By William R. Dodson
Meetings must serve multiple purposes: sharing information,
forming relationships, helping people attain a common understanding of
the issues at hand and problem solving. However, the cultural conditioning
of participants from different countries, if not effectively managed,
can turn meetings into uncomfortable and unproductive events.
An Arab saying goes, “As long as I listen,
I have the advantage; when I talk I lose the advantage.” People from
various cultures around the world listen during meetings to varying degrees.
The Japanese and Finns tend to be amongst the quietest in meetings, deferring
to seniors to do most of the talking. Even then, during international
negotiations, foreign counterparts tend to pull out their hair trying
to get senior Japanese and Finnish representatives to say something—anything--to
indicate their positions.
Mary O'Hara-Deveraux & Robert Johansen make the
point in their book Globalwork that "... Some cultures see the most
important function of meetings as building or reaffirming personal relationships,
not getting work done."
Americans are problem-solvers. They consistently eschew
relationship-building for problem-solving through incessant, competitive
talk. The Chinese, Thai, Italians, Turks, Russians, Germans and South
Americans I’ve talked with all agree: the people who steer the greatest
economic engine in the world also talk the most in meetings.
Americans also interrupt one another all the time during
meetings. Indeed, one Thai associate told me, “It’s considered
rude in our culture to interrupt while someone is speaking. It’s
so difficult for me to throw myself into the conversation like the Americans
seem to. Then, I get so frustrated because there is something I want to
say, but can’t find the place to say it.”
British meetings are reserved compared to American
meetings, though not stiff, with a greater degree of levity than American
committees.
Turkish business meetings--and Mexican ones as well--tend
to be drawn-out affairs in which relationship development is paramount.
One American project manager with whom I was sitting in a Mexican meeting
bluntly asked if his presence was still required in the marathon session,
then promptly stalked out of the room. His Mexican counterparts sat in
shock at what they perceived as the American’s rudeness.
In general, in Latin American and Middle Eastern meetings
the more senior participants do most of the talking, with the juniors
there to fill in the detail gaps. Meetings in both cultures--and I would
add to this the Italian meeting--can devolve into a shouting match, in
which senior managers become absolutely apoplectic if they suspect their
honor is being questioned or besmirched. (One Mexican senior manager wasn’t
able to show up at a number of meetings because he had nearly had a heart
attack—literally--shouting during an earlier session.)
Richard Lewis in his book When Cultures Collide makes
the point that "When the issues are non-controversial and the agenda
smooth, few obstacles [to communication] arise. When misunderstanding
arises, our language abandons its neutrality and swings back into culture-bound
mode."
Misunderstanding can occur because of a careless remark,
a gesture taken out of context, inappropriate observance to rank or a
myriad other reasons. Hence, it is important for meeting hosts to realize
that the knee-jerk response of cultural conditioning lurks behind every
issue presented at a session.
Sessions planned to take into account the cultural
conditioning of participants are the most productive. A facilitative approach
to conducting meetings works better across borders than does a command-and-control
style. Hierarchical meeting structures seldom allow participants to digest
or adapt to changing conditions as nimbly as they must in tense situations.
Some advice: Build meeting structures that foster input
and build in pauses for participation. Facilitators need to listen closely
to what’s being said, and to encourage communications that help attendees
feel safe. A facilitative approach helps everyone feel more productive
than a session in which everyone talks over one another or one in which
everyone is silent.
No matter the corner of the globe in which we meet,
we’re all looking for a way to contribute to the world.
Further reading:
- Doing Business Internationally by Terence Brake, Danielle Medina Walker,
Thomas Walker (McGraw Hill, 1995)
- The Cross-Cultural Conference Room: Dimensions in Intercultural Relations
(Intercultural Resource Corp, Newton, Massachusetts. To order, phone:
617-965-8651)
- Global Work: Bridging Distance, Culture & Time (Mary O’Hara-Devereaux
& Robert Johansen)
- When World Collide by Richard D. Lewis (Nicholas Brealy Publishing,
1999)
Author Bio: William R. Dodson is Managing Director of Silk
Road Communications, L.L.C., a management consultancy that builds and
improves working relationships
across cultures. He is a contributing editor of the American Management
Association’s (AMA) MWorld Journal of Management. He can be reached
at wdodson@silkrc.com or +1 (847)722-7817.
|
