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Communication barriers in the workplace
Communication Barriers i•n t h e W o r k p l a c e Cheryl L. McKenzie and Carol J. Qazi
70 Cheryl L. M c K e n z i e is the academic c o o r d i n a t o r for Studies in A m e r i c a n Language at San J o s e State University. Carol J . Qazi is a lecturer in the same program. B o t h authors have w o r k e d with industry in designing programs to teach English as a second language and workshops to increase cultural awareness.
Employers with non-native employees cannot be reminded too often that various problems in understanding language and gesture can hamper the employees' work. This article outlines the areas of difficulty and suggests some solutions. ommunication breakdowns between native Englishspeaking supervisors and their non-native speaking coworkers cause a loss in productivity that can be computed directly into dollars and cents for many American firms. In the San Francisco Bay area's Silicon Valley, for example, foreign employees comprise as much as 60 to 90 percent of the workforce in some companies. If a spoken or unspoken message between American and foreign co-workers assumes too much, lost time will result, impeding productivity. Consider this example: "A lot of times, I'll assign him a project," a manager of a San Jose, California, area company said of one of his coworkers. "He'll act like it's okay, but when I've already gone back to m y desk, he's still standing t h e r e l " The real question is, did the employee, who has a masters degree from an American university, really understand the parameters
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of the assignment or, in automatic deference to a superior (which is a custom in some cultures), was he politely agreeing to a request he didn't quite understand? Although many companies are providing instruction in English as a second language for their foreign workers, both employees and their supervisors continue to express frustration over frequent misunderstandings that cause performance errors and confusion on the job. Risk of error may be too high in business and industry; therefore, workers may choose to do nothing when a message is unclear rather than to do something wrong. In the classroom, teachers are trained to expect errors as part of the learning process and to reduce penalties for these errors so that students will take risks. However, industry raises the penalties for errors (loss of jobs, promotion, and so on) and thus restricts risk taking. The nature of American business and industry may never Business Horizons / March-April 1983
Communication Barriers in the Workplace
71
f
I
s
allow the penalties to be lowered; therefore, efficiency in communication must be increased. Because of the sharp increase in the number of foreign employees ]in American companies, an awarehess of potential cross-cultural verbal and non-verbal communication breakdowns is increasingly important. When we hear an idiom used incorrectly or a word mispronounced so badly that even in ,context we can't decipher the meaning, we are able to point to the misunderstanding immediately and ask for or give clarification. However, since cultural perceptions are not always possible to verbalize and therefore identify, neither the American nor the foreigner can explain why he feels negatively about the conversations or actions of the other person. In short, linguistic, or speaking, competence doesn't necessarily result in cultural competence for the 17oreign-born worker. The result may be a mutual uneasiness or distrust with no basis that either person is able to identify. People often unconsciously assume that non-verbal communication is universal, and it is not.
Points of Breakdown
he following hypothetical situation will illustrate three important points often inherent in cross-cultural communication breakdowns: A foreign-born computer programmer asks her manager for a report she needs. "It's in m y middle drawer," responds the busy manager who glances momentarily over the rim of his glasses. He points quickly to the employee, then toward his desk drawer. Fifteen seconds later, however, the manager is surprised when he looks up and sees the programmer still standing in the same place, waiting patiently for the report. This incident dramatizes a typical example of communication failure which occurs daily. By stating "It's in m y drawer," the manager felt he was granting permission to the programmer to help herself to the report. The programmer, on the other hand, was still waiting for the explicit words of permission from the manager for her to enter his desk or for him to get it for her. Secondly, unbeknown to the manager, he had
T
just insulted the programmer by pointing at her with his index finger; the extended index finger, which Americans use so routinely to point to objects or to summon, is an impolite gesture in the programmer's culture. Finally, the programmer's culture has a rule of <'saving face" which requires that one should not reveal emotions at any cost. In this case, showing her discomfort about the pointing incident would probably cause embarrassment to herself and her superior. Ambiguous or misinterpreted verbal communication can add to communication slowdowns or breakdowns. Americans are often unaware of the extent to which they use idiomatic words and phrases in their speech. Expressions like, "He's burned o u t , " or "Poor Mary, she's frazzled by the end of the d a y , " are just two examples of everyday phrases that nearly everybody uses. One Chinese employee, on hearing that some co-workers had had a '"ball" over the weekend, asked whether they had played football. Many foreign workers report feeling uneasy when jokes are told in the
"One time-effective and pleasant way of dealing with communication problems in the workplace is to 'feed back' the information that was received. Workers, as well as their managers, should be encouraged to do this."
