When it comes to managing in a multi-cultural setting, a lot of things can happen that leaves a mangager scratching their head and not knowing what to do.
Some cultures are raised to think critically, others learn through imitating others, some are individualistic, others are lost if they aren't part of a team. We know that some eastern cultures especially, are resistant to introducing new ideas because they're afraid they will lose face, something westerners don't relate to.
The reason for bringing this up is to understand that when managing in these type of cultural situations, we must be careful that we don't measure things the way we would in a business operating within one culture.
For example, if you observe someone from another culture, do they have lower-level skills, is it an attitude they have or are quieter like the Chinese? Do they hold things in like the British and then suddenly explode from the buildup and the recipient has no idea why it happened?
Another thing to consider is that some cultures consider success in a much different way. If you get things right 70% of the time in some cultures, you're considered extremely successful. Other cultures have an almost 100% expectations from their workers.
The major point to consider is that in these setting we can no longer measure in the same way that we would in a single culture. In truth, we really don't even know how to.
This is one of those few times where having meetings is extremely important. There must be a venue created where people various cultures can be understood and their viewpoint presented.
Even this can be challenging as some Asian cultures are very quiet and polite in meetings and they have to be handled in a much different way. Some workers from former communist countries have difficulty trusting and working in cooperative environments as they had grown up in cultures that spied and reported on one another.
A lot of assumptions have to be laid aside when dealing with people from other cultures. Don't assume someone is a poor worker or communicator when they're from another culture, there may be reasons you need to learn in why the work and respond the way they do.
It is only at that time that you can measure if their performance is poor or if they are in reality great workers.
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I once read Richard Lewis's When Cultures Collide - interesting material for anyone venturing to work in a new land. Funny in parts too.
I've seen a number of instances of good managers falling foul of not appreciating the culture which sits within a manager from another country. You can read more about this at: www.geert-hofstede.com
In fact, I took the place of a very high profile UK management consultant in 2006 when he almost killed the client relationship in the Middle East.
It was all down to the failure to understand cultural differences.
Posted by: www.successful-consultants.com | January 26, 2007 4:39 AM | Permalink to Comment