Navigating New Worlds: A 3-Part Exploration of Culture Shock

Posted on 9. April 20246. September 2024 by Tania Pellegrini

Part 1: Travelling to unknown spheres

I worked in South Korea from 2000 to 2002 and I recall my first meetings with Koreans. I would walk into a meeting room and be introduced to the most senior person in the room. He would greet me and then his very first question was, “How old are you?” I tried to hide the shock and hide my confusion by giggling and I then briefly told him my age. His next question was, “Are you married?” At that point I burst out laughing in sheer embarrassment.

My #unconsciousbias started insulting this man I had just been introduced to. My insults were all kept inside my brain of course, but I was livid with anger, “You’re such a condescending misogynist!” How dare you ask me such unprofessional questions at a business meeting! I expect you’ll be asking me for my hotel room number next!”

Unconscious bias can arise when individuals unconsciously apply their own cultural norms and expectations to interpret the actions and behaviours of others. In my case, my initial reaction to the businessman’s questions reflected a bias rooted in my Western cultural perspective, which led to feelings of insult and indignation.

Culture clash and cognitive diversity

Before travelling to Korea I had done some reading about #koreanbusinessculture, plus the company I was working for had offered some training on the topic. But somehow, I was not prepared for those questions. The cultural clash in this situation was related to our cognitive diversity. Cognitive diversity in a team is related to differences in thinking, communication styles and cultural values.

I soon found out that the gentleman I was speaking to was behaving in a very professional manner. Our diversity here laid in the differences between his quite hierarchical upbringing compared to my egalitarian upbringing and experiences to date. The Korean person wanted to know where I fit in the social ladder of the group of people being introduced to him so he could address me with the proper level of respect.

Patrick Lencioni identifies the absence of trust as the primary dysfunction of teamwork. In cognitive diverse teams trust can be difficult to build initially because of varying ways of communicating.

The need for cultural intelligence

#Culturalintelligence, or the ability to adapt in culturally diverse environments, is essential in navigating encounters with cognitive diverse individuals. By understanding and appreciating different cognitive styles and cultural norms, individuals can mitigate the negative effects of #cultureshock and foster more productive interactions.

Culture Shock can occur, not only when we are working with cognitive diverse people, but also when we join a new organisation that has a very different culture to the previous organisation we worked for. We’ll look at that tomorrow in the second part of our Culture Shock mini-series. In part three later this week we’ll look at the symptoms of culture shock and how to work your way out of it.

What are your personal experiences with Culture Shock?

To read parts 2 and 3 of this post click on the page numbers below.

Pages: 1 2 3

Team Dynamics: Lessons from a Marathon Journey

Posted on 8. February 202427. February 2024 by Tania Pellegrini

Three months ago, I ran my first ever (and likely last ever) full marathon. I’m surprised that what I considered to be such an individual sport taught me so much about team dynamics. The ten months training journey, and the race itself, provided unexpected insights that can be easily be applied to a team setting in a professional organisation. It demonstrated the importance of transparency in goal setting with the whole team, collaboration in difficult times, celebrating achievements as a group and opening up to discuss your fears and apprehensions rather than keeping them locked up inside. Let’s look at each of these considering how they influence a positive team culture.

Setting Goals and Planning with the Team

My New Year’s resolution in January 2023 was to run a marathon. I have been running my entire life, more or less. However, during COVID I injured my knee and most of the medics I visited told me to forget about running and find a different sport to engage in.

You’re probably thinking here that’s what inspired me. Maybe it did eventually, but initially it devastated me. I spent weeks crying and feeling sorry for myself. My identity has always been keenly attached to being an athlete. Not being able to run, was a form of losing my identity. Which many of us know can be frightful.

So after two years of not running, I decided the time had come to prove to myself that I was capable of running the 42km marathon. I had been working in the gym to strengthen my leg muscles to support my knee, and I’d been seeing a physiotherapist just about every week.

It was time to set clear goals and objectives, as you would with any project team. I watched zillions of YouTube videos, read several books and listened to some very boring podcasts, on how to approach running a marathon. I realised that the first thing I needed to do was set realistic goals and a milestones. However, not on my own, ideally with the full team of people surrounding and supporting me.

Setting milestones for positive team dynamics

I chose a marathon that fell on my birthday, in November, which gave me about 10 months to prepare for. I decided to run the Nice to Cannes marathon along the sunny southern coast of France. It was a birthday present to myself.

