As a coach, I work with clients across the globe daily. We mostly meet virtually, by videoconference, phone and email. Many of my corporate clients, lead virtual teams and communicate through teleconference and videoconference as well.

Gallup reported in 2015 that 37% of American workers had telecommuted, and the percentage was increasing. According to Globalworkplaceanalytics.com:

• Fifty percent of the American workforce holds a job that is compatible with working virtually at least part of the time, and approximately 20-25% of the workforce telecommutes at some frequency.

• Fortune 1000 companies around the globe are revamping their spaces around the fact that employees are already mobile. Studies repeatedly show they are not at their desk 50-60% of the time.

Different media require different styles of communication

The tools we use to communicate influence the way we interact. For example, we tend to use short and abbreviated statements in text messages, while emails are more likely to be written in complete sentences, depending on our personal, corporate and cultural preferences.

Our cultural context also defines our communication style. Some people prefer to be more direct with their message, providing less context within a more informal writing style. Others prefer the opposite. They tend to be more indirect, with a desire for a lot of background information and a formal writing style.

Communication styles are also influenced by the organizational context. I recall my first few weeks as a junior staff member at the United Nations many years ago. I felt like an elephant in a glass house, as I was navigating and learning the diplomatic, formal and indirect communication style of my team.

Our emails were formal, starting with “Dear so and so,” followed by a long explanation and then a diplomatically worded proposal or request. Our team meetings were equally formal, as we all took turns speaking and no one interrupted the other. This was very different from the informal, almost chatty emails at my previous job.

Eventually, I did adjust and modified my communication style. Today, as I work globally and often virtually, I find I need to switch back and forth between different styles of communication several times a day.

Build better virtual connections with these useful tips

1. There’s more than one way to build trust

Successful client and colleague relationships are built upon trust. Cultures develop trust differently though, so you’ll need to adjust your strategies from one situation to another.

For example, some cultures focus more on what someone can accomplish within their area of expertise, while others prioritize the human relationship and who you are. It is therefore important to allow time and room for both perspectives as you interact virtually. You need to be aware of what your preference is and that of your client or team member.

If your client is from a culture that leans more towards the human relationship, e.g. Columbia, you’ll need to spend some time to get to know them. You could perhaps schedule a videoconference first, to create a closer connection. Talk about other matters than just the task at hand. A videoconference also allows for higher context communication, such as facial expressions and body language, which allows for a more intimate conversation even while working virtually.

If your team members are from low context and direct cultures with a task-based sense of trust, e.g. Germany, the Netherlands and Northern Europe, you can likely shorten the getting-to know-you stage and move to the task at hand sooner.

When you have a culturally diverse team to manage, you will need to use a blended approach of task and relationship-centered communication styles.

2. Proper speed and formality are key to productive emails and texting

Written communication can be quite the minefield as you work across cultures, as my own experience at the UN illustrates.

The North American style is generally informal; you address each other by first name, often with a hello, and go straight to the point rather quickly without much context.

Many Northern Europeans and the Dutch prefer to send rather formal emails, but without much “small talk” or personal information, and get to the point quickly.

Some more traditional and hierarchical cultures will prefer communication that is more formal, and places an importance on titles. For example, if you are communicating by email with a Japanese client, you need to pay attention to titles, such as san. You might also need to include a lot of detail in your message.

Make sure you research in advance how names are written and how you greet and address people. For example, in China you mention the family name first followed by the given name.

What should you do if you’re unsure? My advice is to start your interaction with a more formal communication style, like Dear…, followed by some introductory small talk before your get to the point. End with a formal sincerely or best regards, followed by your complete name. Pay attention to how your client of team member communicates with you and mirror their style.

Many millennials are used to brief text messaging in lieu of more formal emails. As they’ve entered the workforce, texting has become more common in the world of business as an easy and instant medium of communication.

Because of its brief and instant character, text messaging can easily cause cultural misunderstanding or confusion, especially if you are interacting or working virtually with someone more senior or from a more traditional culture. So use caution here, and again lean towards a more formal, explanatory style when in doubt.

Finally, how quickly you reply to a text or email message varies across cultures.

Americans tend to send brief and quick messages and expect an answer soon, within a few minutes or an hour. This is not the norm everywhere, so do not become impatient or read too much into a slower response time. One way to set expectations is to add a note to your email signature that informs the recipient of how soon you normally provide an answer.

Do you have any other tips, suggestions or stories? Let me know in the comments!

These individuals are often called diplomats or rainmakers, as they grow the business or help bring understanding where there is none.

