I recently delivered a cultural team building training for an international mining company. I was well prepped in advance by Gwenda, the Australian HR Manager, when she said, “Our project team won’t talk to each other!

“In our Singapore office we have a global team mostly from Australia, the USA, China, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore. I am receiving complaints from all sides. The bottom line is the Australians and Americans feel the Asians don’t speak up, are not assertive, and lack in accountability. And the Asians feel the Westerners are rude, pushy, and do not care about their opinions.”

“It sounds like we are talking about day-to-day work problems and conflicts among team members that are preventing them from reaching their goals and getting the job done,” I responded.

“Exactly! We need to create a unified team so we can get our projects back on track. I need to get the Australians and Americans to dial-it-down, be more patient and listen better. And I need the Asians to have the confidence to speak up, take charge and even understand that it is okay to disagree with the Westerners,” said Gwenda.

Here are 5 tips to help you handle conflict more effectively in Asia:

1. Forming a good relationship with each team member is essential to conducting business in Asia. Your Asian counterparts must genuinely like and feel at ease with you which leads to better management of conflict and rarely letting conflict get out of control.

2. In severe situations, a third party can also relay messages and act as a mediator, to enable negotiations to take place without the injured parties having to look one another in the eye.

3. Using ”We” instead of ”I” is another tactic to encourage harmony, appealing to Asians dedication for the group rather than the individual. The use of ”We” suggests group responsibility rather than the personal disapproval of the manager concerned.

4. Conflicts are handled in privacy. Most Asians do not engage in public confrontation. Settling any disputes in privacy is much valued.

5. Keep your cool at all times. Managing your cool means you are able to control your emotions rather than your emotions controlling you. This is a necessary characteristic of a good manager.

The post Workplace Conflict In Asia: Business IS Personal appeared first on gtpworldsite.

The style of communication in the United States tends to be very explicit. Value is placed on being clear, direct, and ‘to the point’ regarding verbal and written communication. It is not necessary to always follow certain protocols. The ideas of an individual are valued, regardless of whether that individual has seniority in the group.

Because Americans are so time-conscious, their communication style may seem abrupt at first, getting down to business after minimal small talk, or visibly demonstrating impatience if you have gone on too long. Do not be intimidated by this, but do prepare for it.

People are judged on results and efforts are taken to avoid delays. The well-known phrase, ‘time is money’, sums up the American work ethic, and great efforts are taken to save time (and therefore money).

Here are some key cultural business tips to help you work effectively with the Americans:

1. Demonstrate a can-do, problem-solving attitude and a willingness to innovate and take calculated risks.
2. Be explicit and straightforward in your communication style, while avoiding direct criticism or open conflict.
3. Focus on being decisive and getting things done quickly. Take the approach that time is money, and a missed opportunity is wasteful.
4. Take individual accountability for results; while teamwork has increased in importance, the individual is still the primary focus.
5. Expect to encounter an informal business culture with a relatively flat organizational structure. Most people in an American workplace will be on first-name terms.
6. Make a good impression through a simple, but factual and persuasive, presentation. Selling is important, although delivering results is what ultimately matters.
7. Be punctual to meetings, stick to the agenda, and expect the outcome to be action items that can be implemented quickly.
8. Try to get to the main point in a discussion quickly; don’t feel you need to provide all the contextual background at once. Questions are likely once the main point has been identified.

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