全球化思考:怎样克服交流中的文化差异
交流

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> 这有一些建议帮助你的全球化开发团队能够更好地理解你们的讨论并能参与其中。
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![](/data/attachment/album/201912/23/062419wzzet2u2jj56c5e5.png)


几周前，我见证了两位同事之间一次有趣的互动，他们分别是 Jason，我们的一位美国员工，和 Raj，一位来自印度的访问工作人员。


Raj 在印度时，他一般会通过电话参加美国中部时间上午 9 点的每日立会，现在他到美国工作了，就可以和组员们坐在同一间会议室里开会了。Jason 拦下了 Raj，说：“Raj 你要去哪？你不是一直和我们开电话会议吗？你突然出现在会议室里我还不太适应。” Raj 听了说，“是这样吗？没问题。”就回到自己工位前准备和以前一样参加电话会议了。


我去找 Raj，问他为什么不去参加每日立会，Raj 说 Jason 让自己给组员们打电话参会，而与此同时，Jason 也在会议室等着 Raj 来参加立会。


到底是哪里出的问题？Jason 明显只是调侃 Raj 终于能来一起开会了，为什么 Raj 没能听懂呢？


Jason 明显是在开玩笑，但 Raj 把它当真了。这就是在两人互相不了解对方文化语境时发生的一个典型误会。


我经常会遇到有人在电子邮件的末尾写“请复原”，最开始我很迷惑，“这有什么需要我复原的内容？”后来我才搞懂，“请复原”其实是“请回复”的意思。


在 Ricardo Fernandez 的TED 演讲“[如何管理跨文化团队](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIoAkFpN8wQ)” 中，他提到了自己与一位南非同事发生的小故事。那位同事用一句“我一会给你打电话。”结束了两人的 IM 会话，Ricardo 回到办公室后就开始等这位同事的电话，十五分钟后他忍不住主动给这位同事打了电话，问他:“你不是说要给我打电话吗？”，这位同事答到:“是啊，我是说以后有机会给你打电话。”这时 Ricardo 才理解那位同事说的“一会”是“以后”的意思。


现在是全球化时代，我们的同事很可能不跟我们面对面接触，甚至不在同一座城市，来自不同的国家。越来越多的技术公司拥有全球化的工作场所，和来自世界各地的员工，他们有着不同的背景和经历。这种多样性使得技术公司能够在这个快速发展的科技大环境下拥有更强的竞争力。


但是这种地域的多样性也会给团队带来挑战。管理和维持高性能的团队发展对于同地协作的团队来说就有着很大难度，对于有着多样背景成员的全球化团队来说，无疑更加困难。成员之间的交流会发生延迟，误解时有发生，成员之间甚至会互相怀疑，这些都会影响着公司的成功。


到底是什么因素让全球化交流间发生误解呢？我们可以参照 Erin Meyer 的书《[文化地图](https://www.amazon.com/The-Culture-Map-Invisible-Boundaries/dp/1610392507)》，她在书中将全球文化分为八个类型，其中美国文化被分为低语境文化，与之相对的，日本为高语境文化。


看到这里你可能会问，高、低语境文化到底是什么意思？美国人从小就教育孩子们简洁表达，“直言不讳”是他们的表达准则；另一边，日本人从小学习在高效处理社交线索的同时进行交流，“察言观色”是他们的交流习惯。


大部分亚洲国家的文化都属于高语境文化。作为一个年轻的移民国家，美国毫不意外地拥有着低语境文化。移民来自于世界各地，拥有着不同的文化背景，他们不得不选择简洁而直接的交流方式，这或许就是其拥有低语境文化的原因。


### 从文化语境的角度与异国同事交流的三个步骤：


怎样面临跨文化交流中遇到的挑战？比如说一位美国人与他的日本同事交流，他更应该注重日本同事的非语言线索，同样的日本同事应当更关注美国人直接表达出的信息。如果你也面临类似的挑战，按照下面这三个步骤做，可以帮助你更有效地和异国同事交流，增进与他们的感情。


#### 认识到文化语境的差异


跨文化交流的第一步是认识到文化差异，跨文化交流从认识其他文化开始。


#### 尊重文化语境的差异


一旦你意识到了文化语境的差异会影响跨文化交流，你要做的就是尊重这些差异。在你遇到一种不同的交流方式时，学会接受差异，学会积极听取他人意见。


#### 调和文化语境的差异


只是认识和尊重差异还远远不够，你还需要学会如何调和这些差异。互相理解和换位思考可以增进差异的调和，你还要学着用它们去提高同事间的交流效率，推动生产力。


### 五种促进不同文化语境间交流的方法


为了加强组员们之间关系，这么多年来我一直在收集各种各样的方法和建议。这些方法帮助我解决了与外国组员间产生的很多交流问题，下面有其中一些例子：


#### 与外国组员交流时尽量使用视频会议的形式


研究表明，交流中约 55% 的内容不是靠语言传递的。肢体语言传达着一种十分微妙的信息，你可以根据它们理解对方的意思，而视频会议中处于异地的组员们能够看到对方的肢体语言。因此，组织远程会议时我一般都会采用视频会议的形式。


