We’ve all been there. Think back to a certain time or place when you were painfully aware of being culturally out of sync. Maybe you once had to defend your strange American ways to that cute guy in Firenze during your junior year abroad. He didn’t understand your desperation for air conditioning and your desire to have dinner at 6:30. Or maybe you have memories of being a kid in Chinatown and having a kindly five million year old guy teach you how to maneuver your chopsticks as you struggled and flung noodles left and right. There have likely been moments like this when you’ve struggled to make yourself understood or you’ve struggled to grasp something culturally unfamiliar.
So now flash-forward to today’s multicultural workplace. In the global economy, the workplace is a virtual culture club where misunderstanding can abound. Yes people, work today can at times feel like Junior Year Abroad, the next generation. And it’s up to all of us to create comfortable, culturally sensitive work situations.
It’s not just the big multi-national corporations whose workforce resembles the UN General Assembly. Today, companies large and small are composed of workers from diverse backgrounds. But sometimes when individuals from different cultures come together, workplace communication can be “lost in translation”. We all may be speaking the same language but our perspectives can be very different.
We all bring along the cultural baggage we’ve been carrying our whole lives and it’s a safe bet to say that cultural traditions die-hard. If you grew up in America drinking beverages in a glass loaded with ice cubes, for example, chances are that you’ll be disappointed when ice isn’t offered when you’re traveling in Europe.
Beyond the obvious issue of language barriers, people from different backgrounds can vary greatly in terms of values, behaviors and the display of emotion. So when we are working together, it behooves us to understand where our coworkers are coming from.
Here are 5 tips for embracing cultural diversity in the workplace:
1. Break language barriers
Sometimes communication between people with different mother tongues can be tricky; between the lines there’s a lot of room for misunderstanding. Appreciate your multilingual co-workers; more and more of the world is working in English as the default language and working in a foreign language can be hard.
Have patience with your non-native English-speaking co-workers who may speak less fluidly and also recognize that they may form ideas differently in their native tongues.
Be proactive about understanding and ask questions when you don’t comprehend. Don’t become intimidated by a hard-to-pronounce name; ask your co-worker directly to pronounce it for you and practice. Better to ask first that make an embarrassing mistake.
2. Acknowledge differences in behavior and emotion
Behavioral and emotional differences across cultures can cause plenty of misunderstanding. What is considered appropriate to one set can be viewed as rude to another.
Some cultures value eye contact while others discourage it. Some cultures tend to hide strong emotions in the workplace where in other cultures people value passionate argument. Before you find yourself offending someone or acting in a way that may be offensive to others, know who you’re working with and where they are coming from.
3. Understand the challenges of cross cultural team building
Team building can be complicated when different cultures come together. Some cultures value working cooperatively while others cultures are more individualistic and value going at it alone. When you are working in a group, be direct! Ask your teammates how they like to work and adapt to one another’s preferred styles.
4. Time. It’s on everyone’s side
The perception of time varies greatly from culture to culture. In France, for example, arriving ten minutes late to a meeting is still within the acceptable range of normal whereas in America this could reflect negatively on an employee. Sometimes what may appear to be a temporal faux pas is actually the byproduct of a deeply rooted cultural tradition.
5. Celebrate the cultural traditions of the world
In America we follow the secular calendar, but understand that your coworkers may be observing holidays and traditions that are not recognized by your company. Sometimes your co-workers will be working through their cherished holidays so take a good look at the calendar and familiarize yourself with what matters to your team.
It’s up to all of us to narrow the communication gap in the cross-cultural workplace. And just as foreign workers in the States should acclimate themselves to the expectations of our work culture, the rest of us should understand who our colleagues are and what informs their decisions.