Yael Zofi's Blog, page 8

Strategies For Cross-Cultural Interactions – Avoid Ambiguity

We continue this week with the LEARN Cross Cultural Concept with strategy #3, the A of L E A R N = Avoid Ambiguity.

 

Awareness of culturally derived differences in behavior and communication is step one in decreasing ambiguity.  If you score low on this category from the Cultural Strategy Checklist on pages 64-65 of Communicating Through a Global Lens, How to Broaden Your Perspective in a Cross Cultural World, 2nd Ed, know that the ability to avoid ambiguity is directly tied to active listening skills. Avoiding or tolerating ambiguity doesn’t necessarily mean that you deliberately avoid these types of situations. It is the ability to react to new, different and potentially unpredictable situations with little visible distress. The goal is to avoid the uneasiness that could lead to frustration, which hinders your ability to communicate. Having prior knowledge about team members’ cultures can also help reduce ambiguity. The greater your knowledge about another culture the less ambiguous it becomes, and when someone behaves accordingly you won’t be surprised and uncertain.

 

These suggestions can help build a virtual environment that avoids ambiguity.

Create a safe, friendly environment that encourages participation.
Share information about team members’ cultural backgrounds.
Be careful with humor. It can be easily misunderstood, or even considered offensive, in many cultures. In most cases, it is best to just avoid making jokes.
Recognize your own assumptions and pre-judgments, which may be clouded by cultural backgrounds, past experiences and subconscious bias.
Encourage participation in conference calls so that questions are brought up.
Build in feedback loops to ensure clarity.  May include: asking questions; paraphrasing what someone says; asking someone to repeat a statement.

 

Next week’s post will focus on the fourth letter of our L E A R N cross cultural communications acronym:   R= Respecting Differences .

 

Enjoy!

 

Yael Zofi

 

STRATEGIES FOR CROSS-CULTURAL INTERACTIONS – Avoid Ambiguity

We continue this week with the LEARN Cross Cultural Concept with strategy #3, the A of L E A R N = Avoid Ambiguity.

 

Awareness of culturally derived differences in behavior and communication is step one in decreasing ambiguity.  If you score low on this category from the Cultural Strategy Checklist on pages 64-65 of Communicating Through a Global Lens, How to Broaden Your Perspective in a Cross Cultural World, 2nd Ed, know that the ability to avoid ambiguity is directly tied to active listening skills. Avoiding or tolerating ambiguity doesn’t necessarily mean that you deliberately avoid these types of situations. It is the ability to react to new, different and potentially unpredictable situations with little visible distress. The goal is to avoid the uneasiness that could lead to frustration, which hinders your ability to communicate. Having prior knowledge about team members’ cultures can also help reduce ambiguity. The greater your knowledge about another culture the less ambiguous it becomes, and when someone behaves accordingly you won’t be surprised and uncertain.

 

These suggestions can help build a virtual environment that avoids ambiguity.

Create a safe, friendly environment that encourages participation.
Share information about team members’ cultural backgrounds.
Be careful with humor. It can be easily misunderstood, or even considered offensive, in many cultures. In most cases, it is best to just avoid making jokes.
Recognize your own assumptions and pre-judgments, which may be clouded by cultural backgrounds, past experiences and subconscious bias.
Encourage participation in conference calls so that questions are brought up.
Build in feedback loops to ensure clarity.  May include: asking questions; paraphrasing what someone says; asking someone to repeat a statement.

 

Next week’s post will focus on the fourth letter of our L E A R N cross cultural communications acronym:   R= Respecting Differences .

 

Enjoy!

 

Yael Zofi

 

Managing Global Workforces Panel Discussion at Organizational Development Network

by Trudy Channer

 

These days you cannot toss a stone without hitting a company that has multiple offices, a remote staff and/or an offshore support team. We are living and working in a time when we have to consider the global implications of decisions made about projects and resources.  But perhaps most importantly, we have to consider the implications for our workforce. Now is the time to focus our attention on the implication these decisions have on people within the organizations.

 

How do HR, OD and leadership evolve as organizations determine their near shore/offshore and inshore strategies? This event will cover different perspectives and strategies for working in or consulting to global companies. Included are techniques to successfully work together across cultures, miles, and time zones.

