Joelle Machia is the Co-Founder of Wanderers Compass.
Business interactions rely on communication. Cross-cultural business was once reserved for large corporations, but in today’s global economy, many small and medium-sized businesses face a critical challenge: learning how to navigate new cross-cultural interactions.
International travel has taught me that approaching cross-cultural communication with respect and an open mind is essential. Still, I recognize that establishing mutual respect is no simple task. It takes time and effort to gain cultural intelligence.
Small teams can’t always pay for extensive training programs. They need to take a more grassroots approach. My small team has a trip to visit our Japanese colleagues planned in a few months, so we already started researching their cultural norms.
In my experience, discussion creates deep understanding. I meet with team members one-on-one to discuss cultural norms and ask specific questions about customary greetings and dining etiquette, among other things. This helps me understand my team’s level of preparedness and how I can best support their learning.
The Key Principles Of Effective Cross-Cultural Communication
• Make yourself aware Develop an understanding of the cultural norms, values and beliefs of your business partners. Being aware helps to avoid cultural mistakes that could lead to negative interactions. You should also make yourself aware of current events, at very least any major events. If you don’t know about a significant event affecting your customers’ lives, it speaks volumes about your awareness.
• Listen with eyes and earsBody language, gestures and facial expressions can often reflect something unintended to someone in another country. Listening with your eyes and ears also shows respect for their perspective and efforts made to prepare for this interaction. You don’t always have to agree, but you do have to listen.
• Develop language skillsLearn key phrases and, if needed, arrange for interpreters to be present to help bypass some of the language barriers. An interpreter (as opposed to a direct translator or apps such as Google Translate) will be able to provide cultural context to the discussion, advising you and communicating your message in culturally appropriate ways.
• Patience and adaptabilityBe patient in your communication style and adapt to cultural nuances. Communication can be a challenge in foreign cultures, but the fundamentals of business remain; your cross-cultural partners have given you their time and they deserve your patience. Adapting to cultural nuances helps build rapport and trust.
Challenges In Establishing Cultural Sensitivity
Cultural differences can sometimes test our own beliefs. It’s important to remember that even if we don’t agree with another culture’s ideals, it’s not our place to challenge them. This all comes down to respect. As a guest, it’s important to refrain from directly opposing cultural norms. However, when the cultural practices of our business partners clash with our own, things can get complicated.
In our case, it might be a brand partnership where we are asking the clients to trust and invest in us. But if they demand our business supports their patriarchal view, such as requesting a man be assigned to an important account, we have to stand our ground and explain that’s not how we operate. We aren’t going to say they are wrong, as this isn’t the place to discuss ethics. It takes a certain amount of ethical relativism to handle these tricky scenarios.
Another challenge I’ve experienced is establishing a sense of community accountability within my small team. Large corporations were the first to jump on diversity and inclusion training, but I see more and more small businesses embracing cultural training. How do they do it without huge budgets and multi-week courses?
In my experience, online diversity courses are rather ineffective. Facts about a culture do not always translate to a deep understanding. Courses rarely make an effort to prompt inward thoughts or make you consider how the experience will unfold. In the case of courses with tests, I’ve even heard stories of people playing these videos in the background while scrolling on social media or cleaning the house.
Best Practices For Small To Medium Sized Businesses
In our small business, we like to present each other with scenarios that could come up and review how to handle them as a team. These scenarios are based on cultural facts, but our focus is navigating the experience. Talking through these specific scenarios has served us well many times.
Books, news articles and discussions on a one-on-one basis are low-cost options that deepen your knowledge. If you find through these discussions that more training is needed, respond to your team members’ needs individually. Find relevant mentorships or training programs (not courses!) that you believe will truly help. Shift priorities as needed to give space for this learning to occur, and make sure to regularly check in with your team to foster discussion around cultural issues.
Cultural sensitivity is also something you should interview for. Building relationships with individual team members allows you to better understand their needs from a cultural perspective. It also sets a precedent for future communication which helps establish personal accountability for your team’s cross-cultural communications.
Making mistakes in cross-cultural business interactions will hurt your business. It isn’t easy, but the investment will pay dividends for years to come.
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