“I’ve had enough.” One of my friends from Vantage complained to me on a Friday night. “Especially my Mexican teammate.” She said disappointedly, “I tried to show that I was not satisfied by the topic he chose by reducing conversation and acting impatiently. However, he didn’t seem to understand and he simply thought I didn’t understand English.” The real reason behind the conflict, which is the incomprehension of culture, caught my attention.
Such misunderstandings are not uncommon in multicultural countries. What I feel confused about is that, if, for example, my friend transform smoothly into another level of context, will the communication between her and her Chinese friends change negatively? While performing tasks, are there any ways for leaders to minimize the context difference efficiently and effectively?
In Chapter 7 of the textbook, there’s a section about cultural context. It explains that “cultures tend to differ in the degree to which context influences the meaning individuals take from communication”. 2 It also gives suggestions on how people should act while working with people from a different culture. However, it doesn’t clarify the ways from the leaders’ perspective.
It’s hard to eliminate the difference in cultural context since the high-context cultures formed from long history and the context is national. As a Chinese, I feel hard and embarrassing to oppose right after someone raises an opinion because these un-said conventional rules have been in my mind since I was born. Despite the basic listening and respect, the process of adaption must be two-way as it requires understanding and forgiveness from both sides.
The textbook mentioned how to minimize the gap between colleagues but sometimes an appropriate policy from an administrative perspective is more effective. Leaders could set a clear goal to work on and require anonymous feedback frequently and organize meetings or events to break the ice. Different cultures bring collisions of diverse ideas. However, there’s no need to change the culture context deliberately: it can make you behave unnaturally and affect the relationship with others negatively.
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- Sennett, J. (2013, August 07). Blog – Latest News. Retrieved February 05, 2017, from https://www.gentlemansgazette.com/rules-of-civility-etiquette-guide/
- See E. T. Hall, Beyond Culture (Garden City, NY: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1976); W. L. Adair, “Integrative Sequences and Negotiation Outcome in Same – and Mixed-Culture Negotiations,” International Journal of Conflict Management 14, no. 3-4 (2003), pp. 1359-1392; W. L. Adair and J. M. Brett, “The Negotiation Dance; Time, Culture, and Behavioral Sequences in Negotiation,” Organization Science 16, no. 1(2005), pp. 33-51; E. Giebels and P. J. Taylor, “Interaction Patterns in Crisis Negotiations: Persuasive Arguments and Cultural Differences,” Journal of Applied Psychology 94, no. 1(2009), pp. 5-19; and M. G. Kittler, D. Rygl, and A. Mackinnon, “Beyond Culture or Beyond Control? Reviewing the Use of Hall’s High-/Low-Context Concept,” International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management 11, no. 1 (2011), pp. 63-82