I had two major milestones to reach before really engaging in heavy training. A 10km run in February and a half-marathon in April. Once the half-marathon was complete, I had an idea of what time I could run in 21 km. This was the basis for setting a marathon pace and therefore a training pace. I felt ready and purchased a 16-week training plan for the marathon preparation.

Throughout the entire journey, I had three main team members. The team dynamics revolved mostly around these three people. I had been working very closely with a physiotherapist since the knee injury. Once I decided that I was ready to start training for the marathon, we discussed the best way to reach our objectives. Obviously without injuring myself again. We discussed the best approach all round. Without him, I could not have made it past the first month of training. As soon as I ached somewhere, he “fixed” me and ensured I didn’t lose morale or sight of the objective.

Reliablity and accountability

I also has an important team member as a nutritionist. He gave me a training diet in June to help me during the extenuating training, ensuring I could work hard but also recover well. I had to take on accountability of following the regime, but whenever I felt like going off track, I thought that I’d disappoint him, and that’s what kept me on track.

The third team member was my husband. He helped me with the psychological training. Helping me through the moments when I thought it was all too hard running through the Italian summer with 30°C+ temperatures. The Sunday runs had to be long 30-37km. He would run at least 10 of those km with me nearly every Sunday to make the load seem a little lighter. I had other “extended” team members along the way, which we will soon see.

The three of them helped me along journey, spurring me on, checking that my weekly objectives were accurate, not too challenging and not too easy to achieve. In hindsight, when it came to objective setting, where I could have improved, was to actually set my final race day objective with the team. I had set an objective (i.e. to run it in 3 hours 45 minutes) but I didn’t really discuss it with anybody, it was kept inside. Likely because I was afraid that if I didn’t make it people might laugh at me or tell me that I always set my standards too high, the usual.

Transparency creates accountability

To create healthy team dynamics, I should have discussed this openly with the team. If you tell your colleagues what your objectives and aspirations are, they not only can help you achieve them by knowing what you are challenged by and understanding when you may need some support, but more importantly, they can help you set milestones that are realistic rather than too challenging or not challenging enough. This encourages accountability on all sides.

Setting milestones transparently with the team shows your colleagues that you trust them and their knowledge. It allows you to involve them. This enhances collaboration and team spirit because they all feel more involved, take on accountability, will be more motivated to help and take on important roles.

Endurance and Perseverance

We know that mental challenges are supposed to make us stronger. I realised that although my body was exhausted, those runs actually revitalised me. My mind was never clearer than when I was out training and sweating hard. It was during those sessions that my creativity surged and my plans for client workshops and life in general lost their fuzziness and became clear.

Endurance has always been my strong point, but as with any team project, there are moments when your motivation is at rock bottom because you’ve encountered a brick wall. Imagine working on a project and you get setback after setback. Without the team, it is sometimes hard to get back on your feet. Positive team dynamics are what motivate you to supporting one another.

Just three weeks before the marathon start, I was out training and did the worst run of the year. I was on a business trip, and had to do a 27km run, in a location that I didn’t know well. It was stinking hot, 34 degrees Celsius at 8:30am, no water fountains anywhere. By km 13 I was almost in tears, breathing heavily, dehydrated and thinking I wasn’t going to finish the run. In fact, I didn’t. I made it to about only 20km and had to stop in insufferable pain.

When motivation lacks , positive team dynamics come to the rescue

Did I want to pull out of the marathon? Yes. I was three weeks away from reaching my goal and I was quite convinced I was going to fail. I had put myself through excruciating hours of training. My 33km Sunday runs which took me away from friends and family were tormenting. On every one of those runs, I asked myself at around km 10, why I was doing this to myself. I would get home close to tears, looking awfully dishevelled, feeling very embarrassed.

It’s when you’re down and losing confidence, without any energy for being creative that your team supports you the most. The team can give you the mental fortitude you need to overcome the hurdles. I always mentioned my down moments to the people around me who know me well and know how dedicated I am. They were able to put me back on the right track each time, knowing what I needed to hear to refocus.

Support and Collaboration

Without them it would have been very hard to pick up and start again each time. A team where psychological safety prevails is one where individuals can express themselves freely without feeling they are going to be laughed at or blamed. Individuals would also understand when hyperbole is appreciated or despised. Telling someone they are awesome when they really think they have nothing more to offer does not always help. You need to know the communication techniques of your team and know when “super” and “wonderful” are appreciated and when they aggravate. Team members can then take risks and admit to their mistakes without feeling they have been defeated.

