Are we thinking global?

I'm typing this at Korea airport, en route to Melcrum's summit in Sydney.  Very appropriately, i'm clutching a pile of case studies from the latest research report I'm working on about communicating effectively with globally dispersed audiences. 

The research forum members asked us to look particularly at communicating in parts of the world where business is growing rapidly and work is being outsourced - China and India, in particular. It's been fascinating to understand the different styles of leadership communication people want to see, what they expect in terms of involvement (a good thing? Or actually a sign of weakness on the leader's part?), the extent to which people will speak up and give honest answers in feedback and research exercises, and the way things get done in the workplace.

As my Asiana Airlines plane was taxiing along the runway here in Korea, I was looking out at the planes we passed - Korea airlines, China air, totally unfamiliar names. I walked into an airport where I don't even understand the letters words are written in, never mind the language. I marvelled at all the gadgets (the loos have heated seats and little control panels with tiny showers and dryers!). And the service culture amongst the flight attendants was totally different from a UK crew.  (For the record, absolutely excellent.)

It dawned on me that there are parts of the world I have next to no understanding of at all. Here am I worrying about getting myself up to speed with social media to save being left behind as an 'old school' comms person when the whole topic about what's happening to global demographics has largely passed me by.

The message from many of the case studies I've been reading is 'get yourself up to speed'.  The world's becoming a much smaller place. Countries like India, China, Japan are becoming increasingly important.

That's the great thing about internal comms. Just when you think you're starting to get the bases covered, there's always something else to learn. Anyone else had any 'aha moments' or learnt something new from working with national cultures you've not interacted with before?

Sue

Comments

[Istafiah]

Would like to recommend a book that looks at the differences in how people from the East and West think and perceive things: The Geography of Thought by Richard Nisbett. I enjoyed reading it and still dip into it from time to time. It would be particularly useful for anyone who communicates beyond the bounds of their own culture. See the following link for information about it: http://www.umich.edu/news/Releases/2003/Feb03/r022703a.html

[Sue]

Thanks Istafiah - I'll definitely add it to my book shelves.

Another one I've found useful is When Cultures Collide by Richard Lewis. Somebody lent me a copy when I was working in a company listed in the United States, with a US board and president, but a workforce based almost entirely in the UK. It helped me make sense of a few differences in approach at the time.