In this weeks lesson we discussed global communications. For leaders across the world, it is important to understand how to interact with people from different cultures (Moran, Harris & Moran). In order to be efficient and precise you must first understand how different cultures communicate and what is important to them. Communicating can be difficult even within our own culture. Often times there are miscommunications due to messages not being clear (Penn State World Campus, 2015).
The process of communicating involves a message being thought of and delivered by the speaker. The process then follows by the receiver hearing the message, and absorbing the message as they heard it. This process is known as encoding and decoding. There are many possibilities for errors during the encoding/decoding process (Penn State World Campus, 2015). It is highly important that we make the most use of our words, and keep our conversation clear and precise. The use of certain verbs can be confusing and hold several meanings. In order to be clear it is good practice to use specific verbs and words without double meaning (Moran, Harris & Moran).
It is important to understand that the possibility of miscommunication can happen even when communicating within our own cultures. When communicating with different cultures these errors can multiply because the many miscues that can happen during a conversation. The need to be more clear and choose the right words is even more important when communicating to different cultures. (Moran, Harris & Moran). Now imagine a message that is being delivered through other means such as email or memo. The possibilities for the receiver to misinterpret the message increases. When we speak, we exhibit many non verbal cues that assist in delivering our message. Body language and tone cannot be sent through an email. When communicating electronically, it is important to review the message before sending. Sometimes having someone else proofread can help get a different perspective to increase the chance of a clear message (Moran, Harris & Moran).
In my day-to-day life I work with people from different parts of the world. Although many of us adapt to the American culture, we still can’t take away our cultural background. The way we communicate is a result of our uniqueness. One thing I’ve been observing this past week is the context of messages by different cultures. Depending on the culture of the person, some information may be added or some left out because it is seen as irrelevant. But when communicating with others, this added or missing information can make conversation difficult. (Moran, Harris & Moran). In order to avoid miscommunication we must attempt to communicate in the appropriate context.
I recently had a conversation that I was able to relate to the captain, co-pilot and controller miscommunication. In this scenario, I received an email stating that we were running low on a consumable and an order was placed for more. The following day I received another email giving me information on how to order the consumable stating that they were unable to order because they ran out of time. Confused, I asked the person if they needed me to order anything. The employee answered, “I tried to order but I found someone that has them in stock.” Still not sure if I needed to proceed with an order, I asked again if I needed to order anything. I did not get a yes or no answer. In this case it was difficult to understand what the person was trying to tell me. Although they were speaking in clear english, they were not giving me the information I was looking for. But it was clear we were having a low context and high context misunderstanding (Moran, Harris & Moran).
References
Moran, R. T., Harris, P. R., & Moran, S. V. (2011). Chapter 2: Global Leaders and Communcations. Managing cultural differences: Global leadership strategies for cross-cultural business success (8th ed.) (p. 127-181). Oxford, UK: Elsevier Inc.
Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2015). OLEAD 497B Lesson 04: Global Communication. Retrieved from https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/sp15/olead497b/001/content/02_lesson/01_page.html
mdh8 says
The topic of communication is not as easy as it might look on the surface. The comments, questions are exactly what makes the mind wonder and how to improve on over the course of time. When a breakdown in communication happens across cultures, which it does because of the miles between communicators and experiences that is brought to the workforce. Moran, Harris, & Moran are good at pointing out where the breakdowns come from in communication that include understanding of Cultural Factors in Communication (Moran, 2011, p.39).
Communication can become even more difficult within cultures because often times people don’t look outside of the box to learn more about who they are communicating with. The title that you picked was an eye catcher and so true that often times the forgotten piece of global communication happens in our backyards (own internal offices). In order to get ahead of these issues and problems do good leaders need to be futuristic in seeing what lies ahead? Or do they need to be able to have time to focus on internal office issues between personnel?
Some people don’t have the opportunity to deal with the global world in communication, so to say but often times the internal conflicts are enough to cause breakdowns in communication.
Nicely done in pointing out “In Your Backyard”.
Reference:
Moran, R. T., Harris, P. R., Moran, S.V. (2011) Managing Cultural Differences Leadership Skills and Strategies for
Working in a Global World. Oxford: Routledge.