Team support and collaboration reached its height in those crucial moments. The last two weeks showed me how much support I had from the group of people I was working with. Friends also wanted to make sure I was looking after myself and that I’d be ready for the big day. This in turn created even more trust.

Sometimes it’s not easy providing support to our colleagues especially if they seem to not need it. That’s probably the most important time to offer it. It can start off very easily with a very simple non-threatening question, “How are you today?” Don’t accept, “I’m fine,” as an answer. Ask further, without appearing patronising. Ask open questions. “How is XYZ coming along. What challenges are you currently facing?”

Understanding when to offer help to your team

I was able to express myself to what I considered at that stage to be my team. As the marathon approached, friends and family became excited for me. The team dynamics changed as they also became members of the team. They would ensure that I was eating well even when we ate out together, always checking that I ate my salads and protein. While on a client workshop, a work colleague was adamant that I receive all my macro nutrients. Each time she asked me what I had eaten for lunch and dinner she made me smile. We all know how much a smile can energize us. It spurred me on to be the best I could.

If you do not express your angst and worries to your team members, how are they supposed to support you? If you always tell them that everything is fine, they cannot help you work on what is actually not fine. Sometimes it just takes a second mind to help problem solve issues that alone seem unsurmountable.

Reaching the objective

We arrived in Nice the evening before the marathon, the day before my birthday and it was pouring rain. My heart felt heavy. I had trained in a bit of rain, but nothing like what I was experiencing that evening. I started to think of the negative impacts (was I just trying to find excuses for a bad result?). “I won’t reach my goal because my shoes will be soaking wet and very heavy.” Excuses, excuses.

Finally, I looked around for positive elements that would help me sleep well and find my confidence. Above my hotel bed was a black and white picture of Audrey Hepburn. She is my idol. I had her looking over my shoulder all night. I felt then that the next day was going to go well. At that stage, I finally decided that I had put in all the hard work and I was just going to go out and enjoy the day. Que sera sera.

The big day came. I woke up to find the sun shining brightly through my hotel window. There were messages in my WhatsApp from friends wishing me luck wanting to know how they could follow me along the way. I was energized. It was an extraordinary morning. For the first 32km I felt as though I was flying. I felt light, the sun was shining and I felt unstoppable.

Everyone has a role to play

Team dynamics changed once again. The team had now grown to include the volunteers who were supporting us at the start of the race and the spectators all along the coast cheering us all on. It was energising to see other runners looking tired and yet still making it to the next milestone. Solo work can be satisfying because you know that the success is yours alone, but collaboration beats solo work any time in my eyes. Without all the support from those around me, I may never have even arrived at the start line, let alone reached my desired finish time.

As km32 my legs felt heavy. But I had made it this far, I was not going to let my heavy legs stop me. I trudged on and reached the final km almost laughing with joy as I passed the finish line at 3:35:9.

What is success without being able to celebrate it with the rest of the team? One of the first people I contacted at the end of the race, was my physiotherapist. He had sat with me and massaged me through tears, anger, frustrations and a whole lot of moments where I was feeling sorry for myself. He was ecstatic at the result and we celebrated together.

Celebrate milestones with your team

Celebrating milestones with your colleagues, fosters a sense of camaraderie and motivates team members to continue striving for success.

My husband was joyous that the mad Sunday morning trainings were over and we could enjoy a plentiful and satisfying breakfast together, not to mention a glass of red wine with dinner.

Celebrating team achievements in the workplace is paramount to supporting your colleagues. It gives them insight about what role they play in the overall organisation. Knowing that without each individual playing their part, the team cannot function as a whole, and without the team support individuals stifle to achieve their own individual milestones.

Teamwork and support are essential for achieving success, both in running a marathon and in a professional setting. Celebrating small achievements and accomplishments fosters a culture of belonging and support which in turn helps the team thrive.

What are your experiences related to team support and collaboration and how it impacts an individual’s sense of self-worth? Feel free to connect with me if you’d like to discuss further.

“Culturally-diverse teams: How to nurture them to psychological safety”

Posted on 11. December 202311. December 2023 by Tania Pellegrini

What are the key indicators of a thriving team? What does it feel like to lead and be a team member of a flourishing team? These questions go beyond meeting targets and deadlines; they delve into the heart of a team’s success.

In the dynamic landscape of today’s workplaces, where cultural intelligence, diversity, and psychological safety play pivotal roles, understanding the pulse of your team is more crucial than ever.