#### 确保每位成员都有机会分享他们的想法


我虽然喜欢开视频会议，但不是每次都能开的成。如果视频会议对你的团队来说并不常用，大家可能要一些时间去适应，你需要积极鼓励大家参与到其中，先从进行语音会议开始。


我们有一个外地的组员，每次都和我们进行语音会议，和我们提到她经常会有些想法想要分享，或者想做些贡献，但是我们互相看不到，她不知道该怎样开口。如果你一直在进行语音会议，注意要给组员们足够的时间和机会分享他们的想法。


#### 互相学习


通过你身边一两名外国朋友来学习他们的文化，你可以把从一位同事身上学到的应用于所有来自这个国家的同事。我有几位南亚和南美的同事，他们帮助我理解他们的文化，而这些也使得我更加专业。


对编程人员来说，我建议请你全世界的同行们检查你的代码，这个过程能让你观察到其他文化中人们怎样进行反馈、劝说他人，和最终进行技术决策。


#### 学会感同身受


同理心是一段牢固关系的核心。你越能换位思考，就越容易获得信任，来建立长久的关系。你可以在每次会议开始之前和大家闲聊几句，这样大家更容易处于一个放松的状态，如果团队中有很多外国人，要确保大家都能参与进来。


#### 和你的外国同事们单独见面


保持长久关系最好的方法是和你的组员们单独见面。如果你的公司可以报销这些费用，那么努力去和组员们见面吧。和一起工作了很长时间的组员们见面能够使你们的关系更加坚固。我所在的公司就有着周期性交换员工的传统，每隔一段时间，世界各地的员工就会来到美国工作，美国员工再到其他分部工作。


另一种聚齐组员们的机会是研讨会。研讨会创造的不仅是学习和培训的机会，你还可以挤出一些时间和组员们培养感情。


在如今，全球化经济不断发展，拥有来自不同国家和地区的员工对维持一个公司的竞争力来说越来越重要。即使组员们来自世界各地，团队中会出现一些交流问题，但拥有一支国际化的高绩效团队不是问题。如果你在工作中有什么促进团队交流的小窍门，请在评论中告诉我们吧。




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via: <https://opensource.com/article/18/10/think-global-communication-challenges>


作者：[Avindra Fernando](https://opensource.com/users/avindrafernando) 选题：[lujun9972](https://github.com/lujun9972) 译者：[Valoniakim](https://github.com/Valoniakim) 校对：[wxy](https://github.com/wxy)


本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出


OK
A few weeks ago, I witnessed an interesting interaction between two work colleagues—Jason, who is from the United States; and Raj, who was visiting from India.

Raj typically calls into a daily standup meeting at 9:00am US Central Time from India, but since he was in the US, he and his teammates headed toward the scrum area for the meeting. Jason stopped Raj and said, “Raj, where are you going? Don’t you always call into the stand-up? It would feel strange if you don’t call in.” Raj responded, “Oh, is that so? No worries,” and headed back to his desk to call into the meeting.

I went to Raj’s desk. “Hey, Raj, why aren’t you going to the daily standup?” Raj replied, “Jason asked me to call in.” Meanwhile, Jason was waiting for Raj to come to the standup.

What happened here? Jason was obviously joking when he made the remark about Raj calling into the meeting. But how did Raj miss this?

Jason’s statement was meant as a joke, but Raj took it literally. This was a clear example of a misunderstanding that occurred due to unfamiliarity with each other’s cultural context.

I often encounter emails that end with “Please revert back to me.” At first, this phrase left me puzzled. I thought, "What changes do they want me to revert?" Finally, I figured out that “please revert” means “Please reply.”

In his TED talk, “[Managing Cross Cultural Remote Teams,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIoAkFpN8wQ)” Ricardo Fernandez describes an interaction with a South African colleague who ended an IM conversation with “I’ll call you just now.” Ricardo went back to his office and waited for the call. After fifteen minutes, he called his colleague: “Weren’t you going to call me just now?” The colleague responded, “Yes, I was going to call you just now.” That's when Ricardo realized that to his South African colleague, the phrase “just now” meant “sometime in the future.”

