distant second place speaking an average of about 7000 words. What we say and how we say it has a marked effect and sometimes little impact too on the people we are in conversation with. It doesn't help to speak louder, slower or repeat what we say if the entire way we communicate has been lost in context and the intended meaning misinterpreted.

Global migration has had a positive effect in the workplace, new ideas, different training and experiences add to the talent pool. With some 258 million international migrants worldwide, there is certainly no shortage of cultural diversity in the current workplace. Cultural diversity in the workplace offers a variety of values, traditions, behaviours or beliefs of people based on race, age, ethnicity, religion, or gender. How people are able to express themselves and communicate their cultural diversity is an important factor for them to feel included, accepted and understood and importantly- motivated to participate.

Why is cross-cultural communication important for business?

We live and work in a global village, we communicate daily with people who are migrants or children of migrants. Colleagues and customer communication styles, how they arrive at decisions and offer opinions will naturally be different from yours. Efficient cross-cultural communication skills are beneficial for relationship building and positive business outcomes like productivity and problem-solving.

Start implementing strategies to learn cross-cultural communication skills in a way that promotes conversations and practical solutions.

Author: Kylie de Klerk is an Organisational Change and Culture Specialist. She is an Employee Engagement Catalyst with a spciali interest in socially intelligent communication. If you would like more information: [email protected]