The percentage of the US population born outside its borders is currently 11.5% and continually rising. The typical workplace is becoming more and more culturally diverse, bringing about a need for managers to better adapt. Leadership course expert Robert Rosen discusses why implementing specific strategies for dealing with diverse cultures in the workplace is important. From his essay “Becoming a Culturally Literate Leader in a Global World,” (from the book Partnering, the New Face of Leadership) Rosen explains, “Corporate survival and prosperity increasingly depend on our ability to interact and manage people of different cultures, locally, regionally, nationally and globally.” Rosen points out that even though many companies don’t do business across borders, everyone is part of the global marketplace. “To thrive, all leaders must adopt a global-centric approach to business. They must develop a multicultural perspective, an international knowledge base and a global imagination – in other words, cultural literacy.

Cultural literacy in the workplace depends largely on effective communication across all team members without excluding or unintentionally offending those from different ethnicities. AMA’s seminar, Managing Multicultural Teams for Peak Performance, offers some communication tips to managers of multicultural teams:

• Use a simplified message with less complex sentence structure and vocabulary.
• Never raise your voice or shout to be understood.
• Clearly spell out acronyms and define technical terms.
• Avoid non-standard abbreviations common in instant messaging and texting, like “U R” in place of “you are.”
• Be patient and listen to your team’s ideas and logic. They may be different than yours, and be perfectly valid.
• Feel free to ask people to repeat themselves once or even twice. If you still don’t understand, then ask them to restate their comment differently.
• If you make a mistake that results in your embarrassment or the embarrassment of others, remain cool and composed. Chances are this is the result of an innocent misunderstanding.
• If something said or done by someone of a different cultural background is offensive, be sure to fully understand their meanings and intentions before acting.
• If someone else’s actions or words seem completely negative, chances are good that you’re missing something. Check with that person for clarification or speak with someone else with experience in those of a similar culture.
• Take into account that others may have a different comfortable personal space zone than yours. Be willing to adapt as needed. Often the distance at which they shake hands provides a clue to what is acceptable.
• Give others the benefit of the doubt. When someone’s actions or statements seem wrong or just strange, ask yourself “How else could I interpret this?”
• Communication important messages in several ways to be sure they are received and clearly understood. E-mail, phone and speak with others in person. Be sure your comments are consistent.

For more information on honing communication skills, see AMA’s seminar “Managing Multicultural Teams for Peak Performance” or any of the other 170+ management training courses that the AMA offers.