In this article we explore three indicators that signify not just a productive team but a truly thriving one. An environment where cultural intelligence is cultivated, diversity is celebrated, and psychological safety is the cornerstone of success. An environment therefore where a leader and their team members together, create a culture where each member feels they can be themselves and are accepted for who they are.

With each indicator we will give you a strategy to help create that success indicator in your team.

A thriving team is the backbone of any successful organisation. It’s not just about meeting deadlines; it’s about creating a collaborative and positive environment that fosters creativity, productivity, and employee satisfaction. Let’s look at three key indicators.

Key Indicator 1: Effective Communication

Strategy 1: Style-Shifting for more effective communication in culturally diverse teams

“A culture of silence is a dangerous culture.” Effective communication is the cornerstone of a thriving team, and the ability to style-shift plays a pivotal role. Style-shifting involves adapting communication styles to resonate with diverse team members.

In a multicultural team, varying communication preferences and cultural nuances can influence understanding. Leaders must be adept at recognising these differences and adjusting their communication approach accordingly.

Consider a scenario where a manager, Sarah, oversees a team with members from various cultural backgrounds. One team member, Ahmed, values direct communication, while another, Mei, appreciates a more indirect and nuanced approach.

Recognising these differences, Sarah employs style-shifting techniques in her communication. In team meetings, she ensures clear and concise directives for Ahmed, while providing additional context and allowing space for discussion with Mei.

By adapting her communication style to each team member’s preferences, Sarah not only fosters understanding but also creates an inclusive environment where diverse voices are heard.

Key indicator 2: High Level Engagement

Strategy 2: Style-shift to motivate culturally diverse teams

Motivating a culturally diverse team requires a nuanced understanding of individual and collective motivations. Different cultures may place distinct values on teamwork, individual contributions, or recognition. Leaders need to identify and leverage these cultural dynamics by style-shifting to create an environment that resonates with every team member.

High-level engagement goes beyond task assignments; it involves understanding personal and cultural motivators. It acknowledges diverse perspectives, and fosters an inclusive atmosphere where everyone feels heard and valued.

In this culturally diverse team, Sarah delves deeper into understanding individual motivations. She learns that Ahmed finds motivation in personal recognition for his achievements, whereas Mei values contributions that benefit the team as a whole.

Sarah, recognising these differences, tailors her motivational approach. She publicly acknowledges Ahmed’s accomplishments, highlighting his individual contributions. Whereas with Mei, she focuses on the collective achievements of the team. By acknowledging and catering to diverse motivations, Sarah ensures that each member feels valued and motivated in their unique way.

Key Indictor 3: Resilience

Strategy 3: Style-shift to inspire you team in the face of uncertainty

Resilience is a critical trait for any team, and inspiring resilience in a diverse group requires strategic leadership. Cultural diversity often brings varied perspectives on adversity and coping mechanisms. Leaders can inspire resilience by acknowledging and respecting diverse approaches to challenges.

An example would be to encourage open dialogue about overcoming setbacks. Perhaps share stories of triumph over adversity, and promote a culture where failure is seen as an opportunity for growth. By fostering resilience in a diverse group, leaders empower their teams to adapt, learn, and thrive in the face of uncertainty.

In a challenging project, the team faces unexpected setbacks. Sarah takes this opportunity to style shift and inspire resilience within the culturally diverse group. She organises a team discussion where members, draw from their varied cultural backgrounds and share stories of overcoming adversity.

Ahmed for example, discusses how his cultural upbringing taught him the importance of perseverance, while Mei shares insights from her culture’s approach to collaborative problem-solving.

Through this exchange, the team gains a deeper understanding of each other and learns to appreciate diverse perspectives on resilience. This dialogue fosters a culture of resilience, where the team collectively faces challenges with a newfound strength drawn from their cultural diversity.

Effective communication, high-level engagement and resilience

In summary, effective communication, high-level engagement, and resilience are vital components of a thriving team. Style-shifting enables leaders to communicate with clarity and understanding. Recognising individual motivations within a cultural framework helps build engagement.

Finally, inspiring resilience in a diverse group requires embracing and learning from the varied perspectives on overcoming challenges. Using this approach enhances team dynamics and promotes a workplace culture that celebrates diversity and harnesses its strengths.