____________________________________________________________________

 

The above Organizational Development Network (ODN) session description drew 75+ participants to this week’s panel discussion with three dynamic speakers who discussed the trends, impact and cultural implications of working globally.  Among the panelists (Kerri Arman-Stenmann, Rena DeLevie, and our very own Yael Zofi). These seasoned experts discussed global and virtual teams, sharing their extensive backgrounds that range from creative directorship of well known retail brands, to a human capital consulting firm with a Who’s Who client list, and global head of talent acquisition for various Fortune 500 companies. Moderator Elaine Mason (Board Member of ODNNY and also VP of Organizational Effectiveness at American Express) engaged everyone in an enlightening conversation that drew practitioners, students, consultants and new members.

 

To begin, the panelists discussed ways they have worked around the world, which included living in several countries. It was noted that at the core, people – no matter what cultural background, language, country they come from – are more similar than they are different. This segued into a lively discussion from the follow-up question posed: “Do you think organizations sufficiently factor in the broader personal issues that may impact international roles? What can OD/HR professionals do to address those factors?” The consistent theme across all responses was that whether virtual or not, at their core, all humans need to feel a sense of connection and engagement. OD/HR needs to go a step further and set a structure so that managers, executives (e.g., expatriate groups, clubs) and their families can make the necessary adjustments in/out of cultures.

 

Another striking question posed to the panelists was, “What are key organizational and leader attributes that need to exist to enable virtual teams?” This question generated several interesting answers about the need for compassion, equity and connection as the key essential leadership dimensions. To be truly successful in the virtual environment, the global leader must encompass these traits to move forward. In addition, s/he needs to properly set up virtual teams to communicate, collaborate and get results.

 

Overall, the Global Workforces panel was very insightful. Many participants indicated that they already work in some global or virtual team capacity. The panelists offered real examples, provided tips and answered challenging questions that raised further discussion. Throughout the night the main idea that stuck was the concept of CONNECTION. This is related to part of Yael’s definition of a virtual team: “. . .whether across the street or across the world. . .“   Whatever the work scenario may be, team members need to feel that they are not by themselves, but are connected to the bigger picture.

 

Will the decision by Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer pay off–or bomb?

Has Marissa Mayer lost her mind? That’s the question on everyone’s mind this week, ever since the new CEO of Yahoo announced that telecommuting will no longer be allowed for employees come June.







Telecommuting has become such a staple in the modern workplace–one of those things where we wonder how we ever lived without telecommuting and how could we ever go back?

 

Ms. Mayer must know something the rest of us do not–and that’s probably my biggest problem with this announcement and the hyped up media around it. There must be another factor (or factors) here. Because while telecommuting is a fantastic option for a lot of people, there are few jobs that wouldn’t benefit from more face-to-face interaction. And, there are some jobs that are almost impossible to do well working remotely.

 

Consider Ms. Mayer’s position: She was brought on board with the once-glorious Yahoo to right this sinking ship. They need new, fresh ideas–and they need them implemented fast across departments. When a company is implementing fast, drastic changes, they need people interacting face-to-face in real time.

 

While telecommuting is a great option that can reduce commutes, let companies search for talent worldwide, and give flexibility to folks who have to take care of family members, some studies suggest that the productivity gains some companies get from telecommuting are offset by the costs of telecommuting technology.

 

Looking at the big picture–at what Ms. Mayer wants to accomplish with Yahoo and at the bottom line for the company–choosing to put an end to telecommuting may actually make a lot of sense for Yahoo.

 

While 17% of US employees work from home 2+ days/wk, Yahoo’s new policy on remote work isn’t completely unusual s.forr.com/gtmm

— Forrester Research (@forrester) February 26, 2013

 

Perhaps this change will be a temporary one. Perhaps once Yahoo is making more money again and is where she and the stakeholders want it to be, they’ll be able to reintroduce telecommuting for some or all of the employees.

 

But in the meantime, since we’re not sitting where Ms. Mayer is, it’s hard to judge if this policy is a harsh but necessary step in Yahoo’s rebirth or if this change is a backwards attempt to regain some sort of control that will unnecessarily upset employees at every level.

 

What employees lose in flexibility (and possibly productivity), Yahoo may gain in more creativity, camaraderie, and overall company stability.

 

Either way, I’m sure the decision was not an easy one for Ms. Mayer. It’s a decision I’ve helped many companies and executives have to make–not only whether to allow virtual teams and remote work but also how to set up those teams to allow for maximum productivity. How do you set yourself up for communication and relationships that are so good you’d swear you can’t tell the difference whether you’re in the office together or half a world apart?

