The process by which people exchange information, feelings and meaning through verbal and non-verbal messages is what we call interpersonal communication. Working in a team means there is going to be a lot of interpersonal communication going on. As members of a team, we must not only be concerned with what we say but how we say it as well (the tone, facial expressions etc). Now, the other thing is that our team members may not all be from the same culture, background and country as us especially in a multi-racial society like Singapore. Therefore, the more we should be mindful, thoughtful and sensitive when communicating. We must possess good intercultural communication skills.
Intercultural communication is the interpersonal interaction between members of different cultures, practices, knowledge, values and beliefs. I believe our team members for this and other modules are from different countries namely India, Vietnam, Malaysia and China. Therefore, we cannot say whatever we please and we cannot do whatever we please. We must be tolerant and accepting of the other cultures that surround us.
For example, we all speak differently and have different accents. For some of our team members, English may not come as fluently and for others their accent might be pretty strong and we may have a hard time understanding them. In these instances, we should listen intently and not judge them. Confirm meanings, clarify, acknowledge and give feedback. This will give them confidence to speak up and make them feel at ease in the team. Misunderstandings and confusion can also be avoided. Below is a funny clip about a little misunderstanding.
I mentioned above that we cannot do whatever we please. Well I have a personal experience to share. During my secondary school (high school) days, I had a classmate who was from the Middle East. He was a talented football player. During an inter-class football tournament, he scored a sensational solo goal which sparked wild celebrations among the team. In the midst of it all, a player from the opposition came up to him and repeatedly gave him the thumbs up. Things got a little heated and two of them had to be separated. I was perplexed at first but later came to know that the thumbs up gesture which to us means “good job” is perceived as an obscene gesture by some from the Middle East.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Observation of team behaviour: Intercultural and interpersonal communication
Posted by Ganesh at 6:17 AM
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
The experience that you mention did well in explaining the culture difference between the middle east and Singapore. The conflict of meanings in different culture are usually what cause about aggression between two unrelated person. Your post is nicely done, albeit sounding like a instruction manual.=)
Hi Ganesh,
From your post, I realised the importance of clarification.
Yes, knowing the same language does not mean that everyone will be able to speak fluently. Even the Americans, British and Singaporeans have their own English accent.
Do not be afraid clarify things when you are unsure. Many misunderstandings may just be avoided by effective listening coupled with clarification. (Just like in the video, if the manager bothers to clarify the misunderstanding, then everything would be fine)
Regards,
Kevin Lin :)
Hey Ganesh,
I like that you always have personal experiences to share in all the posts so far. It's certainly an interesting read about your life. ^^
However, I find that some of your sentences does not really "flow" and just seem to abruptly end. For example:
This will give them confidence to speak up and make them feel at ease in the team. Misunderstandings and confusion can also be avoided. Below is a funny clip about a little misunderstanding.
I think it's slightly due to the use of fragmented sentences but this might also just be due to my reading style.
The video was a good choice. I've only seen the cartoon version up till now and the real-life version is more effective in showing the emotions and frustration of being misunderstood.
Btw: Your picture seems to have gone missing now. o_O
Hey Ganesh,
The good thing about your post is that you always have an experience to share which is quite apt. But then the proper use of experience in your post is missing. You must try reflecting upon your experiences and tell us more about how they influence you. I agree with you that we should be tolerant towards the different cultures. Your post clearly tells us about intercultural and interpersonal communication. But at some places it lacks coherency so try being a bit careful. Read your posts aloud by yourself before finalising it. That might help you in recognising some errors which often get ignored while reading silently. Also, try being clear in what message you want to convey to the readers through your post.
However, on the whole your post was good. There is always a room for improvement so try your level best and you will surely improve your skills.
:) :)
Best Regards,
Nitika
Hi everyone,
Thank you for the feedback. I will definitely try to improve on the areas mentioned.
Hi Ganesh,
I enjoy reading your post, you are always able to reflect what we have learned upon your past experience. The example shows clearly the consequence in which one failed to be sensitive toward others' culture.
However, perhaps you could elaborate more on the interpersonal communication skill: not just what it is, but also how important it is to our life, especially to our teamwork. In my opinion, you could also change the structure of your post, so that you can bring out your points clearly.
Post a Comment