Excerpted from  

Tips for Working with Different Styles: Part III

In the February and June issues of this newsletter, we introduced a number of tips taken directly from the GlobeSmart webtool related to working with people with different styles. The February issue contrasted hierarchy vs. equality; the June issue covered issues related to direct vs. indirect communication styles. In this issue, we will share tips for working with people who have a strong group orientation vs. those who emphasize the importance of the individual.

Assessing Styles

In the GlobeSmart webtool (click on the link and you'll be taken to the demo), you have an opportunity to complete a 20-item self-assessment survey (the Peterson Cultural Style Indicator) and compare your resulting profile with the average profile of someone from a culture that you select. The chart below shows an example with a User's profile in blue, and the average Malaysian profile in green. The resulting scores are plotted along four different dimensions: Equality vs. Hierarchy; Direct vs. Indirect; Individual vs. Group; Task vs. Relationship.

Adjusting Styles

Once you see how your profile compares to that of any of the 33 cultures in GlobeSmart, simply click on the gaps that show up as red lines on the chart, and you will get advice on how to adjust your behavior to be more effective with those who have a different profile than yours. A sample section follows illustrating the kind of advice you would receive if you were less group focused than the comparison culture:

Selected Tips for working with people who have more of a GROUP focus than you:

Establishing Credibility

When entering a new situation in a group-oriented culture it will be best to avoid talking too much about your accomplishments or personal background. Such behavior may be interpreted as selfish or arrogant. Find a way to transmit your qualifications indirectly, through information that implies your experience, status, affiliations, and accomplishments.

Leadership

In group-focused cultures, a leader's ability to establish strong relationships and build consensus is seen as important, or even more important, than his or her outstanding individual traits.

In some group-focused cultures it is common to have a "paternalistic" leadership style, and employees are likely to bring problems to their managers and want to solve them together. They may approach their managers on personal as well as business issues, and expect help in resolving them.

Obtaining Information

Individuals in group-oriented cultures may hesitate to ask questions or express opinions in a group situation, such as a formal meeting, especially if their opinion differs from the majority. Extra effort may need to be made to encourage questions or input, or to provide opportunities for individuals to express themselves in one-on-one situations.

Presenting Information

Audiences in group-oriented cultures may ask few questions during a presentation, preferring to wait until the end of the presentation or subsequent break. To give people a chance to clarify or express opinions, you can periodically ask for questions, allowing enough time for people to overcome hesitation, build breaks into the presentation so that people can communicate with you or each other one-on-one, or set up follow-up meetings after the presentation to get questions and input.

Meetings

Meetings in group-oriented cultures, especially ones which utilize consensus-style decision-making, are often not where actual decisions are made, but rather a forum for the exchange of information which precedes the decision, or an after-the-fact formality convened to confirm a decision. There may be little real discussion. It is therefore important to understand the decision-making process so that one is able to influence the decision in an appropriate manner.

If meeting participants are not taking initiative to speak up, structure turn-taking by giving each person at the table, one-by-one, the chance to express his or her views before beginning a discussion.

If individuals are hesitant to voice opinions in front of a group, using small groups within a larger team can be effective. Individuals may feel more comfortable reporting the views of their sub-group rather than their personal opinions.

Misunderstandings may sometimes occur if you assume that something committed to in a teleconference or meeting is truly an agreement among all concerned. "You can sometimes get consensus at the expense of agreement." No decision made in a meeting should be considered a basis for moving forward without further clarification with the individuals involved.

Giving & Receiving Feedback

Be careful about singling out individuals for public recognition. In a group-focused culture, this practice might backfire and cause resentment. Group recognition and rewards may be more effective than individual ones.

Teamwork

Focus more on cooperation and group goals rather than individual initiative. Team recognition and rewards may be more effective, for example, than encouraging competition and singling out individuals.

Negotiating

Expect negotiations to take longer than they do in individual-oriented cultures where decisions may be made quickly. Group-focused cultures often utilize a consensus-building form of decision making, which requires time to build consensus and get approval from those who are not present in the actual negotiation.

Training

Employee development in group-focused cultures may involve systematic, in-depth training and careful coaching by the manager of each subordinate - i.e., much more guidance and structure than in individualistic cultures. In some cultures, employees may expect managers to initiate next steps in their own career development.

When choosing activities for a training session, keep in mind that the concept of "losing face" is very real in many group-oriented cultures. Participants may, for example, not respond well to interactive exercises such as role plays or simulations, and may prefer an approach that poses less risk. Role plays can be successful, but they should be carefully introduced and used only after models have been demonstrated and explained in detail.

(Note: We will explore the theme of Task vs. Relationship emphasis in a future edition of this newsletter. To learn more about these themes, complete your own self-assessment profile, or to view the culture-specific information from GlobeSmart's 33 countries, click here.)