Tips For Working With People Of Any Culture
Posted by Mitch Mitchell on Mar 18, 2014
We live in a diverse country as well as a diverse world. Often we think that others should speak like us and understand us and know what we're talking about and, unfortunately, that's not really the case.
When you're in a position of leadership it's your responsibility to go that extra mile in trying to both understand your employees and their needs while making sure they understand yours. It can be even more critical when cultures are different and something you say that almost everyone understands is lost on one or a few other people who you're responsible for.
Here are some valid tips you can follow to help you make sure you giving it your best shot when trying to smooth out communications between yourself and anyone, whether the audience is diverse or not:
1. Listen - Don't think you know what someone is about to say and already be forming your response. Listen fully to what someone is saying and then think of your response to it. Way too often I hear people giving responses to their perception, not what someone said.
2. Watch - What someone says sometimes differs from their body language. If you've turned away, or if you're not taking in all of a person, you may think you're on the same page when you're not.
3. Don't be afraid to counsel employees - This is why you have the elevated position title. If you don't embrace leadership don't take the position. If someone isn't pulling their weight or is messing up, you can't act like it's not happening if you don't want total dissension.
4. Don't treat everyone equally; treat everyone fairly - There's a major difference between equality and fairness because it assumes everyone is at the same educational level, and that's almost never the case.
5. Limit outside influences within the workplace as much as possible - While you need to be cognizant of other people's beliefs and lifestyles, none of it can be allowed to disrupt the office. If there's the possibility that someone might object, don't allow it.
6. Talk to everyone - Reality says that there will be people you like and dislike more than others. Leadership means you treat everyone fairly, which means you communicate as much with those you like and dislike. If they're disruptive get rid of them.
7. Learn not to be reactionary - Sometimes we react to what's immediately going on without knowing what led up to the issue. It's always possible that it was your fault or the fault of someone else that led to an incident. Always investigate and make decisions from an educated background unless there's a blatant issue that warrants immediate action.
8. Don't be afraid to ask questions about someone else's culture - There are stupid questions and then there's genuine interest that can be shown in someone's background that's different from your own. People love talking about themselves and giving them the opportunities helps both of you get closer to a real understanding of each other.
9. Work on finding advancement opportunities for all people - Sure, most people never want to advance into management but many do, or want to advance in their careers. The better trained people are the better you look, no matter what happens, and the better the department runs. Always look out for the interest of others as much as yourself.
10. Let people see your "human" side - It's okay to be happy and be sad every once in a while. It's okay to share a touching story as long as it's not indecent. It's okay to greet people, no matter who they are. Be real; everyone appreciates it.
11. Remember who's in charge - When all is said and done you're the one with the title. If there's no middle ground you make the decision and you stick by it. If you're well reasoned and your topic is well researched, no one will ever fault you for your decision because it's probably going to work.
As usual very rasonable tips. You know that I’ve worked in many different countries. The culture is completely different in every country, as soon as you cross the boarder, even the neighbouring country people think and work differently, as well as having different lifestyle. Though in most cases common sense might be just enough, but in some countries culture stands above common sense and it is tough call to be a leader, especially if you are a foreigner.
I would imagine going from country to country offers its set of problems Carl but the same type of thing happens just here in the U.S., which is a large country and 50 different states and hundreds of different factions within most of them. I’m sometimes not sure common sense is so common anymore, which is why trying to give some helpful tips becomes necessary.
I like when there are varieties of different opinion from different cultures, but you got to the point. Common sense have vaporize from large part of society and I think this is the real problem.
I agree, Treating everyone fairly does not always mean treating everyone equally. Actually listening is sometimes the first step for working with anyone from any background. Thanks for sharing this informative post.
Thanks for your comment Abby. I tell people all the time that equality and fairness are two distinct things… even when they’re not listening to me. I also thank you for commenting because without it I’d have never noticed that the image had disappeared. 🙂