 

Done the right way, the payoff for virtual teams can be astounding.

 

And done improperly or with the wrong people, virtual teams can be a disaster.

 

Time will tell if Ms. Mayer’s decision will help Yahoo skirt disaster–or will bring it on faster.

 

STRATEGIES FOR CROSS-CULTURAL INTERACTIONS – Effectively Communicate

Virtual team managers must LEARN how to effectively communicate across cultures. This week we continue with the E of L E A R N = Effectively Communicate, and provide you guidelines for building and maximizing interpersonal relationships to help you enhance your virtual cross-cultural interactions.

 

Strategy #2 Keep it Transparent: EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE

Virtual teams need to compensate for the lack of visual and physical cues. The aim is to keep the communication lines open and transparent so that when conflicts arise – and they will – a resolution is found quickly. Here is a helpful technique to keep the cultural communication lines open:

 

1. Respond with appropriate words that will not inflame a situation, when you sense difficulty.

 

 

 

3.    Build on an idea

 

 

Regarding teleconferences, here are some good practices to follow:

If the conversation appears to be coming to a close, conclude with a transition or sum-up statement.  For example, “So you are saying that…”
Allow the other person to complete his/her thoughts – avoid dominating the conversation – even if you feel you have a lot to say.
If the other person appears bored and uninterested, change the subject and/or direction of the conversation. Keep the other person involved by asking question, and even asking where the person would like the conversation to go.

 

 

Next week’s post will focus on the third letter of our L E A R N cross cultural communications acronym:  A= Avoid Ambiguity.

 

Enjoy and Regards,

Yael Zofi

 

STRATEGIES FOR CROSS-CULTURAL INTERACTIONS – Effectively Communicate -

Virtual team managers must LEARN how to effectively communicate across cultures. This week we continue with the E of L E A R N = Effectively Communicate, and provide you guidelines for building and maximizing interpersonal relationships to help you enhance your virtual cross-cultural interactions.

 

Strategy #2 Keep it Transparent: EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE

Virtual teams need to compensate for the lack of visual and physical cues. The aim is to keep the communication lines open and transparent so that when conflicts arise – and they will – a resolution is found quickly. Here is a helpful technique to keep the cultural communication lines open:

 

1. Respond with appropriate words that will not inflame a situation, when you sense difficulty.

 

 

 

3.    Build on an idea

 

 

Regarding teleconferences, here are some good practices to follow:

If the conversation appears to be coming to a close, conclude with a transition or sum-up statement.  For example, “So you are saying that…”
Allow the other person to complete his/her thoughts – avoid dominating the conversation – even if you feel you have a lot to say.
If the other person appears bored and uninterested, change the subject and/or direction of the conversation. Keep the other person involved by asking question, and even asking where the person would like the conversation to go.

 

 

Next week’s post will focus on the third letter of our L E A R N cross cultural communications acronym:  A= Avoid Ambiguity.

 

Enjoy and Regards,

Yael Zofi

 

STRATEGIES FOR CROSS-CULTURAL INTERACTIONS – Listen

Virtual team managers must L E A R N how to effectively communicate across cultures. The following are guidelines to build interpersonal relationships, help maximize interactions and foster a collaborative environment. By utilizing the following five strategies, you will develop your cross cultural virtual communication and become a more effective virtual team player in these settings.

 

5 Strategies for Engaging in Effective Cross-Cultural Communications:

 

L ISTEN

E FFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE

A VOID AMBIGUITY

R ESPECT DIFFERENCES

N O JUDGMENT

 

Strategy #1: LISTEN

 

Active listening is the single most useful way to overcome barriers to effective communication. We listen for meaning by checking back with the speaker to ensure that we have accurately heard and understood what was said. Communicating across cultures adds another layer to the ‘noise’ that is present, which makes it critical to add that extra step of checking back. Active listening is the key to avoiding misinterpretations. For example, people from different cultures may use the same word in different ways, as we’ve seen, and so repeating what you think you heard and asking if that’s what was intended confirms your understanding of its meaning.

 

Learn to get beyond the distractions that may interfere with properly hearing your speaker, such as accents, limited vocabulary and lack of understanding nuances of a language. Be attuned to his/her cultural background and communication style.

