Cultural differences. Communication with American colleagues
I work in the Israeli branch of a large American company. It is necessary to work a lot with Hindus and Americans, even there are groups in which a part of people sits in another country.
Therefore, once a year we hold seminars on cultural differences. How to communicate with colleagues from other countries.
My first story is about Americans.
In general, they are shocked by us (Israelis). At the seminar they showed interviews with an American who had been working in the Israeli office of an American company for half a year. At first it seemed to her that everyone was aggressive and rude. Then I realized that this is such a manner of communication - people raise their voice and interrupt each other during discussions, people can tell a colleague (and even the boss!) That he is wrong, etc.
')
I recalled with great shame how I repeated “I disagree!” On the last Face2face.
The Americans complained to the Israelis in the same way that they constantly improvise, and the Israelis to the Americans that they constantly stupidly follow instructions.
By the way, say, how are we having “That cleaning lady ... what? Well, Ethiopian ... "or" In the next section there is such a clever man, a low Hindu such "- also impossible.
It is necessary to explain about whom there is a speech, without using a nationality, religion and sexual preferences.
So, the rules for communicating with Americans:
1) Avoid sharp denying expressions: “I disagree”, “You are absolutely wrong” (this expression was perceived by an American as an insult), “No, you don't ...”, “It is bad idea”, etc. Replace with “I will be agreeing with you, if ...”
2) Avoid “demanding” expressions: “You have must”, “You must”, “You need”, etc. Replace them with softer ones: “You should”, “You can ...”, “It is advisable if you follow the following recommendations ...”, “I recommend you”.
3) If the meeting is personal, then we smile, the expression is friendly.
4) Even if you do not agree, we agree. "I absolutely agree, but I would change a little ..." - and say how you want to solve the problem, even if it is the absolute opposite.
5) If you really want to express denial, then it is better to add “may be”, “possibly” and flavor with a smile on 32 teeth.
6) (for those who correspond with Americans) Americans love chewed cook-beech a lot. Dear comrades, do not be lazy and write a cook-book as for alternatively gifted ones.
7) Instead of “problem” we write “issue”. Well, and so on. Soften, soften !!!
8) “Have a nice work!”, “Have a nice day!” Is not a mockery! Write all the time, even if you write to a person that he deleted all the backups of the company for 10 years.
9) “Good discussion!” Usually, this means that the opponent had just carried such nonsense that it could not even occur to the speaker that he was so stupid.
Just do not make a conclusion in the style of "What are these stupid Americans." It is very important to understand that this is not a matter of the mind, but of cultural differences.
It is also important to remember that these are all generalizations. I also had to meet Americans with closer to me, “normal” views on working communication.
The next story will be about the Indians ...
Upd.: Thank you Santiago26 for bug fixes.
Therefore, once a year we hold seminars on cultural differences. How to communicate with colleagues from other countries.
My first story is about Americans.
In general, they are shocked by us (Israelis). At the seminar they showed interviews with an American who had been working in the Israeli office of an American company for half a year. At first it seemed to her that everyone was aggressive and rude. Then I realized that this is such a manner of communication - people raise their voice and interrupt each other during discussions, people can tell a colleague (and even the boss!) That he is wrong, etc.
')
I recalled with great shame how I repeated “I disagree!” On the last Face2face.
The Americans complained to the Israelis in the same way that they constantly improvise, and the Israelis to the Americans that they constantly stupidly follow instructions.
By the way, say, how are we having “That cleaning lady ... what? Well, Ethiopian ... "or" In the next section there is such a clever man, a low Hindu such "- also impossible.
It is necessary to explain about whom there is a speech, without using a nationality, religion and sexual preferences.
So, the rules for communicating with Americans:
1) Avoid sharp denying expressions: “I disagree”, “You are absolutely wrong” (this expression was perceived by an American as an insult), “No, you don't ...”, “It is bad idea”, etc. Replace with “I will be agreeing with you, if ...”
2) Avoid “demanding” expressions: “You have must”, “You must”, “You need”, etc. Replace them with softer ones: “You should”, “You can ...”, “It is advisable if you follow the following recommendations ...”, “I recommend you”.
3) If the meeting is personal, then we smile, the expression is friendly.
4) Even if you do not agree, we agree. "I absolutely agree, but I would change a little ..." - and say how you want to solve the problem, even if it is the absolute opposite.
5) If you really want to express denial, then it is better to add “may be”, “possibly” and flavor with a smile on 32 teeth.
6) (for those who correspond with Americans) Americans love chewed cook-beech a lot. Dear comrades, do not be lazy and write a cook-book as for alternatively gifted ones.
7) Instead of “problem” we write “issue”. Well, and so on. Soften, soften !!!
8) “Have a nice work!”, “Have a nice day!” Is not a mockery! Write all the time, even if you write to a person that he deleted all the backups of the company for 10 years.
9) “Good discussion!” Usually, this means that the opponent had just carried such nonsense that it could not even occur to the speaker that he was so stupid.
Just do not make a conclusion in the style of "What are these stupid Americans." It is very important to understand that this is not a matter of the mind, but of cultural differences.
It is also important to remember that these are all generalizations. I also had to meet Americans with closer to me, “normal” views on working communication.
The next story will be about the Indians ...
Upd.: Thank you Santiago26 for bug fixes.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/114125/
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