Hey everyone, and welcome back to the Easy English Podcast by Understandable English. And today we are going to be talking about quite an interesting and maybe more professional topic, and that topic is working with international colleagues. So within this topic, we are going to look at a little bit about project communication, cultural differences, and some of the differences with working with British and American colleagues. For example, this podcast is useful.
This episode is useful for general listening or if you want to use English for work. If you are working with international colleagues or want to work internationally with your English in the future, then it might be a little bit interesting for you with some of the points. Before we get started, I just want to say that following some messages and comments that I received, I have changed the
subscription podcast. I have removed it from Spotify as it is not available in a lot of countries and what I have done instead is I have made a Patreon account. It's totally optional, but if you want to support this podcast, there are a variety of different levels and tiers that you can support and you get different things for that extra.
So lots of bonus content, episodes, exclusive series, which is only on there, as well as access to a group chat with me where you can ask me questions and I'll even be doing some live video question and answers on there. So lots of interesting stuff. So you can check that out in the link below. So the Patreon link below, but let's get back to the episode. OK, so one thing which is so important with professional English language, so using English language in the workplace is how you
communicate. So the style and the way that you do it. But before I talk about communication styles, I really wanted to look at it in relation to projects. If you're working on a project or a task or really anything with a foreign colleague, so someone from a different country and you're communicating together in English, there are a few very important things which I think that you can use for any country and they're very, very effective for helping your work go smoothly.
These are not work specific or industry specific. They are just from a position of using English. The first really important thing is to be patient. So you're not always going to understand each other. And it's very important to understand that often, in many cases, it is neither of your native languages. It is a second language for both people.
And even in the case where it is only your second language, you still need to be patient because perhaps the other person is also trying to make sure that they understand you. And if both people are patient or the whole group is, it will go so much easier. The next point is to be direct and open about sort of what you need about deadlines and about everything that you're working on.
We will talk about some different communication styles and those can be important when dealing with the UK or EU, but in general for work, work across the world, when communicating internationally, it's very important to be still quite direct. But more importantly than being direct, being clear, so clear about what you want, about what you're asking for and about what you expect maybe from your
meeting or your discussion. This is key and most important for international communication within business and the professional sphere. This leads me on to communication and different cultural styles of communication within business. So when I talk about communication, it refers or it means not only language but also the style and how you do it. So there are direct and indirect communication styles as well as low and high context cultures.
And I'll explain in a little bit what that actually means for direct communication in business. It is appreciated to get to the point where to cut the chase. And what that means is to be very clear and direct about what you think and feel. So yes is yes and no is no. And this style is very common in the US, in Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and Eastern Europe as well.
With indirect communication in business, it's appreciated that communication is done in such a way that there won't be an argument or conflict. Or in cultures where respect and personal image is very important, indirect communication is used as a way that people do not lose
reputation. So yes, maybe isn't always yes and no isn't always no. And the main places that you will find this style of communication is India, China, Japan and maybe parts of Asia as well, other parts and in the Middle East in some areas too and of course the UK. So the UK uses quite a mixed style of communication, but there are some strong aspects of indirect communication. So working with direct business communication is very easy. You just be direct, clear and concise.
But how do we deal with indirect? So it's important to remember when you deal with indirect cultures that you shouldn't should avoid like sharp comments, so saying something very negative directly to someone and also pay a lot of attention to non verbal behaviours or actions. So for example, the body language, maybe how someone says something, and this can be very difficult. It's often easier to say this than it is to actually do it. So let let me give you an
example. So for example, in English, there is often a lot of sarcasm. So someone might say like, even if something is bad, they might say, oh, that's really good. But they say it in such a way that you can tell from how they say it that it's a joke or that they don't actually think that. And maybe on their face as well, you can see their expression that they aren't very happy with it.
So these are some aspects to take into consideration when working with foreign or international colleagues. And that leads me to the next one, something which is quite different across countries and culture, and that is time. What do I mean by that? So it's how they see time. So being early, being laid, that type of thing. So just like with communication styles, if someone is very direct to an indirect culture, they would see it as rude, so rude or not very nice. The same with time.
In some countries and cultures, they are not so strict with being early. For example, they might say let's meet at 8:00 in the morning, 8:00 AM, and they turn up to the meeting at 8:45 or 9:00. And this is totally normal, it's fine. Whereas in other countries, when they say let's meet at 8:00 AM, they really mean that you should be there at 7:45 early, ready to start at 8:00 AM. And how do you know?
So the only way with any of these things, these cultural things, is to research about maybe the country that you're working with and the culture that is in that country. And that's the most important thing. If you work with people from Germany, research about the German work culture, about the culture of communication in Germany, and do some reading. It's the best way to find out. Or just ask a German, ask your colleagues.
It's, it's that simple. OK, So thank you very much for listening to these this episode about working with international or foreign colleagues in English. These were just a few aspects or points that I have noticed from working with people in English all around the world or from all around the world. And I hope that they were interesting. As always, thank you so much for listening. If you want to support this podcast, the Patreon link is down below.
And if not, that's fine. Check out the YouTube channel as well where I post real life easy English vlogs for you to watch. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you have a great day. Goodbye.