Cross Cultural Communication Training - Part V

Summary and wrap-up

In these five posts you have learned how to define culture and how it can effect our communication.  You also learned that awareness is key and the first step in improving your communication with a cross-cultural audience.  And in the previous post, you hopefully wrote down a few tools that will aid in understanding different cultures.

Here are some of the skills or actions suggested.  How closely does your list match?

Learn the language, or at least enough to start and end conversations in the native language of your associate or customer.  English is spoken by a majority of international business people, but this doesn't mean that using their own language isn't important to people from cultures different from your own.  In fact, showing that you took the time to learn a few phrases prior to your engagement shows them that you ARE aware and can help build strong business relationships.

Visit the country, prior to travelling there on business.  Having some experience with the customs and behaviors of a culture without the added pressure of a business environment will give you background and the chance to

learn about the culture by experiencing it directly.  If you can't travel physically, you can always use the internet for a virtual tour.

As you learn about a culture, being aware of a single trait is only a start.  An example from the last video is the fact that the Chinese value relationships, family and respect for elders.  That is the trait, but part of the awareness and learning is knowing why.  Knowing that these values stem from a deep regard of Confucius' teachings is taking the extra step from being aware to being culturally competent.

Indicators of success

Having an awareness of the impact a particular communication style or word choice might have on cross-cultural relationships is the first step making changes where necessary.  This type of training will never have definitive right or wrong answers, so simply passing a test would only indicate that the student was a good test taker.

 For me to know if this training was successful or not, it would have to come from the people that viewed it.  It would be my hope that this format is in no way threatening and is more entertaining that most materials on the subject.  The result of having viewed this presentation should be that a person would have another reason in the back of their mind to be aware, and get into a habit of continuously trying to learn by using the skills offered here. 

References

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1.	Health MSf. The providers guide to quality and culture. Culturally competent organizations. Available at: http://erc.msh.org/mainpage.cfm?file=9.1.htm&module=provider&language=English. Accessed December 12, 2016.
2.	Wells Fargo Corporate Human Resources. Corporate Social Responsibility. Wells Fargo - About Us. January 01, 2017. Available at: https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/corporate-responsibility/. Accessed December 18, 2016.
3.	Choudhury I. Faculty Web Site. Texas A&M University. Available at: https://www.tamu.edu/faculty/choudhury/culture.html. Accessed December 02, 2016.

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