Observation of team behavior: Intercultural and Interpersonal communication

In today’s multi-cultural society, we constantly find ourselves interacting with people of different nationality, age, gender, and not forgetting, different cultural backgrounds. This is especially the case here in Singapore where we pride ourselves in being a cosmopolitan, and multi-racial society. However, more often than not, differences bring about communication barriers which might lead to conflicts. Hence, this post that I am about to write is to discuss ways to avoid these conflicts, and work effectively with teammates of different cultures and backgrounds.

To begin, I would like to mention some observations that i have made while being with teammates of various cultural backgrounds.

As an Asian myself, i would say that we are generally rather reserved in our words and actions, not wanting to stand out of the crowd and risk embarrassing ourselves. In contrast to that, Caucasians are usually more outspoken, and expressive. I wouldn’t judge and say which is better, but when dealing with someone of a different culture, it is better to ask when you are unsure of something, instead of hoping that what you do does not offend the other person. By asking and learning, we can avoid making a fool of ourselves and even worse, resulting in a conflict.

Next, i would like to say that there are no ‘good’ or ‘bad’ cultures. A culture that is different from our own, does not mean that it is incorrect. We have to accept that people of different cultures have different upbringing, and as a result, may act and think differently. For example, for Americans, direct eye contact is a gesture of saying that we are paying attention to the speaker. But for a Japanese, direct eye contact generally makes them feel uncomfortable. As such, we have to be receptive, and adaptive, so as to make the other party feel comfortable.

Lastly, I will now discuss how is it like to be on the receiving end. When someone does an action that comes off as rude or inappropriate, our natural reaction would be to get angry. But before we get all angsty, we should take a step back and reevaluate the situation. Is the person of different cultural background? Did the person deliberately do or say it to offend me? Or is the person simply oblivious to the fact that he is offending me? When dealing with a person of different cultural background, we should always try to be forgiving, taking into account that the other party might not know that he or she has stepped over the line.

To conclude, i would say that interacting with people of different cultural background may seem intimidating to some. But if the appropriate steps are taken, not only can we avoid awkward moments, we may also be able to learn and appreciate other cultures.

Principles of Communication

To me, communication is a two-way process of interchanging information, through various different channels. Be it a casual conversation between two friends, or addressing a conference, the basic principles of communication still hold. Being able to understand and be understood may seem simple, but in fact, there are many factors that play a part in effective communication.

Below are a few factors that may affect communication:

1) Know your audience.
-Knowing who you’re addressing to, allows you to set the tone that you should be using, which will allow both you and the receiver to communicate in a more comfortable setting.

2) Know your purpose and your topic.
-Knowing clearly what message you have to send across, generally allows your message to be clearer and more concise. Having sufficient knowledge in the topic that you are talking about also enables you to be more confident while communicating.

3) Anticipate objections.
-Keep in mind that not everyone thinks and agrees on what you have to say. Always have an open-mind on how the audience may respond to you, even if the response might be negative.

4) Present a rounded picture.
- By presenting the big picture, it allows the audience to not feel that you are biased, and also gives the audience a better understanding of the topic from another point of view.

5) Follow through on what you have to say.
- Never negate what you are saying, failing which would result in your audience being confused.

6) Communicate a little at a time
- Always try not to overwhelm the audience with information. If due to time constraints, summarize your points and present in a short and concise manner.

7) Have several communication channels.
- Try to present your message in various forms, so as to hold your audience’s attention.

8) Develop ways to get feedback from audience
- By getting feedback from the audience, you are able to make sure that the message is being sent across to the audience, and if not, gives you a second chance to say it again.

Communication is a life-skill that many fail to grasp the importance of it. Being able to communicate effectively allows me to better understand by peers, and also to be better understood by them.

During my free-time, I help out at a wakeboarding school as an instructor. In the course of my work, I have come to realize that sometimes making someone understand my instructions is not as easy as it seems to be. A particular instruction may seem so simple and redundant to explain for me, but to a complete beginner, my words may seem like Greek to him or her. As such, it is important to put myself in the shoes of the listener, gauge his or her skill level, and make appropriate changes to my set of instructions.

Problems like this are actually omnipresent, just that many of us fail to see it as a problem and hence fail to rectify it, resulting in communication breakdown. To conclude, I strongly believe that effective communication is a skill whose importance can hardly be over-emphasized.