The Global Phoenix - Issue 2 April - June 2017 | Page 9

COMMUNICATION
NORMS
A manager based in France was working with a team in Tunisia. Reflecting on her
experience as a manager, she said, “I have a very direct communication style. However, I
should have been more diplomatic with my Tunisian team. I discovered that a ‘yes’ doesn’t
always mean yes. After each training, presentation, or important communication, I had to
validate that the message was understood by asking them to rephrase the message.”
This manager’s experience highlights why leaders should work with their global teams to create their
communication norms. Awareness, as in the case of the manager in France, is the most important first
step. Understanding how employees from other cultures prepare for meetings, share ideas, escalate issues,
and provide feedback will enhance the global team experience. As an interesting secondary benefit,
such understanding improves other communications skills, such as active listening and empathy.
Additionally, people from different cultures often have their own sense of pace when they communicate.
Email communications are an integral part of our workplace. However, acceptable response times can
vary greatly. Typically, within the United States there is an unwritten rule about responding promptly. This
approach may not be the norm in other cultures.
Clarity and Simplicity of Language Sensitivity to Time Zones
One example of a powerful communication norm is to
use clear and simple language and to avoid slang, sports
or other non-inclusive analogies, and colloquialism. An
HR leader learned, first hand, the importance of avoiding
sports analogies when communicating in global teams
while meeting with a senior leader from Germany who was
reviewing a presentation. One of the slides in the deck
was titled “On Deck.” Confused, the German leader asked,
“What does ‘on deck’ mean?” A team member explained
the baseball sports analogy and then changed the slide
title to refer to what’s coming up next. Global leaders should consider the impact
of working across different time zones. In
the spirit of creating a culture of inclusive-
ness, leaders could establish norms that
encourage teams to share the “time-zone
burden.” It can be particularly challenging
to set up conference calls with participants
who work in the US, Europe, Asia, and
Australia. In many organizations, confer-
ence call scheduling tends to favor the
US-based employees. For example, India-
based employees may need to be available
for conference calls from 6:00 pm to 2:00
am EST in order to collaborate with their
US-based colleagues. This work schedule
may not be sustainable over time.
Such interactions are virtually inevitable, however a height-
ened awareness can change confusion into a cultural shar-
ing rather than making one party feel uncomfortable when
a term is confusing because of a lack of context.
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