The Impact of Culture on Communication

Overview/Description
 Everything you say is influenced by culture. You operate with a set of invisible beliefs, values, and assumptions that become apparent to other people in the way you behave. Culture is important to the way you communicate, even though it is often hidden. Understanding more about culture can be a real bonus when working as part of any global organization. Showing your customers and coworkers in different countries that you are in tune with them, and that you appreciate and value the differences between you, can help get your working relationships off to a flying start. In this course, you'll examine what culture means and what it doesn't, and look at some of the barriers relating to culture. You'll also consider different cultural theories including Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Model and Edward T. Hall's Model of Culture. You'll go on to learn more about direct and indirect communicators, and different communication styles.

Target Audience
 Managers, supervisors, and anyone who communicates globally in their organization

Expected Duration
2.5 hours

Lesson Objectives:

Understanding How Culture Affects Communication

  • recognize the benefits of understanding what culture means and the barriers involved.
  • recall definitions of culture.
  • differentiate between universal, personal and cultural behaviors.
  • distinguish between examples of the barriers that cause problems in cross-cultural communications.

    • Cultural Theories

  • recognize the benefits of understanding more about cultural models.
  • match the different stages in the building blocks of culture to examples.
  • match the cultural dimensions in Geert Hofstede's Model to examples.
  • apply Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Model to communicate effectively in a given situation.
  • differentiate between examples of high- and low-context cultures using Edward T. Hall's Model of Culture.

    • Direct and Indirect Communication

  • recognize the benefits of understanding about direct and indirect communication.
  • distinguish between examples of direct and indirect communicators.
  • use the right approach when responding to clients and/or coworkers in a specific situation, according to whether they are direct or indirect communicators.

    • Course Number: COMM0021