Culture & Communication

Chengdu, China 26-29 February 2008 Culture & Communication

What is Culture? • A context in which behaviors, institutions, or processes can be described. • Culture provides the basis for understanding behaviors of a group, individual, or institution • Culture includes values, belief systems, language, expectations, communication style, norms for behavior

Types of Cultural Groups • Social Groups • Han, Tibetan, Irish, Austrian • Chinese, American, European • Organizational Groups • Government, NGOs, Communities, Research Institutions, Companies • Geographic Groups • Urban, Rural, International

Identifying Cultural Groups Persons share membership in a group because of values, expectations, social experience, religion, nationality, language, traditions, communication styles. Membership is a combination of: • Self-identification • Shared Values • Shared norms for behavior • Acceptance by the group

Levels of Culture • Concrete: visible and tangible • Behavioral: actions reflecting values • Symbolic: values and beliefs

Six Stages of Cultural Competence • Indifferent: Unaware of cultural differences • Negativity: Cultural differences are a threat to our own value system • Marginalizing: Appreciate differences in culture but still view own culture as universal

Six Stages of Cultural Competence • Acceptance: Able to shift thinking to other cultural perspectives • Adaptation: Able to evaluate behaviors based on another culture’s norms • Integration: Able to shift naturally between cultures, evaluating situations from multiple frames of reference

Cultural Competence A cultural representative must: • Know you own culture well • be an accepted member of the group to be a representative of that group • have a high level of cultural competence—be able to evaluate situation with the perspective of other cultures • form effective relationships based on interactions that value others as individuals and as members of their cultural group

Intercultural Communication Effective communication between cultural groups created by understanding and adapting to the expectations, values and communication styles across groups

Understanding Communication • People communicate in different ways • Culture influences how we choose to communicate • Effective communication is key to effective collaboration

Characteristics of Communication Styles • The pattern of verbal and non-verbal behaviors that makes up our preferred ways of giving information • Direct • Indirect • Contextual

Elements of Cultural Collaboration • Understand that any culture is one among many • Identify areas of difference that destroy communication • Clarify individual differences versus group differences • Understand areas where values are held in common

Working in Multiple Cultures • Understanding value systems establishes basis for effective collaboration • Understanding differences in cultural values helps identify areas of possible miscommunication and misunderstanding • Understanding and respecting cultural values builds the trust essential to effective communication and collaboration

Discussion Groups • Rural / Urban Caiwan • Governments/ NGOs LI Li • NGOs/Communities YU Lu

Discussion • Discuss the values shared by your cultural groups that can support collaborative action你们合作的价值观基础是什么？ • What are the differences that make effective communication and collaboration difficult 什么因素可能导致/带来你们交流中的困难？ • Discuss what your groups can do to improve communication and build trust between your groups 讨论你们能够采取何种方式建立信任 ,提高交流的有效性分组安排：城市乡村才旺政府/ NGOs 李黎 NGO/社区于璐

Culture & Communication