Hidden Factors in Cross Cultural Communication

Veronica Maloa-Taulealo
Communication 40 Final 6/26/13

In any aspect of life, whether it is school, work or home, communication is a critical component of our daily lives. Every career requests candidates to have a strong sense of communication skills, the ability to analyze communication and collaborate effectively with others. In my observations and readings, I found the communication iceberg to be the most applicable tool to apply to my own life.

The communication ice berg teaches us that there are two large components of communication, one of them being visible and the other being an invisible aspect. Most of the operations and functions that are necessary to make the communication process work are in the invisible layer of the iceberg, the layer that’s underwater and can’t be seen. This idea of communication having two layers, hidden and visible, interests me because often times most people do not understand the importance of the invisible aspects of communication. I always tell my kids, it’s not what you said; it’s how you say it that matters most. Understanding this is critical, especially in the workplace.

The communication iceberg teaches us that people, symbols and technology are part of the observable piece of the iceberg, the part we can see above the water. These visible components can be things like signs, listening to public speakers and tactile messages such as physical contact from a parent to a child.

Where we begin to fluctuate is when we begin to attribute a meaning to these visual messages. The meaning we produce when we look at something changes because we are applying our own views from our lives and experiences onto these symbols. As our books tells us, there are several influences to the invisible layer of the iceberg including meaning, learning, subjectivity, negotiation, culture, interacting level and contexts, self-reference, self-reflexivity, ethics and inevitability.

These pieces of the iceberg that are hidden are the pieces that I learned to be careful of when I am either communicating to a group or individual or listening to someone else communicate to me. It’s very easy to get caught up in thinking that the way we see things is the only way or the right way but what our book has taught me personally is that what might seem very obvious might not be correct.

One of the challenges of working globally is the fact that most of our communication must be in email. The complicated part is that reading an email can be very subjective. We can interpret the email in many different ways because we cannot see the visible aspects such as the tone or facial expression of the email sender. When I first started the position that I have now, I was taken back by how rude I thought some of the emails coming from the team in Budapest were. I then began to assume that the team was very impolite, cold and detached. It was hard to get used to and I couldn’t help but to immediately begin to take is personally. At first, I thought maybe I should change the way I write my emails so I can adapt more to the way that they communicate but I couldn’t get myself to do it, it felt very insincere to try and talk like someone else.

I then began to realize that this is a meaning that I am attaching to a symbol, the email. I don’t really know if the person is being rude but I am assuming that they are. How do I know that maybe typing in English is just difficult for them? I changed my thoughts and looked at the emails in a very different way. Since I can’t see anything below the surface of the iceberg in this case, I need to allow myself to be more open minded. That’s my main take away from this class and from the book.

Since there are so many invisible aspects to communication, we must be open minded and understand that the way in which another person decodes a message is not always the same as the way we decode a message. The meaning we attach to the people and events around us stem from our own experiences. Successful communications then leads me to believe that the messenger or receiver needs to possess a sense of humbleness and sensitivity when they are either communicating or listening. Maybe that’s why women are better communicators. In reality, all jokes aside, because there are so many influences to the way in which all humans communicate and listen to other as they communicate, applying emotional intelligence and understanding cross cultural dynamics will only increase our awareness to some of the blind spots and enhance our overall communication experiences.