Last night's class was an eye opener for me. I didn't realize how hard it must be for someone from another country to really understand the cultural quirks of the US. My team was amazed that Americans are expected to be self promoters. It has made me really step back and think before I act.
Short story....I was on a call today discussing a rather complex topic with people from the UK, Australia, China and the US. The participant from the UK was explaining a point in a rather long-winded circular manner...and I recognized that this was his communication pattern...which I have encountered before from folks in the UK...especially the more well educated...so I took a deep breath and let him continue. I code shifted!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I too was in a meeting with someone who took a very long time to get to the point. Instead of getting irritated I realized that this wasn't someone who had a difficult time communicating, this was his communication style. Although it was still difficult for me to discuss issues with him, I was more understanding and not as forward to push him to get to the point.
ReplyDeleteHi Mike,
ReplyDeleteHappy to hear that you have started implementing things that we learn in the class in real life situations. It really helps to code switch in such difficult situations. You can solve the problem by being receptive and putting yourself in other's shoes rather than spoiling relations with peers (which eventually destructs the working environment). Keep up the great work!
cheers,
Ish
What if the person is from the US and still has a very long-winded communication style? Is it as easy to code shift when you expect the person to have a communication style more like your own? I know that I tend to step back and be more patient with team members who were not born here, as I recognize both the differences in communication style and the simple difficult in expressing themselves in a second language. But it does seem to be more difficult with someone who (whether reasonably or not) I expect to be more like me.
ReplyDelete