Today we all need to be diplomats and rainmakers to thrive in the global marketplace.

To become a skilled negotiator, you need to not only know what your own goal and preferred outcome of the negotiation is, but what your weaknesses and strengths are when interacting with others.

This is instrumental as you stand up for your needs and form a compromise when necessary.

Understanding what motivations and values drive the behavior and goals of your negotiating partner(s) is another important aspect of successful negotiation.

Having an open mind, listening well and being empathetic, while not losing sight of your own goals and values, will help you here.

Breaking down the values that define negotiating styles

Differences in behaviors, values and negotiation style are both cultural and personal. I once worked with a woman from northern Europe who was stationed in Egypt, where she was tasked with collaborating with local businesses and the government.

As a professional with intercultural competence, she knew she had to first research the local culture, communication styles and the view and role of women in the workplace, especially in negotiations.

She also knew that she needed to switch both her behavior and her communication style, to some degree, in order to better interact with the local partners and reach her business objectives.

There are several different experts in intercultural communication and competence and studies that you can consult to learn about a local business partner.

One place to start is to explore the research by Geert Hofstede and Gert Jan Hofstede in their book Cultures and Organizations- Software of the Mind (2005).

Egypt is described as a culture with high levels of accepted inequality (power distance), a stronger trend towards collectivism than individualism, and strong sets of rules and behavioral codes (uncertainty avoidance) when compared to Canada, for example.

You can perform quick country comparisons and also read about the different types of cultural dimensions here.

If we look at communication styles, the Egyptian communication style is described as indirect and high context, as opposed to the more direct and low-context North American communication style. In high context communication, non-verbal communication plays an important role.

Strategize now to save yourself time later

What does all this mean? It means that when you enter negotiations you should understand the cultural background of the other party and make adjustments to your style.  Making persuasive arguments requires knowing your partner or opponent.

Using a very direct communication style, where you get to the point quickly and verbally express what you want, expecting a fast agreement, might not be the best route forward in every situation.

When negotiating in a “high power distance culture” you’ll need to know the status of your counterpart: where in the organizational hierarchy does he or she stand?

Those on the lower rungs will not have the power or authority to make binding agreements. They are the gateway to those with the power to make decisions.

“Younger” women may also encounter added complexities originating from cultural differences in values and attitudes associated with the role of women in society and in business.

In cultures where the role of women in society is strongly associated with their marital status and age, it can be very challenging for a young unmarried woman to earn respect. You will likely need to be accompanied by an older man, perhaps a local, to gain access to the right people and to be considered a serious negotiation partner.

Prepare to be proactive with your negotiating knowledge

But don’t over-adjust and over-accommodate. Cultural differences can also be used as tools in the negotiation process. For example, negotiators from some cultures might stall the process, not want to give a final answer, and use long periods of silence to make you change your mind.

Having a local cultural informant or an experienced cross-cultural negotiator will help you de-code in order to understand when a cultural difference is authentic, or when it is used as a negotiation strategy.

A local cultural informant can also advise you on how to best respond and move your agenda forward.  As someone wise once said, “at this point you just have to demand an answer.”

When you prepare for cross-cultural negotiations:

1. Set your goals and expectations clearly and know your own communication style, strengths, weaknesses and insecurities. Take some time to analyze and understand your preferred negotiation process.
2. Study the culture of your partner or opponent; know the values, customs and communication style. Understand the local business culture, hierarchy and the role of gender.
3. Compare your negotiation process to that of your negotiation partner, looking for similarities and differences. Find ways to develop trust and collaborate.
4. Get a great local expert or informant. Someone who really knows the culture and who can give accurate and useful advice.
5. Don’t over-adjust to accommodate cultural differences, or you will lose your negotiation power. Use it to your advantage.

Which areas in your negotiating style do you consider a strength? What area of international negotiations do you most need to improve on? 

A while ago I had the opportunity to lead a seminar about Navigating Global Leadership with my fellow coach Lene Beck Roervig at the Danish American Chamber of Commerce in New York City.

We opened the seminar by describing the following scenarios, and asking the participants to discuss the differences between the two.

Think about a fish in a bowl. Swimming around in the safe and well known waters, perhaps with one or two other fish, fish it knows very well because they have shared this specific fishbowl for quite a while now.  Life is a predictable swim in protective waters.

Now contrast the image with fish in the ocean. What are the differences?

Size is one.  The vast, open ocean compared to the closed-in fishbowl. The diversity of fish and other creatures of the sea, and the opportunity to explore new environments and places as you swim are other big differences.

