Intercultural Communication and Success at Work

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction

Interpersonal communication refers to “communication that takes place between two parties” (Adler, 2006). It entails daily exchange of formalities and informality carried out through verbal or nonverbal means. The two parties involved in this communication engage in either sending or receiving messages. The effectiveness of this communication relies on immediate feedback.

Several factors hinder successes of interpersonal communications. However, the main ones include misunderstanding and cultural difference. It is difficult to assume barriers in cross-cultural communications. The only solutions for managing such barriers depend on participants’ inputs in communications.

For instance, individuals learn how to show interest and prepare to learn others’ culture, reduce vagueness, appreciate differences between themselves and others in different cultural set ups, perfect communications and prepare themselves for cultural shocks.

In organisational set ups, culture plays a role in determining the manner in which employees approach authorities, the way they comprehend the significance of group synchronisation, gender issues and their reactions towards managing life issues.

For individuals’ success in interpersonal communications with others from different cultures to occur, a number of essential skills and characteristics are critical success factors. They should demonstrate self awareness, patience, open-mindedness and desire for knowledge.

The primary sets of skills above foster personal, intuitive, and sympathetic tactics of carrying activities in harmony that impart themselves to working with the unknown in intercultural set ups. However, individuals ought to utilise operational tools and practical skills to aid in self-expression and adaptation of styles of the aimed culture (Knapp and Vangelisti, 2008).

Intercultural communication and success at work

In today’s business competitive world, firms look to employ a range of workers that have abilities to communicate effectively with people of different personalities and cultural backgrounds. To achieve success in interpersonal communications at the workplace, appreciating cultural differences should be an initiative in the business world as this presents as an opportunity or threats in personal or business encounters.

Individuals should possess what some authors refer to as “global mindset” that calls for a wider aspect of keenness, peripheral visions, and numerous interpretations which reflect open-mindedness instead of insisting on hypotheses” (Lane, 2009).

Individuals should also strive and achieve cultural competence (DeVito, 2004). This entails recognising various conditions of minds, studying cultures, individuals’ customs, and preparedness to modify behaviours and prospects accordingly. People form opinions in processes of learning.

Such opinions result into formations of attitude. Attitude leads to reactions in obvious ways towards objects or situations. These formations of attitude result into stereotypes, which people’s mental orientations utilise in labelling individuals (Adler, 2006).

When people encounter new colleagues from foreign countries at workplaces, the first response is to stereotype, an indicating factor of bringing out cultural differences. However, people see and hear what they expect until they have had an experience with individuals of different cultural backgrounds.

Therefore, in pursuit of success in interpersonal communication at workplaces, people should avoid suppositions of individuals based on their group characteristics as it robs them of their personalities.

Successes in organisations and the business world through interpersonal communications are only possible if people focus on cultural aspects essential to issues in question, and evading traps related stereotypes. This pushes for recognition of the person, instead of his or her national culture, and possibly creates a possible culture of working together.

Developing intercultural communication competence for success

We can achieve success at work and in personal life through tolerating ambiguity. Ambiguity tolerance is an approach that results into successful interpersonal communication in different cultural contexts. Thus, we must accept ambiguous and unclear circumstances and be able to handle them in a constructive manner (Wilkinson, 2006).

Interpersonal communications between people of different cultures often have certain goals that both parties wish to achieve. Cultural differences present communication barriers that both parties would wish to overcome. Individuals who can tolerate ambiguity in situations of such cultural differences strive to find solutions and have positive experiences of intercultural communications.

People of different cultures have varied patterns of behaviours and opinions about issues. These differences create an environment of uncertainty among the parties. The problem arises because people tend to be confused in interpersonal communications where there are diverse cultural differences.

What the parties expect from each other may not be clear, and at the same time, parties may also not be aware of what factors constitute acceptable behaviours.

Thus, tolerance of ambiguity gives individuals opportunities to accept ambiguities and uncertainties, and in turn look for alternatives before such ambiguous situations result into problems. This implies that such individuals will find success in both their personal and work life.

On the other hand, people who have a “low tolerance for ambiguity usually experiences difficulties in their relations with people from other cultures” (Wilkinson, 2006). Cultural differences are threats to such individuals. Such characters react by avoiding such circumstances or escape them whenever possible.