Realign your global remote teams to create a powerful team culture

Posted on 21. January 202129. November 2021 by Tania Pellegrini

Are you ready for the next step? The start of a new year brings new-found energy with it. Now is an ideal moment to realign remote global teams to create a powerful and inclusive team culture. Bring your team communication to the next level in 2021 by building on what the team recently experienced. Although studies show that working from home can be beneficial for both the employee and the company, there are several challenges. "The main challenges that arise are communication, knowledge sharing, socialisation, performance evaluation and security."

Let's not get intimidated by the word "Culture". In our case, it means, "the way things are done around here". It is a set of accepted ways of behaving, communicating and getting things done that everybody on the team is comfortable with. When the team creates its own culture, each individual feels valued, included, engaged and is therefore more productive.

A strong team culture generates motivation, team-spirit, good communication and knowledge sharing. This in turn builds trust and helps the team deliver its goals. A thriving team culture is one that allows each team member to speak up and give their point of view on what their preferred communication style is.

The powerful team culture communication meeting

Bring the team together (officially) to discuss their team culture. Individuals have had the festive season to ponder over and informally discuss what they enjoyed and what they didn't enjoy about working from home. Use this as a catalyst.

Let's start with communication. An easy way to start the discussion right now it to ask about how productive or not the last six to eight months have been for each individual. Firstly, ask them to consider at what stage, and using which medium, they felt the communication flowed best? When you have good communication flow, creative ideas spill out.

Were they most productive over the phone, during a team zoom session, in one-on-ones, when the kids were in bed, or over a virtual coffee chat? Which communication means make them apprehensive and therefore less productive? Was it long-winded emails or short-handed WhatsApp messages? Individuals will talk plainly about what is best for them, as a result, you leverage on each individual's ideal situation. If you know that "John" is most creative spurting out quick WhatsApps then use it to help him shine and also share the best ideas.

remote team coffee breakSocialisation and trust create a strong team culture

When we socialise with our teammates, we learn more about them as people and not just as business colleagues. This creates trust, which in turn helps us and them to open up and share our ideas more freely. Socialisation is one of the areas that remote teams suffer the most in general and especially during lockdown moments. Socialising does not come naturally when individuals are sitting in front of their laptop feeling cut off from the world. Socialisation has to be consciously worked at on remote teams.

You could consider spending a few minutes at the beginning of team meetings running an ice breaker. Think about creating informal situations for colleagues to chat and meet even if it needs to be virtual. Virtual "aperos" work wonders. Socialisation and therefore trust create team spirit and allow each individual to feel valued.

Knowledge sharing and the dreaded 9pm conference call

If your multicultural team members sit in offices around the globe, it's vital to bring up the topic of time zones. Joining two-hour conference calls, three times a week at 9pm, after a long day of work is not sustainable and it is not very motivational. On top of that, if the participants are passive listeners rather than colleagues who need to actively speak, it becomes even worse.

the dreaded 9pm conference call

Therefore an important topic to discuss is always related to what time of the day these calls should be made. Ask the team at what time of the day they feel they are most productive. If the weekly facilitator is comfortable skipping dinner with the kids for a meeting, that doesn't mean everybody is. Too often, the accepted time zone for such meetings is where headquarters are based. For a motivation boost, consider rotating the meeting facilitator each week. This can be particularly engaging for the facilitator, and what's more, it allows individuals who are not very forthcoming to show a different side of themselves.

A team is made up of individuals

It's vital in such a "team culture creation session", to ensure everybody gets a chance to speak up. If you have a culturally diverse team, with members who perhaps come from hierarchical or collectivist cultures, you may have colleagues who are unwilling to speak up in such a public gathering. There are a number of ways to help them speak up. Tell them in advance what will be expected of them in such a meeting. Let them know that they will be expected to participate vocally. That will give them a chance to prepare something and not feel put on the spot when it occurs. Rotating the facilitator gives every team member a chance to speak up. As a result, it will also give the team a very different perspective each time on what is considered important and who prioritises what.

Keep the powerful team culture alive - write a team charter

Whatever the team decides as the best way to proceed, write it somewhere so you can look back at it occasionally. Choose four or five topics that are the most consequential during the discussion. These should be topics in which the team finds consensus. Use these topics to write the team charter. Most importantly, keep the discussion alive as time passes and as pressure increases. It's easy to stick to "good intentions" when we are not under pressure. However, when tension increases, we tend to fall back on what is the "normal" way of behaving for us. What is normal for one individual, may not be what was discussed as the best way for the team to move forward.

Remember, if culture is, "the way things are done around here," then it needs to be accepted by the whole team to allow each individual to feel included, valued and engaged.

