Communicating across cultures requires cross cultural understanding and is something we can all develop.  The first step is to understand that others think, believe and feel differently from ourselves, and this enables us to understand ourselves better.  Seeing our own world in a wider context helps us redefine our realities and move ourselves into new worlds of possibility and meaning.

Whether we are talking about Business & Management, Work/Life Balance, Medicine & Healing, Selling, Negotiation, or Education, our international colleagues will have a set of values that WILL differ from our own.  To express ourselves effectively, we need to gain an insight into the cultural patterns of our listeners, because good communication is much more than the fluent expression of our own ideas:  it is about connecting with the understanding of our listeners, at their level. This insight goes far beyond mere linguistic differences.  And it can be learned.

Many of us think that ‘underneath we are all the same' and we assume our personal qualities, 'polish & panache' and good intentions will quickly close any gaps.  However, this is dangerous thinking and this article sets out to explain why.

Communicating Across Cultures
Communicating successfully interculturally isn't just about the overcoming linguistic differences, but rather about the attitudes that lie behind them, and the cultural values that give rise to those attitudes. Most importantly, it is about the true identification of how to adjust your mindset to ‘fit' others.

Although I can give you a guide and a ‘quick fix', transformational change in thought and action cannot be accomplished by applying a formula. Cultural understanding is cultural intelligence and it takes a deep commitment and participative approach to respect and sensitivity, to search out the world's rich tapestry.

It requires us to reflect on our encounters and gut-feel responses:

Why did that seem strange? 
What was I expecting? 
What actually happened? 
Why? 
So, what does this mean?
What can I do differently next time? 

This leads to further questions:

What assumptions are being made or were made?
What questions are being asked?
What does that communication really (actually)  mean?

But first, we need to examine the culturally-driven mind barriers we have created for our own self-entrapment that diminish our abilities to understand others and understand our core values and how they differ from others - because they do.

Finally, as business becomes more global, we have more opportunities to speak to an ever-wider range of nationalities and people. Being aware of the cultural factors that create "interference" will help you get your message across in the way it was intended AND build a clear personal international brand as a professional business person who is recognised as being adept at creating rapport with international colleagues. 

However, hidden cultural differences often cause a great deal of misunderstanding and friction.  These differences are a serious problem because they are mostly invisible and inaudible but they affect the true meaning of the messages sent and received by business counterparts. To learn how to identify the causes of intercultural misunderstandings and to find out how your organisation can benefit from developing intercultural communication skills click here.