Week 15-1 Cross-cultural Communication Issues in USA and India Organizations

Kartik's web poster was on the subject of "Cross-cultural Communication Issues in USA and India Organizations". He did a very good job on summarizing the articles and presenting the important things to consider. I am from India and I had to go thorough similar experiences when I came to this country initially. Kartik makes a very good point about expatriate employees working for US organizations in India and this might help organizations deal with the cultures better and be a good interface between the headquarters an the offices in India. After reading the this web poster and points about how people in India might expect more feedback from their managers, I went to my companies website and looked for the Organizational Chart of some of the Business Groups and their teams in India, I could clearly see the number of people reporting to a manager were much less than in US and also there were team leads assigned that were responsible for sub-groups under a manager.

Week 11-5 Commuications & Gender Appropriate Behavior

The views of gender appropriate differ from culture to culture and are a very important consideration in communicating global work/project teams. In US men greeting women by shaking hands is considered normal and is a common occurrence. But some women in India and Middle Eastern countries due to religious customs and culture do not make physical contact with males. It is important to be aware of these customs and should women to come forward approach to shake hand before other proceed to do so. Comments which are acceptable in one culture may not be acceptable in others and when conversing with people from other cultures we can try to restrain from making personal comments and is better to keep conversations restricted to business needs until we understand the cultures and customs.

Week 11-4 Importance of Clarity in Communication

Clarity is very important when communicating with people from multiple cultures.We should try not to combine words and sentences together (shoulda instead of should have), avoid slang, acronyms and words with multiple meanings. We should use short and simple sentences and summarize key points.

I read about this example and it is very a nice real life example of understanding the local culture and clarity in communication. The vacuum cleaner maker Electrolux had a add some time back saying "Nothing Sucks Like Electrolux" and did not recognize the word “sucks”, in its marketing slogan is a slang disparagement in United States of America. This worked fine in some other countries. Hence, the reliability of their marketing communication was compromised because, at least at first sight, this slogan has a different meaning to different recipients. There are multiple examples of similar situations.

Week 11-3 Meeting Notes

When I Started working, I used to think that somebody taking meeting notes and then sending an email or publishing them somewhere for reference was a waste of time. The meeting notes used to include what everyone talked about etc,, which i used to feel was not useful. But now in our team meeting, especially in our team meeting we take notes but one thing we definitely do is to note down actions. Who will do what and by what time. This I think is really helpful. Sometimes during meeting as there are so many things discussed we tend to miss some of the issues. But by sending notes and by clearly stating actions for each one there is no chance for anybody to say they forgot or missed that part.

I think meeting notes done properly and following some accepted template add value to a meeting and after.

Week 11-2 Multicultural Conference Calls and Meetings

Meetings are a very important part in the success of a project team involving global teams.

Meeting facilitators should be prepared and planned. All the meeting participants should be prepared in advance on the agenda of the meeting, inform who will be attending and they are expected of them in the meeting. Participants should be informed of what decisions if any that the team to trying to make during this meeting.


It might be good practice to ask meeting attendees to submit written comments if possible before the meeting. This practice is especially effective if the meeting involves people who are not fluent in English. Meeting facilitators could try to make sure that all the participants get a chance to speak and no one member times up all the time. Also, it is good to follow up with key meeting participants after the meeting to make sure all the issues are clear and confirm agreements.

Figure 6 below are some of the ground rules suggested by Aperian Global, a company that works with clients in developing strategic global approaches to leadership development, organizational change and innovation when handling multicultural conference calls.

Figure 5: Ground Rules for handling Multi-Cultural Conference Calls

1. Identify self before speaking
2. Speak slowly and clearly
3. Speak so that everyone can hear (directly into the microphone)
4. Refrain from long monologues
5. Do not interrupt speakers (except to clarify)
6. Interrupt to clarify if necessary
7. Explain what is happening on your side (laughter, who is joining or leaving, etc.)
8. Check periodically if there are any questions; allow “processing time”
9. Summarize periodically
10. Allow short side conversations in native language
11. Ask permission for side conversations
12. Summarize side conversations briefly
13. Make suggestions for process changes
14. Get agreement from all for process changes
15. Take turns when sharing ideas
16. Keep time; announce time updates
17. Keep on track; reschedule additional topics
18. Intentionally provide “air time” for people who have not yet spoken
19. Summarize and confirm results at the end of the meeting
20. Debrief the meeting process at the end
21. Allow thinking time

Week 11.1 Importance of Communication in Global Projects

During last two years i did some reading on this topic and collected some notes. Wanted to share some of it. The first topic is about Establishing Credibility.

Communication is very important for implementation and success of projects involving global virtual teams. Effective communications are important for establishing credibility, knowing and understanding the global team members.

Establishing Credibility

Ernest Gundling states that “Experienced managers tend to take their own credibility for granted. They have long since learned how to establish their credentials with ease when meeting new business contacts. Under normal circumstances they can accomplish this quickly before proceeding with the business at hand. In cross-border setting, however, the code for establishing one’s value in the eyes of new colleagues and customers may differ from what one is accustomed to, and even this seemingly rudimentary step in creating business relationship can become a significant stumbling block”

Establishing credibility with others is crucial if one is going to be effective in any culture. The manner in which credibility is established can vary from culture to culture. In general, it is useful to keep the following points in mind:

Proper Introductions
In some cultures, it is perfectly acceptable to introduce yourself. In other cultures (Eg., India), a person in the proper position of authority should introduce you and explain the context within which everyone will work together.

Transmitting qualifications
In cultures like India, individuals feel that is appropriate and necessary to talk about one’s own accomplishments. For people in other cultures, this would be interpreted as arrogant. In those cultures it is better to transmit qualifications indirectly, through third parties. Even in a job interview, some people will feel reluctant to talk about their own skills, strengths and accomplishments.

Level of formality and Protocol
Some cultures appreciate formality and protocol more than others. It is always wise to find out before hand the level of formality expected and the appropriate protocol for different situations. If unknown, it is best to err on the side of the forma, and observe and follow protocol.

Listening well
Listening well is very important to understand local situation. In some cultures, quick action is valued. However, in other cultures, people who come into a situation and make quick changes are sometimes viewed as shortsighted or arrogant, and are not likely to gain cooperation.

Demonstrating Interest
Most people like having their culture appreciated. Showing an interest in learning about local customs, history, and current events and making an effort to learn the language - at least the greetings and phrases for showing courtesy will help gain respect.

Patience
For some people, credibility is established in the first stages of a task. For other people, trust and credibility are developed overtime, through interactions that begin to feel more and more comfortable. This is a process that cannot be hurried.