Five Tips to Persuading Culturally Diverse Audiences

Posted on 23. September 20201. December 2021 by Tania Pellegrini

I used to work in a conventional office where from my desk I had vision of the much-loved coffee-corner. One afternoon, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a colleague sitting over his “latte” with a frown on his forehead. It was time for a break, so I walked over and asked how his day was coming along. He scrunched up his face in disappointment.“I’ve just presented to a new Chinese organisation that wanted to hear about our upcoming event. I don’t feel I persuaded them how exciting and worthwhile this new project is”. He continued his distressed explanation;

Hmmm, difficult one….

I didn’t have the knowledge then that I do now on the topic of persuading culturally diverse audiences. Although it may be too late for his project, I’d like to share some kind of remedy for this dilemma that many of us face when working in a global environment. How should we modify our presentations and persuasion techniques according to the cultural background of our audience?

Our cultural mindset influences how we filter what is said

Our cultural mindset influences how we think, problem-solve and how we find solutions to our challenges. As a result, it impacts what kind of information we need to motivate us and help us make decisions. It’s not just about how we understand language or how competent we are with the language being presented to us. Culture influences how we see the world and how the words we hear are filtered into thoughts. Those thoughts in turn are put together to create a picture or an idea. Let’s take a brief look at two studies done on the topic.

In short and in general the studies show that Americans are more analytical in the way they see the world and therefore problem-solve, whilst East Asians, or Japanese specifically in the first study, are more holistic.

How to adapt your presentation for persuading culturally diverse audiences

Firstly, avoid using the same set of slides for different groups. If you have the time, rearrange your slides between presentations. It’s almost a necessity for persuading culturally diverse groups. The subject you present remains the same but the way you present it differs. For example, multinational companies who wish to standardise their global processes according to regions or countries, should be able to do so. However, the way they convince a Korean, a Ghanaian or a Finn of why the process is standardised should differ. Each group will need a different set of inputs to convince them of the necessity of standardising.

Presenting to Holistic audiences

To persuade an audience that is more holistic, avoid going straight to the point with your opening slide. Ensure you give the big picture before talking about details. Holistic listeners usually look at objects as a whole. They find it difficult to remove an object from its surroundings or only focus on one small area. If you remove the context the object loses its significance.

Let's look at an example; if you’re talking about a product launch, it’s best if you relate it to a previous product, a previous launch, history of the products etc. Look at past examples and discuss past experiences. Discuss how the subject you’re presenting today is connected to a different one on the other side of the globe. Anything that could be related to your topic can be of interest to a holistic audience before zooming into your topic. Remember you are trying to motivate them to continue listening.

Presenting to analytical audiences

On the other hand, if you are presenting to an analytical audience, consider using bullet points and diving straight into the topic at hand to ensure your listeners do not start to yawn with boredom. You do not need to give the big picture to motivate the group or to help them follow your thread.

Thirdly, when persuading culturally diverse audiences, consider whether the group needs to hear, “how” to move forward or “why” to move forward. It is likely that they would like to hear both. However, the order you start with will either capture their interest or have them pick up their phones and start messaging. Generally, US American cultures tend to be more "how" oriented. French listeners usually prefer to know "why" they are doing something in order to be motivated.

When the presentation language is not the mother tongue of the listeners

Although the next point is not connected to holistic/analytical differences, it may be helpful when trying to persuade culturally diverse groups.

If the audience's mother tongue is not the one being used for the presentation, consider sending your presentation to them ahead of time. This allows the listeners to read through it beforehand. As a result, they become familiar with the vocabulary and can prepare any questions they may have.

If you don’t give your audience this opportunity you may find that an audience from a very hierarchical, face-saving culture may not react or ask questions, leaving you wondering whether they have understood at all.

Lastly, if presenting to a collective audience for which face-saving and hierarchy may be important values, make sure you insert several coffee breaks in the presentation. This allows the group to gather away from the speaker’s view to discuss issues and prepare their questions for the next session.

Financial Times or Caffè Latte? Conference-call with Japanese.

Posted on 8. September 202025. November 2021 by Tania Pellegrini

An Italian sports-event manager, Elisabetta, has just finished a conference call with Japanese clients. She switches off her webcam and thinks about the meeting she just held. Her gut feeling is that she wasn’t very successful but she can’t really place her finger on what went wrong. Why did she have the feeling that her Japanese business associates didn’t really consider her to be competent and reliable?

