Communication For International Business

Copyright

William Collins

An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers

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London SE1 9GF

WilliamCollinsBooks.com

This eBook first published in Great Britain by William Collins in 2020

First published in Great Britain in 2020 by HarperCollinsPublishers

Published in Canada by HarperCollinsCanada. www.harpercollins.ca

Published in Australia by HarperCollinsAustralia. www.harpercollins.au

Published in India by HarperCollinsPublishersIndia. www.harpercollins.co.in

Copyright © HarperCollinsPublishers 2020

Rus Slater asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

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Source ISBN: 9780008389888

Ebook Edition © January 2020 ISBN: 9780008133849

Version: 2019-11-19

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Introduction

1 Listen and look

1.1 Listen to and for the ‘prepared speech’

1.2 ‘Look’ for the indicators of cultural differences

1.3 Check for real understanding

1.4 Learn about their situation

1.5 Beware generalizations

2 Say and write

2.1 KISS – Keep It Short and Simple

2.2 Explain TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms)

2.3 Avoid idioms

2.4 Beware interpretation errors

2.5 Beware translation errors

2.6 Be aware of cultural/national differences between speakers of the same language

2.7 Consider accents and dialects

2.8 People’s names

2.9 Test readability

3 Technology and media

3.1 Written communications

3.2 Face to face verbal communications

3.3 Using the phone

3.4 Video calls

3.5 Conference calls

3.6 ‘Screen-sharing’ calls

4 Taking the environment into account

4.1 Time zones and time differences

4.2 Local working practices with regard to time

4.3 Local office facilities

4.4 Local climatic conditions and seasons

4.5 Local purchasing capacities

4.6 Local attitudes to family, friends and others

5 Netiquette

5.1 Get your salutation right

5.2 Prof reed you’re email

5.3 Write ‘good’ subject lines

5.4 Use the timing capacity

5.5 Copying and read receipts

5.6 Use a signature block – it helps

5.7 Write and read emails wisely

5.8 Consider ‘social media’

6 Intercontinental differences

6.1 Be honest

6.2 Communicating with Chinese business people

6.3 Communicating with Indian business people

6.4 Communicating with British business people

6.5 Communicating with American business people

6.6 Communicating with German business people

6.7 Communicating with Japanese business people

6.8 Communicating with Russian business people

7 Communicating with a remote team

7.1 Have a communication plan

7.2 Create and maintain a virtual presence

7.3 Use the technology to replicate the communication of an F2F team

7.4 Be a good host

7.5 ‘Slow down to speed up!’

7.6 Run good virtual team meetings

7.7 Communicate with your people’s other (local) managers

7.8 Think ‘Goose’!

7.9 Look for the signs that it is all going wrong

Footnotes

Jargon buster

About the Book

About the Author

About the Publisher

Communication is critical, communicating intercontinentally is complex

The world is getting smaller. Most of us will probably have clients, or suppliers, in another country at some time or other.

And if we don’t we’ll probably belong to a business community of practice that is global. The way we communicate across these boundaries can make the difference between success and failure.

With this book you should be able to communicate effectively with colleagues, suppliers and customers who come from different cultures, speak different native languages and live in different environments to your own. The chapters are:

It is easy to cause offence if you don’t understand the people you are communicating with. But if you understand them, you can be as successful as if you were communicating with your own family.

Communication is a two-way process. Many books on the topic, and many people, will start addressing the issue of communication by looking at the matter of transmitting information to another party. But receiving information, and understanding the environment in which your message is received, is critically important. This is particularly vital when you are trying to get a message across to someone who doesn’t speak the same language as you as their native tongue. Or someone who is in a completely different time zone or working environment. You may not be able to see each other so there may be no non-verbal cues to their real meaning. This chapter aims to help you to avoid some of the more common errors in international communication.

1.1

Listen to and for the ‘prepared speech’

When people are communicating in a non-native language they often prepare far more, and are much less spontaneous, than if they were talking in their mother tongue. One common element of this is a prepared speech which they may actually read from a script or they may have rehearsed to the point of memory.

There are several ways that you can tell when someone is reciting a prepared speech:

▪ They tend to plunge straight in with the minimum of ‘phatic’ communication.

▪ They tend to speak quite quickly with few pauses or hesitations.

▪ There is seldom any ‘um’ or ‘er’ in their speech.

▪ The delivery tends to be quite monotone with little modulation.

▪ If they are interrupted, they tend to lose the flow of what they were saying.

Listening to prepared speeches can be quite annoying for many people; the characteristics listed above don’t make interesting listening and the delivery style prevents (or at least discourages) you from asking any questions. However …

“To listen well is as powerful a means of communication and influence as to talk well” John Marshall, Chief Justice US Supreme Court, 1801–35

A prepared speech provides the speaker with a huge amount of psychological comfort that they are making their mark on the dialogue. It gives the speaker confidence that he or she is ‘present’ and contributing, when they may be struggling with unfamiliar words, phrases and sentence structure. If there are others involved in the dialogue who have the same concerns, it establishes a degree of camaraderie. So if you are on the receiving end of a clearly prepared speech and you find it annoying and are concerned that it is taking up time that could be spent on more pressing matters, tough it out!

▪ Listen.

▪ Thank the speaker.

▪ Summarize what you heard.

▪ Ask if others agree, or ask what parts they agree with.

▪ Offer you own opinions.

This may make initial meetings a little slow but in the longer run it will pay dividends as people recognize that they can communicate with confidence in a language which to them may be foreign.

Think about more than just the message people are giving you, be considerate of their need to be listened to.

1.2

‘Look’ for the indicators of cultural differences

Biologically all humans may be the same but our cultures are different across the globe. When you are communicating with people from a culture different to your own you need to be constantly looking out for signs that a cultural difference may be getting in the way of the message you are trying to get across.

