I communicate differently with different colleagues at work. I work in Japan so I work with a Japanese staff as well as Americans. I also work with a friend who I have known since college. When I am communicating with my friend I tend to use a lot of high level abstract language; facial expressions; and sometimes Twi words or pidgin words from her language as she is from Ghana. I also speak much faster and others have told me that my accent changes. When I communicate with the American staff my speech is slower; I make more eye contact and I use mostly low level abstract language. In communicating with the Japanese staff I speak slowly, use a lot of gestures to compensate for my lack in the spoken language, I only know a few Japanese phrases. I also bow and listen more actively.
Three strategies that will help me communicate more effectively are to:
learn Japanese, at least learn some key phrases.
ensure that I listen attentively to whoever is speaking to me.
realize that in the Japanese culture it is not common to maintain eye contact so I should feel bad if the Japanese staff that I work with do not look me in the eye when we are communicating.
Hi Karina,
ReplyDeleteI appreciated hearing the perspective of someone who works with people of so many other cultures. Good idea to learn Japanese! It sounds very different!
Karina,
ReplyDeleteYou are wonderful at communicating through the written word as well as it appears that you are in person. Your description of using non-verbal cues to help fill in the understanding when not having all of the language was very clear and insightful. I also enjoyed the extra cultural education piece on eye contact and the differences between the two cultures. I look forward to reading more of your experiences.
Jenn Pore`
Karina, being a good listener is important. Making sure that you not only hear what is being said but understanding what is being said as well is a good form of communication, Thanks for sharing.
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