Meet John – Point – “We haven’t got all day. Please get to the point.”
Meet John – West meets East in a meeting. People sit face-to-face around a table. West introduces itself first. “Hi. I’m John.
I’m a strategy consultant from the UK.” Now, East. “Hello, Sir John.
I’m Rosa Santos.
Thank you for this great opportunity to meet you. I am happy you chose to meet us here.
My family comes from Leyte in the Philippines, which is where my parents, two sisters, and brother still live.
My sisters are married and have young children.
My brother is studying at university and hopes, one day, to work outside of the country. I came to this city in 2004, first as a recruitment agent for a Japanese firm.
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Now, I am working here as an HR consultant. Welcome.”
What just happened here? John, from what anthropologist Edward T Hall calls a ‘low-context’ culture, could feel surprised by what he perceives as Rosa’s lengthy, discursive and expansive introduction.
He prefers and is used to short, succinct, and direct information.
On the other hand, Rosa, from a ‘high-context’ culture, could feel surprised that John discloses nothing of his wider life, including his family and work, at the start of their encounter.
As the meeting continues, John may feel frustrated, wanting to get on with what he sees as the task. Rosa, too, may feel frustrated that John appears to have so little interest in respecting relationships and trust.
The critical question here is what is the ‘point’ of the conversation?
Is about task achievement, or relationship-building, or both of these, or something else altogether?
What have been your best and worst experiences of cross-cultural communication?
What happened and what did you learn?
Nick Wright is a qualified and experienced psychological coach, trainer and organisation development (OD) consultant. www.nick-wright.com
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