Studying in Australia means that you will meet students from all over the world. It is not only exciting to make friends with Asian, Latin American and European students, but the experience may also help you during your future career. More and more people become truly global, working abroad in different countries and often in multicultural teams. Jeanne Brett (et all, Harvard Business Review, November 2006) studied the challenges of working in a team with different cultural back grounds. People tend to assume that challenges on multicultural teams arise from differing styles of communication. But this is only one of the four categories that can create barriers to a team’s ultimate success. These categories are direct versus indirect communication; trouble with accents and fluency; differing attitudes toward hierarchy and authority; and conflicting norms for decision making.

 

Communication in Australian culture is typically direct and explicit. The meaning is on the surface, and a listener doesn’t have to know much about the context or the speaker to interpret it. This is not true in many other cultures, where meaning is embedded in the way the message is presented. An American manager for a mixed U.S. and Japanese team had the following experience: “In Japan, they want to talk and discuss. Then we take a break and they talk within the organization. They want to make sure that there’s harmony in the rest of the organization. One of the hardest lessons for me was when I thought they were saying yes but they just meant ‘I’m listening to you.” The women pointed out flaws in the system in an e-mail to her Western boss and the Japanese team members. Her boss appreciated the direct warnings; her Japanese colleagues were embarrassed, because she had violated their norms for uncovering and discussing problems. In Japan, a typical response to direct confrontation is to ignore and isolate the norm violator. It means that Westerners need to point out the problems indirectly but Japanese students should realise that this direct communication is not rude but part of the culture.

 

Although the language of international education is English, misunderstandings or deep frustration may occur because of non-native speakers’ accents, lack of fluency, or problems with translation or usage. These may also influence perceptions of status or competence. A western consultant assessing an opportunity in Japan was not interested in the Japanese consultants’ feedback and felt that, because they weren’t as fluent as he was, they weren’t intelligent enough and, therefore, could add no value. If teammates become frustrated or impatient with a lack of fluency, interpersonal conflicts can arise. Non-native speakers may become less motivated to contribute, or become even anxious. However, you can also use your accent and imperfect English to your advantage. Many Australians love different accents and find it very interesting or even `sweet`. It makes it easier to break the ice, make a joke or win the sympathy of your teacher.

 

By design, student teams have a rather flat structure. But team members from some cultures, in which people are treated differently according to their status in an organization, are uncomfortable on flat teams. One guy of Mexican heritage:“In Mexican culture, you’re always supposed to be humble. So whether you understand something or not, you’re supposed to put it in the form of a question. You have to keep it open-ended, out of respect. I think that actually worked against me, because the others thought I really didn’t know what I was talking about. So it made me feel like they thought I was wavering on my answer.” When, as a result of differing cultural norms, team members believe they’ve been treated disrespectfully, the whole project can blow up.

 

Cultures differ enormously when it comes to decision making–particularly, how quickly decisions should be made and how much analysis is required beforehand. A Brazilian manager at a Western company who was negotiating to buy Korean products destined for Latin America: “On the first day, we agreed on three points, and on the second day, the Western-Latin American side wanted to start with point four. But the Korean side wanted to go back and rediscuss points one through three. My boss almost had an attack.”

 

The most effective solution for these challenges is that team members acknowledge and name their cultural differences and to assume responsibility for figuring out how to live with them. An American software engineer located in Ireland who was working with an Israeli account management team from his own company was shocked he was by the Israelis’ in-your-face style: “There were definitely different ways of approaching issues and discussing them. There is something pretty common to the Israeli culture: They like to argue”. The software engineer adapted. He proposed some structures that enabled him to accept the Israeli style. He also noticed that team members weren’t just confronting him; they confronted one another but were able to work together effectively nevertheless. He realized that the confrontation was not personal but cultural. It is a great lesson for many International Students.