We often hear that we need to adapt when working with people of different cultural backgrounds. Is that still important with the current pandemic? Travel is close to impossible so we don’t need to learn to use chopsticks in Japan or avoid using our left hand at the table in Qatar. Do we still need to worry about whether we should “bow, kiss or shake hands”?

It is just as important to adapt your style in virtual communication. Actually, it’s perhaps even more important. It is easy to misinterpret a message through email. There is usually little context to help you grasp the real message being sent.

Building Trust

If trust is the key to creating high-performing multicultural teams or earning new clients, then we need to learn to build trust through our virtual communication, be it a conference call with Japanese or an email to a Swiss person. The way we build trust with an Indian is different to how we build trust with a Finn or a Filipino.

Let’s go back to Elisabetta. Nobody had ever told her that firstly she needs to control her emotions in Japanese business meeting and secondly that silence is common. Silence can mean many different things in Japan and should not be interrupted, especially not in virtual meetings.

However, knowing something is not necessarily automatically going to help. Milton Bennet says that intercultural sensitivity is not natural and that ‘Adaptation means we need to consciously shift our perspective and intentionally alter our behaviour[1].

Japanese tend to say,”Only a dead fish has an open mouth”.

Italians tend to wear their heart on their sleeves. If they’re happy they’ll smile and laugh with joy, if they’re angry they’ll grimace with frustration. If they’re confused, their forehead will wrinkle in a puzzled frown. Japanese tend to say, “Only a dead fish has an open mouth”. This means, a true professional controls his/her feelings in business meetings. Loss of control is deemed unprofessional. Therefore, Elisabetta’s gut feeling was probably spot on. Her meeting was likely unsuccessful due to her constant large gestures and the fact that she kept interrupting the silence that she was “hearing” from the Japanese side.

Silence to Elisabetta means there is a lack of communication or misunderstanding and she feels she needs to break the silence. Elisabetta adds more and more information into the silence meanwhile her constant chatter doesn’t allow the Japanese clients to digest what she is saying.

Building trust with your clients, colleagues or service providers of different cultural backgrounds requires “code-switching”. This means adapting your communication and behaviour. Whether we’re writing an email, leading a conference call or meeting face-to-face, we need to deliberately work at certain skills that are not innate. This could be for example, not using too many facial gestures (in Japan) or learning the cultural values of your multicultural team to know what motivates them. It could also require learning to give feedback indirectly to an Indian service provider.

Step 1: An effective conference call with Japanese, Indians or Finns – Know yourself

The first step to becoming interculturally competent is to know yourself. Take a good look at yourself and ask, “What are my preferred ways of communicating? How do I usually behave in meetings and in situations of conflict and how do I problem solve?”

Let’s take a concrete example. You are the project lead of your team. Your preferred way of communicating is through email and you tend to be very task-oriented. You write short messages and get straight to the point in all your messages. In most cases you don’t even add a greeting or a salutation because you find it unnecessary.

The software company you have outsourced in India is not meeting your timeline needs. This frustrates you because you cannot accept any more delays in your project. You need to consider the best way to tell the Indian service provider that you are not happy with their service. Typically you would do that in a short email with bullet points that specify what you are not happy with, expecting this to get them moving faster. (Stop…. don’t click on send…yet).

Step 2: Effective conference-calls: Learn the values of the ‘other’ culture

The second step is to learn the values of the other person. What is the cultural background of this person? How might they perceive me and my communication style according to their values?

Let’s go back to our scene. Indians are generally relationship-based. As a result, they like to exchange personal information with the person they are dealing with. Secondly, they are usually high-context communicators, that is to say, they read into the body language that is being used to interpret the message rather than just listen to the words. Words that are negative, like, “no”, can create disharmony and loss of face. Moreover, they are quite hierarchical, therefore they usually wait for the manager to give them instructions on what needs to be done.

Therefore your short, negative bullet-point message, straight to the operator is unlikely going to get the response you are expecting.

What should you do?

Step 3: Code-switching – adapting your style

The third step is to ‘code-switch’. That is to say, adapt your behaviour and communication to motivate the person you’re dealing with and still get the point across.

Code-switching can be verbal or non-verbal. It’s the way you adapt your emails or even which communication medium you decide to use. It means saving face by giving indirect negative feedback. It also means that your once a fortnight task-related mails may not be the most efficient way of reaching timelines.

Is email the correct medium to use in our above case? Switching on the webcam in a conference call with Japanese or Indians could be more effective as visual aid helps read body language. Consider what words can be used that are not negative (see previous article on building trust remotely.) Especially consider whether your conversation needs to be addressed to the manager of the company or to the operator.

