By: Michael Adams and Luke Ylvisaker
Objectives And Outcomes
1. Define culture and recognize the critical role that it plays in the workplace.
2. Understand factors that contribute to various cultures.
3. Analyze and understand the ways in which culture affects workplace communication.
4. Work more productively and respectfully with colleagues from various cultures.
Noticing Culture in the Workplace
Culture plays a big part in our lives at the workplace. By working for a company in America we are opened up to many cultural differences mainly because we are a country that is made up of many different cultures. Now to be an effective member of a company we need to be able to adapt to different cultures. The smoother we can adapt the more efficient we can be in the workplace. And you may think that culture is just a difference in race or nationality but, culture also includes differences in religion and disabilities too.
What's Normal?
The ability to notice and understand a culture sometimes depends on if you can recognize it. Parts of someones culture can be easily visible to us while our own culture can be invisible because we see it as "normal". For example like when we greet someone in the Midwest a lot of us like to use a handshake, we see that as "normal" but it's actually a cultural difference compared to someone from Japan who likes to bow when they are greeting someone. The only way to become culturally aware is to become aware of our own culture first and look at what we think is "normal" through someone else's eyes.
Cultural Blindness
So this whole talk about what we think is "normal" has another effect on us. It can make working at a multi-cultural company very hard. For instance lets say you have a client from Israel that wants to have a teleconference with you. You would probably feel indignant if the client insisted that you have to do it this Sunday. To us we "normally" don't work on Sunday because we consider Sunday and not a part of our regular work days. In Israel in a different culture it is considered a normal work day. This is a time where being culturally aware plays a big role in making sure that the teleconference goes smoothly and being aware will make your work life go easier at other times too. Defining Culture
What is culture? The general definition is that culture is a group of learned beliefs/values that influences our day to day actions. These actions help to make our culture include the tools we use in life, the way we act in different situations, and the way we communicate.
Globalization and Localization
Why should we worry about cultures then? As said before culture plays a big role in how a person will conduct themselves in the workplace and how efficient someone can be. In a global corporation attention has to be made to make your advertisement/product global "friendly". If you try to put an add up with a girl in a bikini front and center it will probably work in the US and Europe. That same ad put up in the Middle East may cause a a very big problem. All because of the culture differences that you weren't aware of between the US and the Middle East. Where localization comes in is a way you would adapt your product for one specific area. For instance that ad you put up in the US and the Middle East,you may be able to "localize" the ad by removing the picture of the girl and replacing it with your company logo. Then you have a global ad that is localized for specific areas.
Cultural Values
So why should we value our cultural awareness? The ability to use your cultural awareness while writing a technical document will be greatly helpful when you write one. If you were writing instructions on how to put a staples box together and you wrote all of the instructions in English, the instructions will probably be messed up when you try to translate them to Spanish. The ability to value other people's culture will make your product receive a better response from the users, increase the efficiency of your meetings, and hopefully show other people in your business that they need to be more culturally aware to bring up their effectiveness in the business.
Analyzing Culture
National cultures
1. Sometimes understanding differences doesn’t eliminate a cultural gap
Languages
1. English is spoken on 5 continents by people who make up 49 percent of the worlds population.
2. Since language is a political hot button, demanding the use of a particular language in the work place can alienate colleagues.
Proxemics
1. The study of the physical distance between people
2. Generally people from North America expect lager intimate and personal space than people from many other countries
Time
1. Different cultures treat time in two different was Monochronic Polychronic
2. Monochronic People
a. Tend to do one thing at a time
b. Take time commitment seriously
c. Concentrate on the specific job
3. Polychronic
a. Tend to do many things at ounce
b. Respond to interruptions
c. Consider time commitments as desirable not absolute
4. Organizational cultures is the shared beliefs and behaviors of people in an organization compromise. One way to describe it would be contrasting practices that characterize activities in the organization
Individuals and their culture
1. Professionals all have different factors that influence the ways in which they participate in,contribute to and react to other cultures
Increase Cultural Awareness
1.There are many ways to make a cross-cultural experience more successful here are a few
a. Be a keen observer
b. Listen carefully to your employees
c. Be patient and flexible
d. Make every effort to meet and engage people of other cultures