72 office and they are unable to laugh at the punchlines. J o k e s are often very culture-bound, and while the foreign employee wants to share in the humor, he or she simply can't, lacking the idiomatic vocabulary on which the joke depends. Idioms, coupled with the American tendency to pronounce words incompletely (consider " b r e a d ' n ' b u d d e r " for "bread and b u t t e r " ) , can result in the foreigner's frustration and the American's misunderstanding of that frustration.
One time-effective and pleasant way of dealing with communication problems in the workplace is to "feed b a c k " the information that was received. And workers, as well as their managers, should be encouraged to do this. For example, y o u say, "So, you'll order those typewriter ribbons from Tom's Office S u p p l y ? " to which the foreign employee might reply, "Oh, I'm sorry! T o m "s! Yes[" Secondly, Americans can keep in mind that such important parts of the communication process like hand gestures are not universal, so a certain gesture used in the work Two Solutions environment might not always irst, Americans can keep in produce the expected results. The mind that two factors can same can be said for directives or contribute to misunder- simple exchanges. A message may standings: verbal and non-verbal have implications for Americans misinformation, and, often, the ac- that people from other countries cidental confusion over the two. might not grasp. For example, an When an American makes a request American reported asking a foreign or remark and the foreign worker co-worker, "Could we have lunch seems not to understand, it may be t o d a y ? " (implying, "I'd like to that the foreign employee heard discuss business with y o u over the English words clearly, b u t the lunch"), and was surprised to reunderlying assumptions were not ceive the response, "Oh, no, thank there. It is also possible that some you. I brought my sandwich." It is employees will not indicate that important for Americans to they have failed to understand remember that most new Amerieither the spoken or unspoken cans have in many cases learned message for fear of embarrassing written, formal English from outone of the participants. dated t e x t b o o k s and from teachers
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whose first language was not English. Foreign workers often don't know informal, spoken phrases such as, " T h e y fought and made u p " instead of " T h e y fought and reconciled." An American should realize that a message might have been idiomatic, and take an extra minute to explain the idiom to save more precious minutes in the future. hen it becomes evident that something has gone wrong in a conversation, some steps can be taken to reestablish communication and get the j o b done: • Try to recall the gestures that accompanied the verbal message. Restate the message without the gestures. • R e m e m b e r w h a t was actually stated and what other directions or requests were implied in that statement. State all messages verbally. • Recall what words and phrases were used in making the request or giving the directions. If they were idiomatic, restate using more formal language. • Recall the manner in which the message was delivered. Repeat the message more slowly. 5
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70 Cheryl L. M c K e n z i e is the academic c o o r d i n a t o r for Studies in A m e r i c a n Language at San J o s e State University. Carol J . Qazi is a lecturer in the same program. B o t h authors have w o r k e d with industry in designing programs to teach English as a second language and workshops to increase cultural awareness.
Employers with non-native employees cannot be reminded too often that various problems in understanding language and gesture can hamper the employees' work. This article outlines the areas of difficulty and suggests some solutions. ommunication breakdowns between native Englishspeaking supervisors and their non-native speaking coworkers cause a loss in productivity that can be computed directly into dollars and cents for many American firms. In the San Francisco Bay area's Silicon Valley, for example, foreign employees comprise as much as 60 to 90 percent of the workforce in some companies. If a spoken or unspoken message between American and foreign co-workers assumes too much, lost time will result, impeding productivity. Consider this example: "A lot of times, I'll assign him a project," a manager of a San Jose, California, area company said of one of his coworkers. "He'll act like it's okay, but when I've already gone back to m y desk, he's still standing t h e r e l " The real question is, did the employee, who has a masters degree from an American university, really understand the parameters
C
of the assignment or, in automatic deference to a superior (which is a custom in some cultures), was he politely agreeing to a request he didn't quite understand? Although many companies are providing instruction in English as a second language for their foreign workers, both employees and their supervisors continue to express frustration over frequent misunderstandings that cause performance errors and confusion on the job. Risk of error may be too high in business and industry; therefore, workers may choose to do nothing when a message is unclear rather than to do something wrong. In the classroom, teachers are trained to expect errors as part of the learning process and to reduce penalties for these errors so that students will take risks. However, industry raises the penalties for errors (loss of jobs, promotion, and so on) and thus restricts risk taking. The nature of American business and industry may never Business Horizons / March-April 1983
Communication Barriers in the Workplace
71
f
I
s
allow the penalties to be lowered; therefore, efficiency in communication must be increased. Because of the sharp increase in the number of foreign employees ]in American companies, an awarehess of potential cross-cultural verbal and non-verbal communication breakdowns is increasingly important. When we hear an idiom used incorrectly or a word mispronounced so badly that even in ,context we can't decipher the meaning, we are able to point to the misunderstanding immediately and ask for or give clarification. However, since cultural perceptions are not always possible to verbalize and therefore identify, neither the American nor the foreigner can explain why he feels negatively about the conversations or actions of the other person. In short, linguistic, or speaking, competence doesn't necessarily result in cultural competence for the 17oreign-born worker. The result may be a mutual uneasiness or distrust with no basis that either person is able to identify. People often unconsciously assume that non-verbal communication is universal, and it is not.
