Communication can be difficult even when there isn’t a language barrier.
For example, diverse workforces at global companies often struggle to address cultural assumptions during conversations in person or via employee communications platforms. So, it isn’t enough to just get your point across effectively. You have to truly understand cross-cultural communication for efficient collaboration and business success.
To fully understand cross-cultural communication or intercultural communication, you should probably know what culture is. According to communication theory, culture is the social behavior and norms throughout societies, consisting of the values, beliefs, and systems of language and communication.
What is cross-cultural communication?
Often referred to as intercultural communication, cross-cultural communication is the study of how verbal and nonverbal communication takes place among individuals from different backgrounds, geographies, and cultures.
As you can see, the definition is very straightforward, but learning how to implement cross-cultural communication into your career is not as black and white.
Communication is also the core of public relations. Publishing statements to broad audiences, monitoring all communication coming from clients, and preparing stakeholders for the worst are all duties of a PR professional.
With the globalization of businesses, PR professionals, in particular, must learn about cross-cultural communication and its impact on the PR industry so they don't make the mistake of misusing a culture in the form of cultural appropriation.
It is important to note before diving into the details of cross-cultural communication that there are cultural generalizations that do not account for specific individuals in a culture. For example, different countries around the world interpret hand gestures in different ways.
Since cross-cultural communication is how people belonging to different cultures communicate with each other, there are bound to be clashes between different cultures. One tactic to reduce these clashes is prioritizing diversity when hiring. When people from differing cultures work toward a common goal, the risk of offensive misunderstandings decreases, and the quality of work increases.
Importance of cross-cultural communication
Companies with multicultural environments must focus on cross-cultural communication skills to create a positive work culture. With thoughtful cross-cultural communication, you can eliminate miscommunication and foster strong relationships with people from diverse backgrounds. This respectful multicultural communication enables every stakeholder to benefit from the free exchange of information.
Strong intercultural communication can also help companies uncover opportunities and fuel business growth. For example, employees from different cultural backgrounds and age groups can share unique insights about their generations' consumer behavior, preferences, and habits. Their understanding of the target market can help you fuel business growth across markets.
Embracing cultural differences also helps you improve engagement among employees from different countries and reduce churn.
Elements of cross-cultural communication
Understanding these three elements is key to effective cross-cultural communication.
- Language: Many find verbal communication intriguing in a setting with people from different cultures. A conversational level of fluency makes it easier to overcome these language barriers.
- Cultural norms: Communications styles may change depending on whether someone is from a high-context or low-context culture.
- Nonverbal communication: While some may easily communicate with eye contact or facial expressions, others may not. Also, certain hand gestures may have different meanings across cultural groups.
¿Quieres aprender más sobre Software de Comunicaciones para Empleados? Explora los productos de Comunicaciones de empleados.
Cross-cultural communication examples
Cross-cultural situations can take different shapes. Effective communication strategies often address the barriers created by factors like:
- Language: People can speak in completely different languages or regional dialects of the same language. For example, American and British English can be very different in terms of pronunciation, vocabulary, and phrasal verb usage.
- Cultural norms: Apart from language differences, every culture follows different behavioral rules. For example, you’d do a firm handshake in Germany as opposed to bowing in Japan.
- Age: Team members from different generations can have different points of view according to their perceptions and worldviews.
- Education: People from different countries may have preconceptions about different education levels.
- Business communication style: Business executives from different cultures may have different preferences while communicating in a work environment.
Before the pandemic, companies could easily address these cross-cultural barriers with work trips where everyone had the opportunity to know their co-workers better. In today’s era of remote work, you need to be proactive in enriching interpersonal communication within an organization.
Common causes of miscommunication in cross-cultural exchanges:
- Assumption of similarities: We often assume that the way we behave is the norm accepted by all. When someone behaves differently, we have a negative view of them.
- Language differences: Even if you speak the same language, words can have different meanings in different cultures or countries.
- Nonverbal misinterpretation: Not all gestures have the same meaning across cultures.
- Stereotypes: Stereotyping involves creating pre-defined images based on how we think others should be. Thie preconceived notion of stereotyping is often at the root of unconscious biases in workplaces.
- Evaluation tendency: People often judge others' behaviors through the lenses of their own culture without considering the underlying reasons for their behavior.
- High anxiety: Two persons unaware of each other’s cultural differences often get anxious as they aren’t sure about the best way to communicate with the other person.
Tips for effective cross-cultural communication
Effective cross-cultural communication can be the difference between success and failure for a business. People have a high brand affinity for inclusive companies who make people from all cultures feel seen. With the rise of technology, people have an opportunity to put anything a company says or does under a microscope and then share their opinions with the world.
Reflect on your own culture
The first and most commonly forgotten step in becoming culturally aware is to reflect on your own culture. In order to learn about others, you must first know about yourself. Perform a self-evaluation and consider the culture with which you identify, what aspects of that particular culture pertain to you, and what style of communication your culture has lent you.
Reflecting upon your own culture will help you embrace cultural differences with an open mind. When surrounded by like-minded people, it’s easy to forget that what you do and how you act are not the universal norm. That’s why looking at yourself critically will improve your cultural awareness.
Now is the time to get SaaS-y news and entertainment with our 5-minute newsletter, G2 Tea, featuring inspiring leaders, hot takes, and bold predictions. Subscribe below!
Research on cultural diversity
After reflecting, it’s time you gather all the information you can on new cultures. This takes lots of time and will not happen overnight. Focus first on cultures with which you interact or target through marketing.
Cultural attributes to consider while researching diversity:
- Dress
- Greetings
- Language(s) spoken
- Body language
- Eye contact
- Gestures
- Business ethics and norms
- Attitudes toward drugs
- Gender roles
- Personal space
- Food and entertaining traditions
- Attitudes toward rules and authority
- Family life
Ask questions
People are unique. Someone could come from a certain culture and not identify with any of the beliefs or traits of that particular culture.
In today’s society, there’s a line between cultural awareness and cultural assimilation or stereotyping. So instead of assuming information, ask more than one person from that particular culture about it.
People tend to be more sympathetic and receptive to questions than they are to assumptions. There’s nothing wrong with not knowing, but there is a fault in not wanting to know. Also, consider celebrating different cultures with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.
So, be curious and ask the right questions. These questions will be easier to ask once you self-reflect and research cultures other than yours.
Avoid getting lost in translation
Focusing on cross-cultural communications will help your employees get better at collaborating and take your business to new heights. Don’t let your communications get lost in translation.
Check out top diversity recruiting tools that help you eliminate unconscious bias while sourcing candidates from varied backgrounds.
This article was originally published in 2019. It has been updated with new information.
Deirdre O'Donoghue
Deirdre O’Donoghue is a Content Manager at Nature's Fynd and a former Content Manager at G2. In her free time, you can find Deirdre fostering puppies or exploring the Chicago foodie scene. (she/her/hers)
