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5 Tips for improving communication between different cultural norms

You can probably imagine that having an understanding of where an individual or team lies on Hofstede’s model of national culture is helpful when you are trying to communicate in the workplace. The cosmopolitan character of the modern workplace makes it very likely that you are going to have a person from another culture within your team. It is also quite possible that at some stage you will be a guest-worker in another country or work in a virtual cross-cultural team.

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Figure 7 Flags representing different cultures
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Different nations' flags lying scattered on a table. In the centre is a magnifying glass with the Danish flag lying on top of it.

Figure 7 Flags representing different cultures

Take a look at Table 2 below, taken from the MindTools website, which gives a set of practical, workplace relevant, observations that correlate with high or low indices along each of the dimensions in Hofstede’s model. Now ask yourself if you recognise any of these as habits in yourself or in your country. Then revisit Activity 4 and your own estimate of your cultural scores along with the score given for your country. How true does this seem to be for you in terms of the kind of communication style you prefer?

Table 2 Practical observations of Hofstede’s dimensions of culture
Power distance (PDI) High PDI
  • Acknowledge a leader’s status.
  • Do not push explicitly against the authority of the leader.
  • Be aware that you may need to go to the top for answers.
Low PDI
  • Delegate as much as possible.
  • Ideally, if people are going to be affected by a decision then involve them in the decision making.
Individualism (IDV) High IDV
  • Acknowledge individual efforts and achievements.
  • Don’t mix social and work life too much.
  • Encourage debate and expression of people’s own ideas.
Low IDV
  • Wisdom is important.
  • Keep a check on emotions and feelings that could disrupt the harmony of the group.
  • Avoid giving negative feedback in public.
  • Saying ‘no’ can cause loss of face, unless it’s intended to be polite, e.g. declining an invitation several times is expected.
Masculinity (MAS) High MAS
  • Be aware of the possibility of differentiated gender roles.
  • A long-hours culture may be the norm, so recognise its opportunities and risks.
  • People are motivated by precise targets, and by being able to show they have achieved them either as a group or as individuals.
Low MAS
  • Negotiation, collaboration and input from all levels are key to success.
  • Work-life balance and workplace flexibility may be important, in terms of job design, organisational environment and culture, and the way that performance management can be best realised.
Uncertainty avoidance (UAI) High UAI
  • Be clear and concise about goals and expectations and set clearly defined parameters. But encourage creative thinking and dialogue where you can.
  • Recognise that there may be cultural expectations or unspoken ‘rules’ that you need to learn.
  • Recognise that emotion, anger and vigorous hand gestures may simply be part of the conversation.
Low UAI
  • Ensure that people remain focused, but don’t create too much structure.
  • Respect is earned by those who are able to cope under all circumstances.
  • Titles are less important so avoid ‘showing off’ your knowledge or experience.
Long term orientation (LTO) High LTO
  • Behave in a modest way and avoid talking too much about yourself.
  • People are more willing to compromise, yet this may not always be clear to outsiders.
Low LTO
  • Sell yourself to be taken seriously.
  • People are less willing to compromise as this would be seen as weakness.
  • Flattery empowers.
Indulgence (IVR) High IVR
  • Don’t take life too seriously.
  • Encourage debate and dialogue in meetings or decision making.
  • Prioritise feedback, coaching and mentoring.
  • Emphasize flexible working and work-life balance.
Low IVR
  • Avoid making jokes when engaged in formal sessions. Be professional.
  • Only express negativity about the world during informal meetings.
(Adapted from MindTools, no date)

Activity 5 Improved cultural communication

Timing: Allow about 15 minutes

In the case study in Section 3, Susan says she struggled for nearly a year to understand cultural differences which were preventing her from being effective in the schools where she was working. While she had an induction to living in Japan before travelling there, this was clearly insufficient for briefing her in the way she could communicate with colleagues in the school. There is a sense that this learning could only take place over time and there was unlikely to be a quick fix, but it might have been helpful if she had considered Hofstede’s dimensions of culture.

Look again at the four bullet points in the case study where Susan describes some of the specific problems she encountered and struggled to understand. Now compare the statistics that Hofstede’s research came up with for Japan and for the UK (Figure 8).

A bar chart showing Hofstede’s cultural difference scores in comparison with Japan and the UK.
Figure 8 Hofstede’s cultural difference scores, UK (in grey) compared with Japan (in orange)
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A bar chart showing Hofstede’s cultural difference scores in comparison with Japan. The UK is represented in grey and Japan is represented in orange. Along the bottom are the dimensions: Power distance, Individualism, Motivation towards achievement and success, Uncertainty avoidance, Long term orientation and Indulgence. For Power distance, the UK scored 35, while Japan scored 54. For Individualism, the UK scored 76, while Japan scored 62. For Motivation towards achievement and success, the UK scored 66, while Japan scored 95. For Uncertainty Avoidance, the UK scored 35, while Japan scored 92. For long-term orientation, the UK scored 60, while Japan scored 100. For Indulgence, the UK scored 69, while Japan scored 42.

Figure 8 Hofstede’s cultural difference scores, UK (in grey) compared with Japan (in orange)

According to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, where do the greatest differences in score lie between the UK and Japan? How could this knowledge have helped Susan improve her communication with the Japanese teachers of English?

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Comment

According to Hofstede’s cultural difference score, the greatest cultural differences between the UK and Japan are the scores of uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation, followed by masculinity (sometimes referred to as ‘motivation towards achievement and success’) and indulgence. Considering these cultural differences, the top tips that Susan could have taken on board as part of her induction to living and working in Japan are:

  1. Gender roles are more differentiated so there may be expectations of how she should behave and when working with male teachers she may need to take this into account.
  2. Working long hours is a way of showing commitment so while sitting in the office doing nothing seems to be a waste of time, it will show that you are committed to the job and is recommended.
  3. Assume that there are cultural rules that you do not necessarily understand, so ask someone you know well to explain if there is something which seems strange or difficult to you.
  4. Be aware that colleagues may be reluctant to do things without precedence, so raising issues in team meetings and suggesting new ways to do things might not be well received.
  5. Be careful of saying ‘no’ in public situations to ensure that the person you are speaking to does not lose face. Going on the skiing trip could have been a way of building team relationships in a less formal environment than the workplace.
  6. Expect working culture to be more formal than in the UK. There are likely to be situations outside work where the team will meet in a less formal way – try to attend these events though be aware that as a woman you may not be expected to behave in the same way as you would in the UK.
  7. Always think of the harmony of the group and try not to disrupt this.

If you’re already working with a different cultural group or plan to in the future, comparing that country’s scores with those of your home country could provide some useful insight and awareness into potential team issues that might arise. Even if you don’t find the comparison useful, simply being aware of this wide range of cultural differences will be valuable.

In Hofstede’s opinion, although the world is changing and new technologies are influencing national cultures across the world, ‘culture change basic enough to invalidate the country dimension index rankings, or even the dimensional model, will need either a much longer period – say 50-100 years – or extremely dramatic outside events. […] There is no reason why they should not play a role until 2100 or beyond’ (Hofstede, 2011).