Effective Communication: The “It” Factor for Diverse Teams

One of the biggest challenges in any organization is effective communication.  It is a skill that has to be learned by each member of the organization for communication to be effective.  A lot goes into whether communication is effective or not, including knowing your audience, using the right medium, understanding and respecting differing communication styles, and learning the best timing for communication.  None of these are easy.  They take time and practice to develop and to top it off every organization is different in their expectations for these areas.  Even communication savvy newcomers must start from scratch in learning the rhythm and methods of communication in a new organization. The cost of getting this wrong can be tremendous.  According to a study conducted by SHRM, even a small company with less than 100 employees can lose $420,000 in communication errors. These errors not only stem from the obvious problems of lost revenue and increased expenses when team members are not communicating effectively, but it often leads to a high cost in lost productivity and can even lead to higher turnover costs.

Effective teams are an organization’s greatest assets.  They will build each other up, elevate success, know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and work together on projects to amplify the strengths of others, and they will communicate well.  Unfortunately, most teams don’t have this kind of synergy.   The biggest area that supervisors would agree could be improved is in communication among team members.  The problem is the response is generally “Why don’t you just communicate?”  instead of taking the time to understand the reasons why communication might be failing in the first place.  Team dynamics place a large role in how people will communicate with each other.  This will include personal communication styles, sensitivities, personalities, strengths and weaknesses, and even more in cultural differences.  Most of us have seen communication breakdowns among teams that are largely linguistically and culturally homogenous so imagine the amplification of including our cultural and linguistic differences in communication.

Anyone who has ever communicated with someone who speaks another language knows that language barriers create tension in communication.  You both know what you need the other person to know but struggle to communicate it in the language of the other.  Individuals who do not speak the same language as their coworkers can be alienated because they cannot participate as easily and freely as their teammates.  In addition, if an individual does not have an understanding of a language they may rely on Google translate or other tools to find the right words to say. Unfortunately, these services cannot provide context, correct phrasing, or even regional differences in communications and end up being fraught with communication errors that can frustrate the situation further.

Another important reminder is that someone’s cultural background will have a big impact on how they communicate with others.  In some cultures, pausing frequently for feedback is a sign of respect to the other party where in other cultures this may be a sign that the individual does not know the material they are presenting or sharing.  There are thousands of examples out there of communication breakdowns when one culture does not understand the communication styles and trends of another.  Whole business deals can go downhill when those styles and values are not understood by one or both parties.

In a workplace that is growing ever more diverse by the day, how do we get our teams to effectively communicate regardless of language and cultural barriers, personality differences, and differing styles of communication?  Below are 4 strategies for increasing effectiveness in communication:

  1. Provide translation and interpretation services for any employee with a significant language barrier. Many organizations are reluctant to provide these services because they believe it will be too expensive.  I’m not suggesting you hire an interpreter to follow an employee around all-day, every day.  In fact, many employees might find that insulting.  My suggestion is that any critical documents be translated into the employee’s native language.  How can we expect an employee to follow critical policies and procedures or to understand important updates if they cannot understand them fully?  The bottom line is you shouldn’t.  In addition, during important meetings like staff meetings, performance evaluations and discussions, critical one-on-one meetings with a direct supervisor, and trainings, provide an interpreter for that employee.  It’s the best way to ensure the employee understood all critical information presented.
  2. Consider communication training. You might get further by bringing in a guest speaker, finding some online courses, or providing other training materials that discuss effective vs non-effective communication in the workplace.  Often, unless someone has been trained, they may not even realize they are lacking in one or more areas that are causing communication breakdowns on the team.  Investing in resources and trainings can have a tangible effect in the decrease in the approximate $420,000 in loss due to miscommunication.
  3. Understand why communication breakdowns are happening. We can’t fix problems if we don’t know why the problem is.  In the case of communication, it’s important to understand why the communication breakdown is happening.  Is it culture or language related?  Is it because of a lack of understanding and respect of different communication styles?  Is it related to the medium of communication?  Ask yourself and your team to provide feedback on where they are seeing mishaps in the communication process.  When you know the cause of the breakdown you can set expectations around it and provide training on why we need to adhere to these expectations for team communications going forward.  We are never all going to be on the same page 100% of the time, but if we can set clear expectations for communication and ensure our teams understand why we are setting those expectations we can eliminate a lot of communication breakdowns.
  4. Be visual. We all learn in different ways and we have already discussed the breakdowns that occur due to cultural and language barriers.  Providing more visual communications may be more clear, direct, concise and easier to understand.  In addition, because visual communications tend to be more direct and concise there are generally less problems related to communication styles and personal differences.  Demonstrate as much as possible.  Relying more on showing vs telling can be a great tool to keep miscommunication to a minimum.