In cases where such individuals cannot escape, they end up misinterpreting the situation, feel uncomfortable, and underrate ambiguity. Still, attempts to provide solutions to such cases end up with partial solutions and simple alternatives. Such individuals have narrow opinions and always insist on definite ways of handling ambiguous cases (Jensen and Trenholm, 2007).

Interpersonal communications between people of different cultures also look at behaviours. Successful individuals always take behaviours into account when interacting with people of different cultures. This implies that people should be flexible in behaviour and be able to adapt to their immediate environment so as to achieve understanding and co-operation in personal and work life (Wood, 2009).

Individuals know expected and appropriate behaviours in their own cultures or other familiar cultures. However, situations that bring persons of diverse cultures together also present difficulties in behaving appropriately. The normal behaviour people have may not be appropriate for the other party (Floyd, 2011). This calls for adaptation in behaviours and expansion of one’s own behaviours.

People who have mastered intercultural competency have capacities to identify intercultural communication signals, and apply diverse ranges of behaviours in attempts to adjust to the prevailing intercultural interactions.

People can only achieve success in intercultural communications if they can adjust their behaviours to fit different culture environments. Such individuals achieve success through acting differently in a similar environment.

They are able to identify issues that may cause conflicts and mitigate them accordingly. Successful people have learnt to take account of other people’s behaviours and effects of their behaviours on others.

Conversely, people who cannot adapt their behaviours often act in similar fashion even in different cultural environments. Such people have limited abilities to consider alternative behaviours in processes of interpersonal communications that involve different cultures.

They tend to stick to their behaviour patterns. In addition, such people rarely notice effects of their behaviours in other people and are unable to change their behaviours to meet certain environments (Jandt, 2007).

Interpersonal communication and success in social and personal life

Effective interpersonal communications in a different cultural setting enhance both social and personal life success. Interpersonal communication skills are responsible for creating positive values that enhance success in individuals’ lives.

It has enabled people of different cultures with similar interests create values in relationships, and build value-yielding relationships. At the same time, it enables people to acquire positive values from interactions with individuals of diverse cultural backgrounds (Shaojing, Gwen and Ying, 2011).

Conclusion

Communication styles vary in different cultures. However, globalisation has enhanced interactions among people of different cultural orientations in work, social, and personal life. There are cultures of high context and low context behaviours. Some of these cultures may be direct and do not need a speaker to interpret.

On the other hand, some cultures tend to have emphases on nonverbal messages. Such forms of cross-cultural communications are difficult and may lead to interpersonal conflicts in communications. Thus, effective interpersonal communication has become significantly valuable as individuals of different cultures interact in different environments.

Cultural differences among the workforce should not lead to a greater rift in an organisation. Instead, people should use such opportunities to enhance interpersonal communications among themselves.

Thus, DeVito was right to note “Success in interpersonal communication – at your job and in your social and personal life – will depend in great part on your understanding of and your ability to communicate effectively with persons who are culturally different from yourself” (DeVito, 2004, pp. 41-42).

Reference List

Adler, R 2006, Interpersonal Communication,Thomson, Independence, KY.

DeVito, J 2004, Culture in interpersonal communication: The Interpersonal Communication Book, 10th ed, Pearson Educational, Boston.

Floyd, K 2011, Interpersonal Communication, McGraw-Hill, New York.

Jandt, F 2007, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication, 5th ed, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Jensen, A and Trenholm, S 2007, Interpersonal Communication, Oxford University Press, Cambridge.

Knapp, M and Vangelisti, A 2008, Interpersonal Communication and Human Relationships, 6th ed, Allyn & Bacon, London.

Lane, S 2009, Interpersonal Communication: Competence and Contexts, 2nd ed, Allyn & Bacon, London.

Shaojing, S, Gwen, H, and Ying, W 2011, ‘Communicating in the multichannel age: Interpersonal communication motivation, interaction involvement and channel affinity’, Journal of Media and Communication Studies, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 7-15.

Wilkinson, D 2006, The Ambiguity Advantage: What great leaders are great at, Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Wood, J 2009, Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters, Wadsworth Publishing, Independence, KY.

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