Project managers are all different, and when we listen to team members and project stakeholders from different cultures, we hear it expressed in many different ways. We, as project managers, are different, and when we listen to our team members and other project stakeholders from different cultures we understand it in many different ways.

 

I had the opportunity to work with European, American and Middle East colleagues in one multinational program some years ago. The program manager was American and he managed a group of multicultural project managers coming from: The UK,The Netherlands, witzerland, Belgium, Norway, Sweeden, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Hungary, and Russia.

The first thing he did was organizing a meeting together to share the program mission, objectives, and scope among the team. However one of the key purposes of that meeting was to meet each other face to face. It was a fantastic opportunity for me to observe the different understandings, reactions and behaviors from my colleagues coming from other countries. Sentences like: “I am from the Mid-west. This american guy just drive me up the wall”, or “We can not follow that approach, we are Spanish and Spain is different”.

 

Some of those sentences made us to smile. However, I believe smiling was also a good way to improve team members listening, because allowed them to be relaxed and understand better the different people perceptions. That program was a good example.

 

We are project professionals and different in what motivates us. But we also bring differences to the communication process because of our genders and regional or cultural backgrounds. We must deal with people in projects and organizations, so we need to be sensitive to these differences in a world of globalization.

 

As project managers, we need to be sensitive to these differences. These differences underlie our communications. They can influence the meaning of our project communications at all levels; I mean words, tone, inflection, and body language. These differences apply both to sending and receiving. They affect what we say and how we say it. They also affect the filter we wear when listening. Professionals from different cultures have different filters.

 

Good project managers extend the empathetic listening to gender and regional or cultural differences. Good project managers must be good listeners able to recognize the basic problems of communicating across language barriers, when one person may be using English as a second language, or where you are using a second language.

 

What can we do to deal with these problems? There are some recommendations to the project manager for improving in this area and using empathetic listening. First of all, remember that listening with an ear for regional or cultural differences is a mindset. It is a decision to take yourself and what you are hearing out of your personal context and put it into a different context.

 

Second, think of the other person as different, and honor the differences (everybody has his/her heart). Good communication comes from celebrating the differences rather than ignoring them or being in conflict over them. This is another way of respecting the person as a human being, but with a greater degree of sophistication. Be happy because your team members are different, and you must be able to take advantage of them.

 

Third, recognize that there are significant differences between the version of a culture (Italian-American, German-American, UK -American, etc) and what you will encounter in another country. If you are dealing with international projects, find information about the specific cultural differences and educate yourself and your people. Americans tend to be known around the world as culturally self-centered, Germans tend to be known as much disciplined, Spanish and Italians tend to be less disciplined but creative. To be successful as a project manager, it is important to make an honest attempt to understand the differences.

 

Fourth, consider reading a book on relationships between men and women, but remember that generalizations are always wrong. Men are not always from Mars and women are not always from Venus. Our culture may establish perceptual stereotypes, but what motivates people and builds their self worth, (action oriented,helping, being logical, and being part of the group and buiding consensus) is not determined by gender.

 

Finally being sensitive to these issues does not mean losing your sense of self. The objective is not to become a member of the other culture. It is more a matter of recognizing the differences as you listen as a matter of respect. If you respect the other culture’s reactions, they will respect you.

 

Empathetic listening across gender as well as regional and cultural boundaries requires more of an effort to get out of ourselves, but adds real value and aditional insight into the other person’s communication to us and broadens our own perceptions and ways of thinking.

Related Links
Kimberly Wiefling has seven suggestions for leaping the cultural gaps in your projects. Differences in communication styles can create issues even among team members from the same culture. If you're in the same building, one of your best tools may be Management By Walking Around.

Comments

Let me add another suggestion to Alfonso's helpful list: when dealing with people in another culture or when an engagement is coming up that requires interacting with people in another country, seek out a cultural informant or coach. Find somebody who is from that area or has worked with them previously. Ask questions about what is was like, what surprised them, what to avoid, how to handle work and social occasions, .... Use stereotypes as a starting point. Compare your experiences with those stereotypes as a way of validating what you encounter.

Randy Englund,
www.englundpmc.com