If you work internationally, disputes happen and conflicts arise which you can struggle to understand. You did nothing wrong but how come there is all this conflict?
It is worth stepping back when this happens and asking yourself: Could it be cultural?
Understanding other cultures is critical to your success internationally but there is always a danger you will slip into generalizations. Remember: everyone is an individual first.
Think about the following areas to help you understand what may be influencing their reactions and responses culturally. You need to note examples in your team and then discuss the questions with them. You should be able to discuss these areas openly.
- Decision making. Do your team expect to be involved in making the decision or do they expect you to take the decision and they implement it?
- Consultation and criticism. Do they expect to be consulted? What on? Do they feel that they should be able to question your decisions and criticize them? Or do they never raise any issues or give their views?
- Leadership responsibility. Do they see you as a leader who is accountable for everything or do they share the responsibility?
- Hierarchy. Are people in senior positions given trappings of status like car park places, private lifts and dining facilities? Or is everyone treated publicly the same?
- Status. Who is respected? Experts or the hands-on layman? What is more important: the subject you studied or the university you studied at? Are titles used that show education level (academic doctor for example)?
- Personal achievement. Do they see success as the result of their personal effort and ability or is it the efforts of the wider team?
- The importance of loyalty. How would they describe the relationship they have with the organization they work for? Do they value length of service or contribution?
- Change and uncertainty. Do they take a pragmatic view to change, seeing it as normal, or do they desire rules and systems to control and limit change and uncertainty?
- Rules. Do they apply rules irrespective of seniority? When a difficult situation arises do they handle it with the application of the rule or on a case by case basis? Given a choice, would the personal relationship they have with someone come first when deciding what to do in a given situation?
- Privacy. Are there areas of their life that they do not discuss? How much is private?
- The environment and the individual's place in it. Do they believe that the individual can shape the environment they live in or that the individual is part of that environment and ultimately controlled by it?.
- Quality of life. Would they choose more possessions, wealth and achievement over more free time for friends and family or the other way around?
- Time horizon. When planning, how far into the future do they consider? At what point do they decide they can no longer plan the future?
- Time management. Do they mix activities at the same time or work on one thing then another?
- Emotions. How do they feel about the use of emotions in the workplace? is it normal or do they see it as unprofessional?
If you sit down with your team and work through these questions you will start to see areas where conflict could arise. By discussion, you can then agree an acceptable approach in different situations.
But be careful: it is dangerous to generalize and there are these other factors to consider:
- Gender difference. Is you team mainly men or mainly women? What might happen if the balance changes?
- Regional difference. Countries are diverse places. Pay attention to changes in regional make-up.
- Organizational difference. Companies have cultures that transcend countries. Strong company cultures often trump local variations.
- Age difference. Changes to the age distribution in your team will also affect preferences.
The idea here is to give you a framework to help you ask the questions and understand the cultural preferences of your team to avoid unintentional confrontation. It all hinges on talking. The more you ask, the more your intercultural competence will grow.
Never assume your way is the right way - it is simply your way!
