Thu 07 / 07 / 22
How to communicate across different cultures to get the best results
Ben Massen from Culture Fit Consulting gives his take on how best to communicate with clients across different cultures - from understanding communication preferences to where there might be gaps.
By Ben Massen of Brighton Chamber
Nowadays more people find themselves working with clients, partners and suppliers from different cultures, creating greater possibilities to tap into new markets and grow their businesses.
Although there are many opportunities, there are also plenty of obstacles. Clients can find it difficult to communicate effectively due to cultural differences and mindset gaps between people who think and behave differently, impacting their results.
It’s important to cultivate a global mindset, appreciate different ways of seeing the world, and identify ways to bridge differences in how people think and communicate.
What is culture?
Culture is a set of shared values, norms and behaviours people learn from their environment, dictating appropriate and inappropriate behaviour. It’s a collection of written and unwritten rules a group lives by, impacting how they communicate, and how they perceive others with different communication styles.
Here are three suggestions to help you communicate more effectively across cultures:
1) Know your own communication style/preferences. Often the emphasis is on the other person’s style, but without knowing your own and how it’s perceived, it’s difficult to know how to adapt your communication.
2) Values differ across cultural groups. What matters to one group might not be the same as yours. Some prefer indirect communication, valuing relationships and group harmony, while others could be more direct, finding clarity and efficiency important.
3) Assume positive intent. Starting from the idea that someone meant well, even when they see the world differently, we’re in a better position to accept them and flex our communication to get a better outcome.
Ben Massen is Founder of Culture Fit Consulting. On 8 December he delivered a virtual workshop for Brighton Chamber’s From Brighton With Love business support programme: How to communicate across different cultures to get the best results. Head to brightonchamber.co.uk/event to find out more.
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