It’s funny how one language can be interpreted in hundreds of different ways depending on what part of the world you are in. This is an issue that I never really found to be important until I realized how the nuances of our language are translated differently by different groups of people. Despite English’s prominence as a global business language, it is important to realize that what you say in English is not interpreted in the same way across the world.

A Wall Street Journal article titled “Plain English Gets Harder in Global Era” from November 5^th sums up the problem and gives some pointers as to how to handle the issue of “international” English. Some highlights:

• Simply teaching global employees long English vocabulary lists does not solve the challenge of different cultural interpretations of similar phrases.
• Employees working in cross-border teams (and virtual teams at that) need to clarify the  meaning of everything because nuances may not be understood.
• Be explicit in instructions and avoid ambiguous phrases. For example, saying “I would like this submitted by tomorrow” can be interpreted as a preference, not an order.
• Employees in some cultures might say “yes” even when they don’t agree — especially employees from Asian cultures.
• Tone and style are very important when addressing teams from different cultures and managers must be mindful of this. For instance, Estonians respond better to a forceful and authoritarian style while the Danish may not.

There is another one tip that someone gave to me: after a phone call to discuss a task or a set of instructions with someone from a different culture, ask that individual to summarize the call via email. This will immediately show any misinterpretations that may have occurred.

Proper business communication skills are vital to an organization’s success with growing emphasis on cross-cultural “virtual teams”. While technology allows us to easily communicate with people across borders, the lack of face to face communication complicates “international” English. Managers and business workers should learn how to address this challenge or risk being left behind as digital communication becomes the norm.

Would you like to share any tips about how managers and business workers can address this challenge?