So how do you think Elisabetta needs to code-switch with her Japanese clients? Should she read and cite the Financial Times to improve their perspective of her competency or should she rather sip on a caffè latte in a weekly non work-related virtual, “webcam-ed” exchange with them?

[1] Milton Bennett, “Towards Ethnorelativism: A Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity”, Intercultural Press, 1993. 21-71.

High Performing Global Teams Thrive on Trust

Posted on 21. April 20203. December 2021 by Tania Pellegrini

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Three steps to building trust remotely

High performing global teams thrive on trust.

If trust is the glue that connects and creates a High Performing Team, and if trust is created through spontaneous “coffee-corner chit-chat” or sharing a beer or coke after work, it’s no wonder we often struggle to feel connected to our team members when working remotely.

Consequently, our virtual communication techniques should replicate what we do (often without much effort) in a conventional team. If you’d like to lead a high performing global team, try these three small gestures below to create the bond which builds trust. In addition, it should in turn build team spirit and accountability, which finally helps increases team performance.

1. Replicate the office-corner virtually

Invite a colleague for a morning coffee just to say, “Hi”. The invitation is literally for 5 minutes. It doesn’t involve talking about work, it is purely to say, “How are things?” Don’t forget to switch on the camera.

This might seem unnatural initially, but just think about what happens naturally at the coffee corner in the office. While preparing your preferred drink you see colleagues from other departments and business units and you have that quick, 3-minute chat about the weekend, about your kids, about movies or perhaps about a new running route you’ve just discovered.

Create a bond

What is so important about these quick exchanges? These short dialogues show who you are as a person other than just as a business colleague and they create a bond. Consequently, by opening up like this, we show, and see in return, a human side to the person that we find difficult to imagine through email exchanges. Most importantly, we discover what we have in common and these commonalities are what help us build a relationship, build trust and therefore accountability. It is trust and accountability between individuals that help high performing global teams thrive.

2. Virtual after-work drinks

Before Coronavirus this seemed like a far-fetched thought. However, this seems to have changed since we have been locked up for weeks and craving conversation. As a result, it seems more natural and it’s been great to see how many people have picked up on it.

Invite your colleagues for a drink after work. You grab a beer, they grab a coke, an ice -tea, a prosecco, maybe a cappuccino depending on what time zone you are all in. Whatever the refreshment, it’s time for relaxing and talking about whatever comes to your mind and exchanging on a more personal note. This is not the 3-minute chat from above. Allow some time to give people the opportunity to open up.

If you’re not a natural talker, or you have introverts on the team who might struggle to open up, think of easy subjects to talk about that. For example, travel ideas, food, national celebrations and traditions in your colleagues’ countries that you might be curious about.

3. Include ice-breakers into your weekly virtual ops meetings

In a conventional face-to-face meeting, usually one or two people arrive a few minutes earlier than the crowd and a short discussion starts. As each person slips into the meeting room the discussion opens up with more people adding what they have to say and each new added sentence gives us insight into the person sitting in front of us.

Often, these spontaneous discussions lead to creative ideas. This is a an element that is often missing in team conference calls. Namely, when we join conference calls where one person is sitting in Kuala Lumpur, one in Sydney and a third in Stockholm, we don’t take the time to break the ice this way. We log-into the meeting one minute before it starts, the host welcomes everyone and the meeting begins.

Here are some ice-breaker ideas

If you’re running a virtual team meeting find some 3-4 minute icebreakers you can use. Make them short and fun. They can be as personal or impersonal as you feel is appropriate for the team. For example, ask each team member to send a photo of themselves when they were 5 years old. The others have to guess who it is.

Likewise, ask everyone to upload their favourite film /book/football player/pair of shoes and you need to guess which object belongs to which team member. Remember, high performing global teams thrive on trust and trust means letting the other person see how competent you are, how reliable you are, or what you have in common.

Switch on the camera to build trust

Always remember to switch on your camera in these sessions and find a way to convince the others to do so too. It is extraordinary how a smile can help interpret emotions that are usually very dfficult to read over the phone or through email. The visual aid helps us read between the lines when communicating with people who don’t normally say exactly what they think.

These easy to apply communication techniques help us create a connection with our colleagues, which allows us to bond and thereby create trust. Without trust and without accountability team spirit crumbles and when it does, your goals slowly become unattainable.

If you’re interested in our “Global Remote Teams” Course please see here.