1- ETHNOCENTRISM
We all have a natural tendency to look at other cultures through our own
lenses. Ethnocentrism happens when we implicitly believe our way of doing
things and seeing things is the right and only way. As a result, we negatively
judge behaviours that don’t conform to our world vision. We perceive other’s
behaviours as odd and improper. Ethnocentrism also creates an “us versus
them” mentality that can be detrimental. In a previous company I worked
for, countless times I’ve heard the French complain about the Americans in
an ethnocentric way and vice-versa.
2- STEREOTYPING
It’s also common to rely on oversimplified clichés about people from different
cultures. In fact, there are quite a few cross-cultural trainings in the market
that are focused on memorizing cultural differences and can reinforce
stereotyping. Learning about differences can be useful as a starting point.
But individuals are unique; you can never predict a person’s behaviour based
on his or her nationality. When we were moving to the UK, French friends
told us, The British never invite you for dinner, which is a common social
activity in France. We happen to have the loveliest British neighbours who
invite us for dinner often.
3- PSYCHOLOGICAL BARRIERS
To manage cross-cultural teams successfully, you need to flex your own
style. It’s not easy to go against your natural preferences. People can feel
unauthentic and incompetent. I know the case of a French manager who
went to the United States. He found out that his typical French style of giving
feedback, focused on what was “wrong” rather than on what was working
well, was undermining his team’s confidence. He realised what the problem
was, but he felt artificial acting the “American” way. He went back to France
as soon as he could.
4- LANGUAGE BARRIERS
All teams have a common language, but when some people are more fluent
than others, it creates social distance between members. In global teams,
people who are less fluent in English tend to withdraw from communication,
which means the team may not get all the input it needs. Understanding
what’s said can be challenging if people speak too fast or use too much
slang. This also might have an influence on how people’s competence and
performance are perceived. I worked for an organisation where non-English
native speakers felt that their career progression opportunities were not the
same as for English native speakers.
5- GEOGRAPHICAL DISTANCE
In global virtual teams, people don’t get the chance to interact and build
relationships with each other as in a traditional office environment. And the
less you know about people, the less you share information with them.
Collaboration within virtual teams is, therefore, more challenging. Groups
outside of the head office can also feel excluded. On the other hand, head
office group members might think that other colleagues are not contributing.
Differences in time zones also can be challenging. Often if you’re not in the
headquarters, you are expected to cope with meeting timings that are less
convenient. I know of a highly talented woman who left a global senior
leadership role because she got tired of having frequent meetings in the
night.
6- CONFLICTING VALUES
Culture is like an iceberg: what you see are the behaviours, and those are
influenced by the invisible values under the water line. Cultural clashes
happen when other people’s behaviour compromises our own values. Often,
when you don’t understand or don’t agree with a behaviour, it means that
there are conflicting values under the water line. There is no right or wrong
way of doing things; it’s just a matter of cultural norms. Below, you’ll see a
(non-exhaustive) list of common conflicting cultural values:
Task oriented vs. relationship oriented
In some countries like the US, people view conversations as an opportunity
to exchange information. People get down to business quickly. In Latin
American countries, for instance, conversations are primarily an opportunity
to enhance the relationship. I once worked for an American company where,
in meetings, participants barely introduced each other; we got down to work
immediately. Being a Latin American, it took me a while to get used to it.
Direct vs. indirect communication
In countries like Germany, it is a sign of professionalism to speak clearly and
leave no room for misinterpretation. In countries like Korea, people prefer to
communicate indirectly. People approach problems through vague
references. The danger here is that a person from a direct culture may come
across as insensitive, while the person from the indirect culture may appear
imprecise.
Open subtle disagreement
Cultures that place a high value on “face” and group harmony may be
averse to confrontation, like in China. In other cultures, having a “good fight”
is a sign of trust, like in the Netherlands. People from different parts of the
world also vary in the amount of emotion they show during professional
conversations. For example, Italians raise their voices, while the British are
more composed.
Informality vs. formality
In some countries, such as Australia, people are generally casual; in others,
like Japan, people tend to be more formal. To informal people, formality
might be interpreted as the sign of stiffness, while informality to formal
people might be perceived as a lack of professionalism.
Structured vs. flexible scheduling
All businesses follow timetables, but in some cultures, people strictly adhere
to the schedule, whereas in others, they treat it as a suggestion. For some,
“five minutes” could mean half an hour, and “tomorrow” could mean the
next few days. In Brazil, I wouldn’t start a meeting exactly on time. It feels
disrespectful not to wait a bit for the late comers. In the UK, not starting the
meeting on time might be considered disrespectful towards those who made
it to the meeting on time.
Egalitarian vs. hierarchical
Team members from more egalitarian countries, such as Sweden, may be
accustomed to voicing their unfiltered opinions and ideas, while those from
more hierarchical cultures tend to speak up only after more senior
colleagues have expressed their views. I ran quite a few audits in Morocco,
and people’s behaviours were totally different, depending on whether their
bosses were in the same room or not.