 

Beyond active listening, you can tone down your language, avoiding harsh and/or difficult words as well as adjust the speed and timing of your speech. Incorporate the following techniques into your every day communication:

Listen without considering what you will say next. Take the time to listen rather than try to guess what’s being said. Avoid thinking ahead.
Ask questions to ensure that you accurately understand the message being conveyed.
Don’t assume that you understand the meaning of someone else’s statement. And, don’t assume that what you mean to convey is understood by the listener. Paraphrase back to the speaker to clarify understanding.
Avoid multitasking when listening to virtual team members. Consider the speaker’s background when evaluating his/her message and be aware of and suspend assumptions based on your own cultural interpretations.
Use a headset if possible, to keep your hands free so you can take notes to verify the important points of the conversation and the action items that need attention with your colleagues.

 

Next post will focus on E= Effectively Communicate of the LEARN cross cultural communications concept.

 

Yael Zofi

 

STRATEGIES FOR CROSS-CULTURAL INTERACTIONS – Listen -

Virtual team managers must L E A R N how to effectively communicate across cultures. The following are guidelines to build interpersonal relationships, help maximize interactions and foster a collaborative environment. By utilizing the following five strategies, you will develop your cross cultural virtual communication and become a more effective virtual team player in these settings.

 

5 Strategies for Engaging in Effective Cross-Cultural Communications:

 

L ISTEN

E FFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE

A VOID AMBIGUITY

R ESPECT DIFFERENCES

N O JUDGMENT

 

Strategy #1: LISTEN

 

Active listening is the single most useful way to overcome barriers to effective communication. We listen for meaning by checking back with the speaker to ensure that we have accurately heard and understood what was said. Communicating across cultures adds another layer to the ‘noise’ that is present, which makes it critical to add that extra step of checking back. Active listening is the key to avoiding misinterpretations. For example, people from different cultures may use the same word in different ways, as we’ve seen, and so repeating what you think you heard and asking if that’s what was intended confirms your understanding of its meaning.

 

Learn to get beyond the distractions that may interfere with properly hearing your speaker, such as accents, limited vocabulary and lack of understanding nuances of a language. Be attuned to his/her cultural background and communication style.

 

Beyond active listening, you can tone down your language, avoiding harsh and/or difficult words as well as adjust the speed and timing of your speech. Incorporate the following techniques into your every day communication:

Listen without considering what you will say next. Take the time to listen rather than try to guess what’s being said. Avoid thinking ahead.
Ask questions to ensure that you accurately understand the message being conveyed.
Don’t assume that you understand the meaning of someone else’s statement. And, don’t assume that what you mean to convey is understood by the listener. Paraphrase back to the speaker to clarify understanding.
Avoid multitasking when listening to virtual team members. Consider the speaker’s background when evaluating his/her message and be aware of and suspend assumptions based on your own cultural interpretations.
Use a headset if possible, to keep your hands free so you can take notes to verify the important points of the conversation and the action items that need attention with your colleagues.

 

Next post will focus on E= Effectively Communicate of the LEARN cross cultural communications concept.

 

Yael Zofi

 

STRATEGIES FOR CROSS-CULTURAL INTERACTIONS

Virtual team managers must L E A R N how to effectively communicate across cultures. The following are guidelines to build interpersonal relationships, help maximize interactions and foster a collaborative environment. By utilizing the following five strategies, you will develop your cross cultural virtual communication and become a more effective virtual team player in these settings.

 

5 Strategies for Engaging in Effective Cross-Cultural Communications:

 

L ISTEN

E FFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE

A VOID AMBIGUITY

R ESPECT DIFFERENCES

N O JUDGMENT

 

Strategy #1: LISTEN

 

Active listening is the single most useful way to overcome barriers to effective communication. We listen for meaning by checking back with the speaker to ensure that we have accurately heard and understood what was said. Communicating across cultures adds another layer to the ‘noise’ that is present, which makes it critical to add that extra step of checking back. Active listening is the key to avoiding misinterpretations. For example, people from different cultures may use the same word in different ways, as we’ve seen, and so repeating what you think you heard and asking if that’s what was intended confirms your understanding of its meaning.

 

Learn to get beyond the distractions that may interfere with properly hearing your speaker, such as accents, limited vocabulary and lack of understanding nuances of a language. Be attuned to his/her cultural background and communication style.