Points of Breakdown
he following hypothetical situation will illustrate three important points often inherent in cross-cultural communication breakdowns: A foreign-born computer programmer asks her manager for a report she needs. "It's in m y middle drawer," responds the busy manager who glances momentarily over the rim of his glasses. He points quickly to the employee, then toward his desk drawer. Fifteen seconds later, however, the manager is surprised when he looks up and sees the programmer still standing in the same place, waiting patiently for the report. This incident dramatizes a typical example of communication failure which occurs daily. By stating "It's in m y drawer," the manager felt he was granting permission to the programmer to help herself to the report. The programmer, on the other hand, was still waiting for the explicit words of permission from the manager for her to enter his desk or for him to get it for her. Secondly, unbeknown to the manager, he had
T
just insulted the programmer by pointing at her with his index finger; the extended index finger, which Americans use so routinely to point to objects or to summon, is an impolite gesture in the programmer's culture. Finally, the programmer's culture has a rule of <'saving face" which requires that one should not reveal emotions at any cost. In this case, showing her discomfort about the pointing incident would probably cause embarrassment to herself and her superior. Ambiguous or misinterpreted verbal communication can add to communication slowdowns or breakdowns. Americans are often unaware of the extent to which they use idiomatic words and phrases in their speech. Expressions like, "He's burned o u t , " or "Poor Mary, she's frazzled by the end of the d a y , " are just two examples of everyday phrases that nearly everybody uses. One Chinese employee, on hearing that some co-workers had had a '"ball" over the weekend, asked whether they had played football. Many foreign workers report feeling uneasy when jokes are told in the
"One time-effective and pleasant way of dealing with communication problems in the workplace is to 'feed back' the information that was received. Workers, as well as their managers, should be encouraged to do this."
72 office and they are unable to laugh at the punchlines. J o k e s are often very culture-bound, and while the foreign employee wants to share in the humor, he or she simply can't, lacking the idiomatic vocabulary on which the joke depends. Idioms, coupled with the American tendency to pronounce words incompletely (consider " b r e a d ' n ' b u d d e r " for "bread and b u t t e r " ) , can result in the foreigner's frustration and the American's misunderstanding of that frustration.
One time-effective and pleasant way of dealing with communication problems in the workplace is to "feed b a c k " the information that was received. And workers, as well as their managers, should be encouraged to do this. For example, y o u say, "So, you'll order those typewriter ribbons from Tom's Office S u p p l y ? " to which the foreign employee might reply, "Oh, I'm sorry! T o m "s! Yes[" Secondly, Americans can keep in mind that such important parts of the communication process like hand gestures are not universal, so a certain gesture used in the work Two Solutions environment might not always irst, Americans can keep in produce the expected results. The mind that two factors can same can be said for directives or contribute to misunder- simple exchanges. A message may standings: verbal and non-verbal have implications for Americans misinformation, and, often, the ac- that people from other countries cidental confusion over the two. might not grasp. For example, an When an American makes a request American reported asking a foreign or remark and the foreign worker co-worker, "Could we have lunch seems not to understand, it may be t o d a y ? " (implying, "I'd like to that the foreign employee heard discuss business with y o u over the English words clearly, b u t the lunch"), and was surprised to reunderlying assumptions were not ceive the response, "Oh, no, thank there. It is also possible that some you. I brought my sandwich." It is employees will not indicate that important for Americans to they have failed to understand remember that most new Amerieither the spoken or unspoken cans have in many cases learned message for fear of embarrassing written, formal English from outone of the participants. dated t e x t b o o k s and from teachers
F
whose first language was not English. Foreign workers often don't know informal, spoken phrases such as, " T h e y fought and made u p " instead of " T h e y fought and reconciled." An American should realize that a message might have been idiomatic, and take an extra minute to explain the idiom to save more precious minutes in the future. hen it becomes evident that something has gone wrong in a conversation, some steps can be taken to reestablish communication and get the j o b done: • Try to recall the gestures that accompanied the verbal message. Restate the message without the gestures. • R e m e m b e r w h a t was actually stated and what other directions or requests were implied in that statement. State all messages verbally. • Recall what words and phrases were used in making the request or giving the directions. If they were idiomatic, restate using more formal language. • Recall the manner in which the message was delivered. Repeat the message more slowly. 5
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