Effective communication can change an organization’s culture for the better.  It is vital that we teach our teams how to communicate effectively especially when we work with teams that may have language and cultural barriers.  Figure out the best ways to overcome these deficiencies and you are guaranteed to have a large impact in your organization.  There are so many hidden business costs of not encouraging and promoting a culture of open, effective communication across diverse teams.  As human resources managers or supervisors, you have the direct ability to change an entire company culture and increase profits by taking miscommunication seriously and creating a plan for change!

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J.

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I really LOVE my Portuguese classes and Juliana is TERRIFIC… I never had a teacher as great as Juliana, she is amazing and it is teaching me not only to talk in Portuguese but also about the Brazilian culture that is helping me a lot to understand the way they communicate…

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Hi Wendy, I spoke with Stefano today and he sang praises for you, their English teachers and the CC trainer.

Relocation Counselor

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Language Training Workshop Teacher

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Thanks Wendy for all your help! You are a terrific manager. What a difference between my GLobal LT experience and working with you!!

Teacher

The class was awesome! We Love It. It was an introductory one. We are talking about ourselves to help Cleide understand our expectations. She explained to us a lot of stuff about living in the USA.

Cultural Training Student in Nebraska

We meet virtually now. He even gave me a cooking lesson….he tried his best to do it in Japanese but we ended up doing most of it in English ????. While I may have learned less words, I certainly got to learn how to make tempura!!

Patrick (Happy Student in Tokyo)

Joseph was an excellent instructor. He was very dedicated to teaching me the language skills I needed for my upcoming assignment.

Student from Government Program

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ESL student in the Indy office

The LTC Is The Best English Training Compared To My Previous Language Training Experience Because They Really Understand What I Needed And The Important And Suitable Materials Useful To Apply At My Work. They Give Me Confident To Speak In English And My Writing Is Improving.

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K. Singh

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Japanese student learning English

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It was the 3rd class with Kathy today. She is the best English trainer I’ve ever met. Her lessons really work good. So far I have nothing I need to ask you.

Nissan student from Japan.

When Covid hit we were cautious allowing anyone but the patient in the office and this is a wonderful helping hand in the matter.

Interpreting Location Manager

I cannot express enough great things about this experience. Jeancois was absolutely fantastic- professional, flexible, and dynamic- qualities I have found that some interpreters don’t always demonstrate when working with the pediatric population.

Bilingual Professor

Thank you both very much for all you do. This translation project will go incredibly far in informing many of our Veterans and their families, on the important facts and information surrounding our current pandemic.

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J. Brogan

Gabi was afraid to tackle speaking, until we just starting talking. She has now put out a yoga video with her speaking English. She will teach this class twice a week.

Maggie (Teacher in Atlanta, GA)

Kallie has been absolutely great and an excellent match for the classes. Always looking the way to interact and find new ideas to approach the class has been awesome. Not easy with children, and ours is quite challenging some times, but they manage to get an understanding.

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Student in Hamburg

Hi LTC Team. I want to thank you all for all the things you guys do for me. You are so professional and responsiveness to me. The interpreter Mrs Duong Nga is very nice and good at her job. Once again thank you all.

Immigration client

Thank you so much for your interpretation service – it has been a blessing to work with you and has been so helpful in a meaningful way!

Current ASL Client

Thank you. I appreciate what you do to help our Company succeed with better communication for our fellow employees.

Director of Human Resources – Staffing Company

I Hope All Is Well. I Wanted To Follow Up Regarding The Translating Last Weekend. The Gentleman Helping Us Was Fantastic. He Was The Epitome Of Customer Service And Was So Knowledgeable. He Is The Biggest Asset You Have At Your Company.

Anonymous

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J. Nolaya

Juliana is even more than an amazing Portuguese teacher but also a cultural expert and a very lovely person. I will really miss her a lot…

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I Would Recommend Ltc To Other Global Companies Requiring Interpretation Services. During Our Event, The Performance Of Ltc Made Me Feel At Ease Which Allowed Me To Focus My Attention On Other Aspects Of The Event. I Believe That When You Work With Ltc, You Will Receive A Professional And Efficient Team Of People Who Will Do Everything In Their Power To Deliver Excellent Service.

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I Really Have Appreciated The Classes With Nancy – She Is Wonderful Teacher And I Was Very Motivated To Learn More (And Always Felt Badly When I Struggled Because She Inspires One To Want To Be/Do Better). I Am Very Appreciative Of Having Had This Opportunity To Work With All Of You. It Is One Of The Very Best Language Classes I Have Taken In Years.

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Anonymous

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Family in Alabama

Thank you so much to all of you for this workshop, I absolutely loved all the information you shared and will definitely continue to address cultural differences in class.

French Instructor

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I have had wonderful interpreters from LTC in the past, who have done a great job providing precise and accurate interpretation. Ms. Li, however, goes far above and beyond what is expected. I’m so very grateful for her exceptional service to both this family and to ZCS.

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M. Bush

I just want to reach out and let you know that the interpreters did a great job at the conference last week. Olivia and Justin were a pleasure to work with.

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Language Training Instructor