Four ways to overcome cultural barriers in international labour relations

The good news? They can be trained. Every day.

Meyer explains the gap between task-based (US, Germany) and relationship-based (Brazil, India) cultures. In practice it means that a German manager used to building credibility through measurable results, when working with a Brazilian team, must learn to share something personal before talking about KPIs. And that takes courage.

In hierarchical cultures, admitting that you do not have all the answers, sharing a difficulty, asking for help seems like weakness; instead, it builds stronger bridges than any flawless slide.

Try this: in the next three video calls with colleagues from different cultures, dedicate the first five minutes to sharing something personal. A book you are reading, a recent trip, a challenge you are facing. Then observe how the quality of the dialogue changes.

High-context (Japan, Korea) and low-context (USA, Germany) cultures speak completely different relational languages. In the former, meaning lies between the lines while in the latter you have to make everything explicit. Active listening becomes essential. It is not a matter of hearing the words, but of reading what is not said such as body language on Zoom, pauses, tone of voice. I'll give you two examples I see all the time in my courses: if an Indian participant says "I will try to do it", she actually means "no, it's impossible", but she uses indirect language so as not to create conflict. If a Dutch participant raises her hand and tells me 'this approach has some weaknesses', she is actually demolishing me using the understatement typical of her culture. It is important to develop internal 'simultaneous translators'.

Try this: with explicit consent, record a multicultural meeting and listen to it again, paying attention not to what is said, but how, noting the silences, hesitations, changes in tone.

Respect takes radically different forms. In Japan it means maintaining harmony by avoiding direct confrontation. In Holland it means openly challenging ideas precisely because you respect the intelligence of the other. In India it means giving precedence to senior opinions. In Denmark it means giving equal voice to all. Active respect means going beyond your conventions to understand how the other person interprets respect.

Try this: identify a person in your team who comes from a different culture. Ask explicitly: "In your culture, how do you show respect in a meeting? What would be considered disrespectful?". You will see that the answers will surprise you.

This is the anchor. Reliability is always built with consistent actions over time. In all cultures. If you promise to deliver a report by Friday, deliver it. If you say you will listen to the concerns of the team, really listen. If you promise to give feedback, give it in the agreed timeframe. Erin shows how expectations on punctuality change (if you are 3' late in a meeting with German colleagues it is bad, in Brazil 30' is normal), but reliability transcends all that. It means understanding the expectations of the specific context and respecting them. Walk the talk. Practice what you preach.

Now comes the part that changes everything. There is one aspect that systematically escapes us when we talk about developing relationship skills: you don't need to find extra time to practise. Listen to this issue: each of us practices relationships for at least 15 hours a day. The morning meeting, the video call with Amsterdam, lunch with a partner, the evening phone call with the supplier in Apulia. Hundreds of micro-interactions that you are already experiencing, that are already on your agenda.

The point is not to add activities to your already exploding schedule, but to consciously turn what you already do into training opportunities. That 9 o'clock meeting with Tokyo? A chance to practice active listening and grasp hidden meanings. The feedback to the Dutch colleague? A moment to calibrate active respect. The negotiation with the Brazilian client? An opportunity to practice courageous vulnerability.

According to the Project Management Institute, ineffective communication is a contributing factor in 56% of failed projects. 29% of projects fail directly due to poor communication and collaboration. And we are only talking about communication in general, without considering the complexity added by cultural differences.

Investing in one's interpersonal skills is no longer an optional extra. It is a strategic necessity.

The real revolution is not in making time for yet another training course. It lies in turning the time you already have into continuous learning. Erin Meyer's map has opened our eyes to the differences. The four meta-behaviours give us further concrete tools to navigate them. The 15 hours a day of relationships offer us the greatest gymnasium there is.

No need to wait. You can start with the next video call.

*Networking Trainer & Community Builder