 

Beyond active listening, you can tone down your language, avoiding harsh and/or difficult words as well as adjust the speed and timing of your speech. Incorporate the following techniques into your every day communication:

Listen without considering what you will say next. Take the time to listen rather than try to guess what’s being said. Avoid thinking ahead.
Ask questions to ensure that you accurately understand the message being conveyed.
Don’t assume that you understand the meaning of someone else’s statement. And, don’t assume that what you mean to convey is understood by the listener. Paraphrase back to the speaker to clarify understanding.
Avoid multitasking when listening to virtual team members. Consider the speaker’s background when evaluating his/her message and be aware of and suspend assumptions based on your own cultural interpretations.
Use a headset if possible, to keep your hands free so you can take notes to verify the important points of the conversation and the action items that need attention with your colleagues.

 

Next post will focus on E= Effectively Communicate of the LEARN cross cultural communications concept.

 

Yael Zofi

 

Working Across Cultures – Four Strategies to get UN-Lost in Translation – Part 2

This week’s post continues with 2 more strategies for improving your intercultural communications and cross cultural interactions at work. If you are already a virtual manager, you probably may have faced similar issues and had to put in place related systems in place that enable your cross-cultural (and usually global) team to better interact, connect and communicate.

 

Keeping the communication clean so that things don’t get ‘Lost in Translation’ is one of your key responsibilities, especially when business English is the ‘part time’ language of many team members. You must be well adapted to the cultural cues, and their solutions. This post continues with 2 more strategies that I usually coach managers to help them lead diverse teams. These suggestions are summarized below.



3. Create Cross Cultural Collaboration

Creating commonalities is challenging when working across cultures and time zones. How to do that? One way is to subdivide an overriding goal into smaller goals that can be worked on by some members across the team.  Provide clear and specific direction, with support and encouragement.  Here is an example: “We have colleagues all over Europe. Before new members join us we send basic information about their culture to the rest of the team, and we send them a PowerPoint presentation with details about every culture represented on our team.  We also ask them to email everyone on the team two things: (1) what one thing – personal or professional – do they want colleagues to know about them, and (2) what their favorite holiday is, and why.  We do this so that people can begin to build connections and we encourage them to dialog among themselves.  In order to avoid any misunderstanding, we give clear and univocal instructions and we repeat them via mail, phone or internal IMs.

 

When working across cultures and time zones, it is paramount to (despite the differences, time zones and nationalities) it is important to create commonalities across your team. How should you do that? One way is to create shared goals across your team, provide clear and specific direction and provide support and encouragement.

“In order to avoid any misunderstanding, we give clear and univocal instructions. If something is not clear, we repeat the instructions (via mail, phone or internal instant messaging).  And before integrating multi-cultural team members, we take care of providing basic information about the other cultures” – Partner, Accounting Firm, Belgium

Besides putting communication routines in place and constantly checking on your virtual team, what else can you do to create cross cultural commonalities? As one virtual manager from a Litigation Consulting Firm told me,

“It is just a matter of finding that connection with people; finding the common piece that connects us as human beings, and it always starts with respecting people and their experiences and discovering new ways for linking people.”

Yes virtual manager, your greatest contribution to your team is to enable connection across time and space and maintain the human interaction vibrant across your team.

 

4. Become a True Manager of Cultures



Whether local or global, look at the landscape beyond the horizon, recognizing that events at one location impact another. I call this type of Visionary Leadership VISTA-leadership. It requires advanced understanding, visioning, and a hyper-openness to how people interact in different cultures. As so beautifully put by a client who led a global team at a Healthcare Solutions Company,

“When it comes to becoming a manager of cultures, you need to know that you don’t know. There are so many unknowns and you have to manage and look for them; people don’t speak exactly what they mean. They maintain distance, and when you are a global manager who is not from their side [location] you need to understand them.”

These strategies for getting “UN-lost in Translation” will help you translate English to English across your own teams. If you are interested in getting more specific cultural information, see “Communicating Through a Global Lens” 2nd Edition.  In it I offer several suggestions to help you gain perspective and achieve a high comfort level when interacting with individuals from other cultures.

 

“Communicating Through a Global Lens” 2nd Edition describes the different dimensions of cultural differences and provides tips ‘how to’ strategies to work with these perspectives. This quick guide also consists of a short questionnaire to gauge your current skill level at communicating across cultures and provides practical pointers for handling global business relationships.  If you need to build your personal action plan and want to increase your cross cultural communication skills, this interactive book will give you suggestions on how to do that.

 

Remember, quality business relationships grow through better understanding, and I will continue to help you raise your multicultural awareness by sharing my consulting, coaching and training experiences with you in the coming weeks/months.