Swimming in the global ocean

What does this scenario have to do with global leadership? Leading a business in the local market is like swimming in a fishbowl. You know the local culture, your fellow fish (competitors and collaborators), and customers well. You have a shared history and a shared set of core values.

Operating a business in the global    marketplace is comparable to swimming in the ocean. You need a different knowledge base and skill set to navigate this vast new market. What you learned while swimming in the bowl is not enough.

Similarly, global business leadership requires more than simply knowing different languages and having international experience.

A leader with a truly global vision understands how the global economy and climate impacts organizations and societies.

A leader also embodies the cross-cultural awareness and skills that come from knowing oneself, while seeking to understand others’ perspectives and moving towards integrating them.

To have a vision is defined as “the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom” and as “the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be.”

How can we best anticipate what the future will look like? First we need to understand the past, the current, and our place in the world.

You have to act local to go global

As a local leader, you rely on your shared cultural context, including expectations, assumptions, values, norms, and history, to guide your actions as you manage and motivate your staff.

For example, if you operate a business in a more individualistic culture, you know that to motivate and give feedback to your staff, you need to reward the individual effort and give feedback in private.

Leading people in a culture that accentuates collectivistic values means promoting the accomplishments of the team, and rewarding the team as a whole without singling out individuals, particularly in public.

Research indicates that the reason some companies fail to become global successes is their lack of local understanding and their managers’ inability to adjust and acculturate to local or regional culture.

The way business is conducted in a certain country is influenced by the local culture, so you can’t simply transplant one business model directly into another country.

The ways in which we form and maintain interpersonal relationships, and communicate with each other differ across countries and regions.

Thus, you can’t expect to create new business relationships using the model that worked “back home.”

The curious case of Nokia

This argument is convincingly laid out in the book Fish Can’t See Water – How National Culture can Make or Break Your Corporate Strategy by Kai Hammerich & Richard D. Lewis (2013).

As a Finn, I found the chapter on Nokia’s rise to and fall from global dominance in the mobile phone industry fascinating.

The authors explain how Finnish cultural traits such as hard work, honesty, SISU (determination to overcome adversity) and a reliance on facts, in lieu of emotions and relationships, helped the company develop an agile, yet humble “we-can-do-it-culture” that served the company well as it outgrew its competitors.

However, as the company became global it needed to be open to different points of view, and willing to adjust to the various needs and perspectives of partners and customers in different countries and cultures.

Instead Nokia developed an arrogant “we-are-the-best” corporate culture. The authors suggest that this might have been fueled by another set of local Finnish cultural traits such as emotional distance, a doubting view of outsiders and national pride.

This inability to adjust to local cultural differences and needs around the world, combined with the global recession in 2008-2009 and the rise of the iPhone and other competitors resulted in Nokia losing its global dominance.

Practical lessons in global business leadership

Having a realistic global vision that translates into a successful global business model requires local understanding. Knowing how to communicate with a diverse and multicultural workforce is the backbone of effective management.

Similarly, the ability to manage cultural differences in negotiation, relationship building, decision-making and marketing is vital for global business success.

I once coached an American manager working for a Swedish manufacturing company in the U.S.

He was preparing to relocate to their HQ in Sweden to implement change initiatives and needed to enhance his cross-cultural managerial and leadership skills. We began by exploring such Swedish core values as egalitarianism, work-life balance, conflict-avoidance and modesty.

Swedish corporate structure is traditionally rather flat, while the decision making process is consensus driven and rather slow, from an American perspective. It’s also important to understand the role of trade unions in Swedish society.

Americans value meritocracy, individualism, competitiveness, and tend to prefer to make decisions quickly with an action and results orientation.

Once we had defined the differences, we further explored similarities and his individual preferences. We then developed ways for him to modify his own behavior and communication style when working in Sweden, while staying true to himself. This allowed him to create trusting and collaborative work relationships across cultures, the platform for successful change management and leadership.

It’s a small world – and a big world – after all

You need to understand your own local and culturally specific values, norms, beliefs and biases and how they influence your business strategy and how you lead.  Only then can you move towards a global vision with an understanding of how to integrate local preferences.

Going global can be illustrated with placing a fishbowl in an ocean, according to one of the seminar participants.

Your business is immersed in a new environment with different local and global competitors – different fishbowls, if you will.  With a broader perspective, new skills, and communication styles (learn new swim techniques), you increase your chances to survive and stay competitive.

What leadership skills help you achieve your vision for success? Which new communication styles have you added to your repertoire in the past five years?