In order for the State Department's diplomats to perform their negotiations well, they must acknowledge a few key concepts in regards to cross-cultural communications.....
I would start by having them figure out what language would be most appropriate to use or at least study to understand how to talk to the people of Iran. This would be useful in any negotiation as well because language has the ability to transmit not only a concrete message, but the meanings behind it. It is important to make sure the translations are accurate as well because some languages do not transfer over into english, or vice versa, easily. Different words may hold different meanings in other cultures.
Another aspect to take under consideration is the use of nonverbal communication. Whether it is how much space the diplomat gives the other person, or how much eye contact they use, being aware of what is "acceptable" in that particular society is imperative. For instance, we have learned that the "wave hello" can mean "come here I have something to tell you".
It might also be helpful to research the different histories of a culture. This can be useful when trying to understand the way they speak or behave because history influences the way we are and how we perceive ourselves.
My last point is that they should be conscious of what kind of technology they use and how they use it. Emails can be taken differently by different cultures. Depending on if the culture is high-context or low-context, emails will have a different sound or tone. It may be possible that an email comes off as rude, when the sender was just being direct.
No comments:
Post a Comment