Consider the areas where there may be different expectations or levels of comfort:

▪ Forms of address. The practice of using people’s first or given names varies from country to country. There are also differences regarding the use of titles with family names. Try to check before you meet/talk/contact someone. If you can’t find out in advance, ask at the opening of the communication.

▪ Greetings. Culturally appropriate greetings are immensely diverse. Different cultures expect or eschew different forms of handshake, kisses and ‘air-kisses’ (one, two or three?), hugs and bows. The exchange of business cards at a greeting is also culturally important to many peoples but of little consequence to others – make a mistake and the whole relationship starts on the wrong foot.

▪ Physical contact. In some cultures it is a friendly gesture to pat someone on the back or touch their arm, elbow or shoulder during a conversation. In other cultures this is seen as overly familiar or invasive, either can lead to embarrassment.

▪ Self-aggrandizement. In many cultures self-confidence is a positive plus, but in others a more humble, self-effacing attitude is more acceptable.

▪ Taking an interest in a person’s private life. Seen as evidence of caring in some cultures, in others it is seen as prying until or unless you are well acquainted.

You will be less likely to make any cultural faux pas if you find out, in advance, about the cultural ‘norms’ of the people you are going to interact with.

Whether or not you do, look out for signs that you may have committed a potentially embarrassing boob:

▪ Someone frowning when you wouldn’t expect them to be.

▪ A sudden silence immediately after you say or do something.

▪ A physical reaction such as a person pulling away from you.

▪ Monosyllabic answers to questions that would normally elicit more response.

Don’t try to replicate the other party’s cultural style; this may come over as patronizing and mimicry. Simply be aware of the differences and avoid causing embarrassment.

1.4

Learn about their situation

When you are in the same office, talking to a person face to face, it is easier to understand their situation. When you are communicating with someone in a different country, it is easy to forget that their situation may be completely different to yours. This will probably have an effect on their perception of you and your message.

You may be sitting in your office in Europe or North America in the late morning. You are surrounded by colleagues sitting at their workstations in a large open-plan office. Everyone is wearing a suit and tie. The air conditioning is humming quietly in the background. You have your screen on your desk in front of you showing the latest figures. Outside the window you can see snow on the ground. You are on the phone talking to a colleague in another country. What is their environment like? Do you know?

Your colleague could be talking to you as she walks around the production facility. There could be manufacturing machinery working as she walks past. It could be 97?F and 78% humidity. She could be wearing a pair of shorts and tee shirt. It could be dark outside and 11 o’clock at night where she is; the night shift started 30 minutes ago. The local accounts office is closed for the night and most of the management are at home in bed.

A question you may innocently ask may be impossible for her to answer for another eight hours. But her environment is so different to yours that you have no idea how much pressure that innocent question may put her under.

Take a bit of time to investigate the situation in which your international partners work, whether they are colleagues, suppliers or customers. Even people who seem to have the same type of job as you may be in a very different situation; local politics, the climate or weather, the season, the time zone and local working practices can all make for very different circumstances.

Then try to remember this each time you speak with them or send them an email or text message.

You dialled their number and they answered but it is easy to forget that they may be in a completely different environment to you.

1.5

Beware generalizations

OK, that is ironic; to start a section warning of the danger of generalizations with a generalization. This book contains plenty of generalizations; it talks about people from specific countries as if they were stereotypes. It talks about media of communication as if everyone used them in exactly the same way. Clearly that is dangerous … so beware these generalizations.

When we accept any generalization as a ‘rule’ we are bound to make a massive mistake somewhere down the line. This relates to generalizations about people:

▪ Not all people of a particular race behave in exactly the same way; they will have been exposed to a greater or lesser degree to people from different cultures. They will base their opinions on different life experiences. They will have read and followed different ‘thought-leaders’.

▪ No one person from any particular race or culture can be deemed to speak for their entire nation, regardless of their position in their national hierarchy. Neither will they know what everyone else in their native country thinks about any given topic.

▪ It can be deeply insulting to make assumptions based on national stereotyping; so don’t.

▪ Beware also generalizations regarding generations; not everyone under the age of 25 is on Facebook. And some people over 50 are.

Beware generalizations about methods of communicating:

▪ Not all international phone carriers charge the same rates.

▪ Calls from Country A to Country B may be charged at a different rate to calls from Country B to Country A.

▪ VOIP may work brilliantly between two specific areas, but may be appallingly ineffective between two other specific areas.

▪ Some people are brilliant at running virtual meetings using conference call or VOIP, other people are absolutely useless (trust me, I’ve ‘attended’ some fantastic international remote meetings and some complete wastes of time!).

▪ Sometimes a phone conversation is the best way to communicate and sometimes an email is actually much, much better.

▪ International call routing now means that a call can show on your phone as originating in London, but the caller may be in Lahore.

When communicating internationally it is really important to engage your brain before operating your mouth.

Now it is time to open your mouth or put ‘pen to paper’. This chapter contains nine simple and straightforward ‘rules’ that, if followed, should help you to get your message across to others over the seas. Some of these rules are of the ‘thou shalt not’ variety; things to avoid like the plague (for example, using idioms such as ‘avoid like the plague’).

Some of them are exhortations to consciously do something; such as explaining acronyms and testing readability!

Some are caveats or warnings which highlight things that you probably wouldn’t need to think of when communicating with your own nationality.

2.2

Explain TLAs (Three Letter Acronyms)

Most industry sectors and organizations abound with acronyms (not necessarily three-letter ones). They are a useful and usually valid way of saving time when constantly referring to something that can be abbreviated. However, this can be very confusing to people who speak a different language, especially when an acronym gets further abbreviated; for instance, Bayerische Motoren Werke becomes BMW becomes ‘Beemer’.