The face of the workplace is changing: More women, more ethnic minorities, and more immigrants are entering the work force. As a result, the workplace is increasingly multicultural. Now, think about what you’ve read about today’s job market: Employers look for job candidates who have good communication and interpersonal skills and are team players. Those skills are increasingly important as the American work force expands to include a wide variety of cultures.
Culture is a set of learned attitudes, behaviors, and the other things that comprise a way of life. Although you’ll share your organization’s culture with your co-workers, it’s unlikely that you’ll share your personal culture with all your co-workers. You’ll find many “ways of life” represented in the workplace. Depending on your experience with and exposure to different cultures, your “comfort zone” with different groups can expand or contract.
The challenge to today’s employer is to ensure that its work force’s diversity is a source of strength, not one of conflict. Recognize, however, that it is not the sole responsibility of the employer to see that goal achieved; all employees, including you, share in that responsibility.
Communication styles
Miscommunication is a major source of intercultural discomfort and conflict. Communication—verbal, written, and nonverbal—goes beyond what’s said, written, or expressed. The process of communicating differs among cultures: It’s how it’s said (or written or expressed), when it’s said, and why it’s said. These things comprise one’s communication style. Miscommunication can (and often does) result when an individual’s style of communicating differs from that of another person. In today’s workplace, you can bet that, at some point, you’ll deal with a co-worker whose communication style differs from yours. Learning how to communicate among cultures is a necessary ability no matter what type of career field you enter.
What’s your communication style? Do you communicate in a linear manner, moving in a straight line to your point? Or, are you more apt to use a spiral style in your communications, circling around your subject in tighter and tighter loops until you get to your point? Neither style is right or wrong, but the “spiral communicator” may perceive the “linear communicator” as abrupt or rude. The linear communicator might think the spiral communicator is deceptive or indecisive. In each case, there’s been a misunderstanding and misinterpretation.
Some other areas where there commonly are differences in style include:
- Courtesy: Greeting styles differ among cultures, for example, as do ways of discussing problems or conflicts.
- Phasing: One example of differences in phasing is when one deems it an “appropriate time” for a discussion. Lead-ins to business talk are another example of where differences exist.
- Objectivity: Argument styles are an example of objectivity differences. In some cultures, arguing in an impersonal manner is the accepted “norm”; in others, the argument style is emotional. Specificity: Is your thinking focused on the immediate, or are you focused on the long term? That’s one example of specificity differences.
- Assertiveness: There are varying levels of assertiveness that are deemed acceptable. For example, one culture’s assertiveness level might lean toward reticence while another tends toward more forwardness in communication.
- Candor: There are also different levels of candor. For example, some cultures value “telling it like it is” while others value preserving harmony.
- Simplicity: Do you present information in simple language, or are your sentences more complex?
- Accent: Accents vary greatly—even within the same language! Don’t allow someone’s accent to be an excuse for making assumptions about that person.
Keep in mind that when you’re unfamiliar with another culture, or when you don’t recognize that there’s no “one way” of doing things, it’s easy to jump to the wrong conclusions or create a conflict through misunderstanding.
By recognizing that there are different styles, you’ll take a big step toward effective communication.
Gateways to effective intercultural communication
Effective intercultural communication requires more than simply recognizing differences; it requires you to respect and know how to deal with those differences. Intercultural communication often is not easy (just take a look at the evening news! It’s a showcase of miscommunication between countries and their cultures.), but there are “gateways” to effective intercultural communication.
These gateways are:
- Written, verbal, and nonverbal communication skills;
- Respect for differences;
- Tolerance for ambiguity;
- Flexibility;
- Suspension of assumptions and judgments;
- Willingness to see other person’s point of view;
- Time and practice.
These gateways can help you strengthen your ability to understand and to be understood. In the end, however, it’s up to you—the gateways are effective only if you’re willing to go through them.
Adapted from the Diversity in the Workplace Training Module, INROADS, courtesy of INROADS/San Francisco Bay Inc. and reprinted in Job Choices: Diversity Edition 2001.