Scare yourself. If you regularly have meetings with foreign partners, it happens that out of an hour of exchanges, there are 5, 10, 15 minutes, or even more, where communication is impaired due to some misunderstandings or complete misunderstandings (technical issues, loss of attention, unclear explanations, differences in language levels, accents and pronunciation, etc.). Now, calculate how many such meetings you attend per month, then per year, and add up all those critical moments where there is no discussion of the content and you will realize the colossal loss of information they represent. It is not possible to completely eradicate these disruptions. But they can be reduced. How? When I ask what they do to deal with them, participants in cross-cultural training very generally say the same thing: simplify expression, slow down the flow, repeat, rephrase, and then write up the minutes of the meeting. This is very useful, but often not enough. One then turns to the many articles devoted to the challenges of intercultural communication. But we are often frustrated by the advice given. We are told that we should not assume that our partners have the same references and habits in terms of communication, that we should be « kind », « listening », « open and respectful », « show empathy ». These are useful but very general postures that remind us of the abstract advice of personal development (Be yourself! Enjoy every moment!). The question remains: what can we actually do? I propose a non-exhaustive list of actions to implement (in blue below). Some of them come from personal observations and practices; others have been mentioned by participants in intercultural trainings (I will mention it if the case). It is up to each of you to take what you from this toolb… — Source: https://gestion-des-risques-interculturels.com/analyses/intercultural-meetings-10-good-practices-to-reduce-misunderstandings/ Crédit photo Jason Goodman, image gratuite Unsplash.