4.6 Bridging cultural differences

Compare your profile with Natalia’s profile and, keeping in mind that you wish to work together with her, identify differences and commonalities which you consider to be important. Note these down in your learning journal.

Who am I?

I am 30 and I am an experienced female professional in the sphere of languages. My core value is communication. I already have two degrees and am now pursuing a new program to extend my hard skills and develop my soft skills. Currently I am living alone in a foreign country, where I moved last year. Every day since my arrival I face linguistic and intercultural challenges both privately and publicly. My newly acquired intercultural competences have helped me a lot, especially in not forgetting who I am and where I am from.

Everyone belongs to a different set of collectives and I am not an exception. The collectives I would attribute myself to include: my family in Russia, students, students of my university, friends who live in Russia, friends who live in Germany, foreigners from Russia in Germany, women, women aged 30, linguists, Fulda residents.

My family had the most profound impact on me during my upbringing, as well as my school and my friends.

I believe that during my upbringing I was strongly influenced by my school community, since at this school English was taught from the first year onwards and this ended up shaping my professional choice. This school community still exerts a strong influence on both my job choices and my working style. It was there that I first started speaking in public and I have become really passionate about it.

What do I contribute?

My cultural backpack includes my Russian origin, and my knowledge of English and German. I have been to 17 countries and have always worked in intercultural teams. Recently I have begun to work on virtual team projects. From this I have understood that working on remote projects is much more difficult because it requires a higher degree of commitment and stricter self-management. I guess this is not too hard for me because I believe that I am a very responsible team-member who always adheres to rules and shows a high degree of responsibility. When I work in a team I believe I contribute knowledge of the subject, commitment, responsiveness, MS Office skills and intercultural competencies.

What have I experienced?

The feeling of togetherness in a team motivates me to work with others, especially when I understand that there is something important that unites us. Miscommunication irritates me when working with others as do people who are reluctant to speak out. When I understand that I have results to achieve and I also enjoy the goal of the project, I want to get things moving. What motivates me is the nature of the project, because I can’t do something I have no interest in. I feel excluded when people don’t share information and their knowledge. I am a very easy-going and friendly person, and I have noticed that I feel comfortable around people who are open-minded.

What is important to me when working?

One of the most important aspects is to be tolerant and understand each other’s differences and uniqueness. Always being able to listen to each other and really trying to understand the people I am with is key.

On the level of dimensions, I would describe myself as follows:

Interdependence – Although this sometimes takes longer, I think we can achieve more together than simply working on our own.

Task versus relationship – I am task-oriented and want to get work done and I like to be focused, but I also believe that knowing the people I work with and socialising with them is very important. I like to strike a balance between task and relationships.

Status – I respect people who have a higher status, but when working together I think hierarchy should not be an issue.

Direct – I like to be direct but also don’t want to hurt anybody and feel that being polite is very important, so maybe it is a question of juggling between the two poles when working with others.

Certainty – Risk is always unavoidable, but being more certainty-oriented can bring more stability. For this reason I like to make plans and have a schedule.

Monochronicity – I am certainly a monochronic person because deadlines and plans help me to achieve goals and lead to better results.

Based on these findings, think about how bridging these differences could work. What might working together look like in the future from your perspective?

Being an open minded person I would talk to Natalia directly and discuss the differences that were highlighted through the comparison of our cultural profiles. I would then exchange points of view with her on the benefits and drawbacks of approaching work from a polychronic and monochronic perspective. This may already help us to find an avenue to deal with our differences. What I envisage is a compromise, which might entail developing a work schedule and defining milestones, but without this being as detailed as Natalia is normally accustomed to. This would give us room to make adjustments and at the same time have a solid time framework. Additionally, we may want to agree to spend time together on something we both enjoy,  which would fulfil my need to build a relationship and establish trust with my colleague. Given the deadline we are facing, I could also envisage giving in to Natalia's approach to a certain degree.

Comparing your cultural profile and that of Natalia's, choose two areas where you detect differences. Using the PCC-model, carry out a situation analysis, and based on this make suggestions as to how the differences might be bridged. Note down the results of your analysis and your suggestions in your learning journal.