In today's workplace, our colleagues may not be located in the same office, city, or even country. A growing number of tech companies have a global workforce comprised of employees with varied experiences and perspectives. This diversity allows companies to compete in the rapidly evolving technological environment.

But geographically dispersed teams can face challenges. Managing and maintaining high-performing development teams is difficult even when the members are co-located; when team members come from different backgrounds and locations, that makes it even harder. Communication can deteriorate, misunderstandings can happen, and teams may stop trusting each other—all of which can affect the success of the company.

What factors can cause confusion in global communication? In her book, “[The Culture Map](https://www.amazon.com/The-Culture-Map-Invisible-Boundaries/dp/1610392507),” Erin Meyer presents eight scales into which all global cultures fit. We can use these scales to improve our relationships with international colleagues. She identifies the United States as a very low-context culture in the communication scale. In contrast, Japan is identified as a high-context culture.

What does it mean to be a high- or low-context culture? In the United States, children learn to communicate explicitly: “Say what you mean; mean what you say” is a common principle of communication. On the other hand, Japanese children learn to communicate effectively by mastering the ability to “read the air.” That means they are able to read between the lines and pick up on social cues when communicating.

Most Asian cultures follow the high-context style of communication. Not surprisingly, the United States, a young country composed of immigrants, follows a low-context culture: Since the people who immigrated to the United States came from different cultural backgrounds, they had no choice but to communicate explicitly and directly.

## The three R’s

How can we overcome challenges in cross-cultural communication? Americans communicating with Japanese colleagues, for example, should pay attention to the non-verbal cues, while Japanese communicating with Americans should prepare for more direct language. If you are facing a similar challenge, follow these three steps to communicate more effectively and improve relationships with your international colleagues.

### Recognize the differences in cultural context

The first step toward effective cross-cultural communication is to recognize that there are differences. Start by increasing your awareness of other cultures.

### Respect the differences in cultural context

Once you become aware that differences in cultural context can affect cross-cultural communication, the next step is to respect these differences. When you notice a different style of communication, learn to embrace the difference and actively listen to the other person’s point of view.

### Reconcile the differences in cultural context

Merely recognizing and respecting cultural differences is not enough; you must also learn how to reconcile the cultural differences. Understanding and being empathetic towards the other culture will help you reconcile the differences and learn how to use them to better advance productivity.

## 5 ways to improve communications for cultural context

Over the years, I have incorporated various approaches, tips, and tricks to strengthen relationships among team members across the globe. These approaches have helped me overcome communication challenges with global colleagues. Here are a few examples:

### Always use video conferencing when communicating with global teammates

Studies show that about 55% of communication is non-verbal. Body language offers many subtle cues that can help you decipher messages, and video conferencing enables geographically dispersed team members to see each other. Videoconferencing is my default choice when conducting remote meetings.

### Ensure that every team member gets an opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas

Although I prefer to conduct meetings using video conferencing, this is not always possible. If video conferencing is not a common practice at your workplace, it might take some effort to get everyone comfortable with the concept. Start by encouraging everyone to participate in audio meetings.

One of our remote team members, who frequently met with us in audio conferences, mentioned that she often wanted to share ideas and contribute to the meeting but since we couldn’t see her and she couldn’t see us, she had no idea when to start speaking. If you are using audio conferencing, one way to mitigate this is to ensure that every team member gets an opportunity to share their ideas.

### Learn from one another

Leverage your international friends to learn about their cultural context. This will help you interact more effectively with colleagues from these countries. I have friends from South Asia and South America who have helped me better understand their cultures, and this knowledge has helped me professionally.

For programmers, I recommend conducting code reviews with your global peers. This will help you understand how those from different cultures give and receive feedback, persuade others, and make technical decisions.

### Be empathetic

Empathy is the key to strong relationships. The more you are able to put yourself in someone else's shoes, the better able you will be to gain trust and build long-lasting connections. Encourage “water-cooler” conversations among your global colleagues by allocating the first few minutes of each meeting for small talk. This offers the additional benefit of putting everyone in a more relaxed mindset. If you manage a global team, make sure every member feels included in the discussion.

### Meet your global colleagues in person

The best way to build long-lasting relationships is to meet your team members in person. If your company can afford it, arrange for this to happen. Meeting colleagues with whom you have been working will likely strengthen your relationship with them. The companies I have worked for have a strong record of periodically sending US team members to other countries and global colleagues to the US office.

Another way to bring teams together is to attend conferences. This not only creates educational and training opportunities, but you can also carve out some in-person team time.

In today's increasingly global economy, it is becoming more important for companies to maintain a geographically diverse workforce to remain competitive. Although global teams can face communication challenges, it is possible to maintain a high-performing development team despite geographical and cultural differences. Share some of the techniques you use in the comments.

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