Title - Negotiating across cultures - How to navigate cultural communication differences
Some pointers that I've got are:
1. Their treatment of time
2. The directness of their communication
3. Their level of formality
4. How willing they are to negotiate
5. Their tendency to focus on the individual or group
On Their treatment of time
- Monochronic cultures are driven by timelines and deadlines. To them, punctuality is the foundation of professionalism. They are likely to arrive at a meeting early and be ready to start on time.
- Polychronic cultures view deadlines as flexible, and are much less strict with their punctuality ad expectations of others.
- Those from monochronic culture may misjudge polychronics as unreliable and disorganised. Worse, they may perceive they are using the slow-boat technique - deliberately progressing slowly to make it harder for the other party to walk away because they have invested so much time and energy in the negotiation already.
On The directness of their communication
- With high context communication, much of the meaning is inferred. You have to read between the lines and interpret the message from what is not said as much as what is said.
- Low context speakers are more direct and blunt. They say what they mean and mean what they say. They are more concerned about being precise and clear about their expectations than avoiding difficult conversations or saving face.
On Their level of formality
- Those from a high formality culture may be perceived as stiff and inflexible, while those from a culture with a lower level of formality may be perceived as rude or insensitive.
- This impacts the method of greeting, forms of address, whether contact is made and topics of conversation.
On How willing they are to negotiate
- In some cultures, haggling is a way of life. These are called high-negotiation cultures. Their view of the world is that circumstances constantly change, so why not ask if these changes have opened up more options?
- In contrast, those from a non-negotiating culture will bargain as part of the negotiating process, but in their minds, once the deal is done, it is locked in. They may be frustrated with those from a high-negotiating culture and find them manipulative.
On Their tendency to focus on the individual or group
- Some culture celebrate the individual. These individualistic cultures produce people who are comfortable in the limelight, and expect recognition for their accomplishments.
- Collective cultures value the community more than the individual. This produces people who are less comfortable about being singled out for attention or praise.
Yours,
Something Small Thinking Big
