Requests and providing direction across cultures

- As a manager you'll be asking your team to accomplish tasks and work on projects. When managing at Cross Cultures you'll need to determine how direct you need to be when making those requests. To start, let's first identify your communication style and then we'll talk about how your style might be perceived in other cultures. If you're on a road trip with a friend and you're hungry, would you likely say, "I'm hungry, let's stop and get something to eat." Or are you going to say something like, "Are you hungry?" "Do you want to get something to eat?" Next one. If your employee is performing poorly compared to other members on your team, would you rather confront him immediately and offer direct feedback? Or discuss the entire team's work goals believing that he'll likely get the message? Now which do you believe is more important attribute for a manager's communication style? Clarity? Or tact? And last one. What do you think of this statement? "It's important to say what you mean and mean what you say." Do you mostly agree? Or mostly disagree with that statement? So did you choose more options in the left or the right column? Most Americans choose the left because they tend to use direct speech. In cultures with direct communication style whatever is meant to be said will be said and usually with the fewest number of words. In societies where communications is indirect it may be more challenging to grasp the meaning of what's said unless you understand the cultural nuances and all of the words that were used. The tone, the facial expressions and the body language. Communication in these cultures is subtle. Now let's take a look in an interaction between Gina, a supervisor. And Chen, a subordinate. Their department has been working on a tight deadline and it's become obvious that in order to meet the deadline some team members will need to stay late into the evening. Gina has approached Chen to see if she'll be able to work late this evening. - We're going to have to pull an all nighter tonight. Will you be able to stay? - Yes. - Great, thanks. - Tomorrow morning I leave for my vacation. - Oh Brass, Peru right? Have fun. - Oh, thank you so much. - So what just happened? Chen thinks she won't need to stay late because Gina's already told her to have a good time. Because she's from an indirect communication culture she's interpreted the statement, "Have fun," to be an implicit permission to leave. But it's actually just the opposite. Gina thinks Chen is working late because Chen replied yes to the question about whether she can stay this evening. In an indirect culture the word "yes" is used to mean "I understand." Rather than "I agree to what's said." So let's try that again. (sighing) - We're going to have to pull an all nighter tonight. Will you be able to stay? - Yes. - Thanks. What time can you stay until tonight? - Tomorrow morning I leave for my vacation. - Oh yeah. Peru right? That sounds fun. I realize that you have your vacation tomorrow and you probably need time to pack but we could really use your help for a few more hours. What's the latest you can stay tonight? - Possible a few more hours. - Thanks, Chen. I appreciate it. I know how busy the night before a trip can be. Please stop by my office at seven before you go so I can wish you a bon voyage. - In this version, Gina was acknowledging the contest of the request and giving it more attention. Gina also asked for specifics in a way that respected the fact that an overtime was an imposition. That extra effort in acknowledging the context is important for providing direction and making requests in indirect cultures. The extra words might seem unnecessary in direct cultures. But they make all the difference here. Gina also has to confirm what a few more hours meant specifically. This is helpful to make sure they're both on the same page. There are many indirect communication cultures in parts of Asia, the Middle East, South America and Africa. What you say will be filtered through the situation. Even when unattended your nonverbals or what might seem like unrelated comments will also be processed. In direct cultures such as many in the Nordic, North European and Angle countries the clarity of your instructions is the most important. Get to the point and say it clearly. Don't let your request indirections be lost in translation. Be sure you know what you're operating in. A high or low context communication culture and adjust your style accordingly.