RELATIONSHIPS WITH HEADQUARTERS

One of the most difficult parts of inter-cultural business management is managing your and your team’s relationships with headquarters. Emails, telephone conversations, video conferences and visits are the main ways of interacting with them.

Emails, especially the “chain ones” with so many people on the cc list (including senior management), can turn into nightmares. Once they are out of Pandora’s “out” Box, they can create an arena for corporate gladiators fighting each other in front of a quietly cheering crowd reading and enjoying the fight until someone suggests that they take the battle “off line”. Until a ceasefire is called, any damage caused by the communication is billed to an individual or a group—one that might be a member of your team. Language capabilities and cultural differences can make a big difference. What you might think is an innocent sentence can be perceived in the totally opposite fashion due to these differences.

Your “wish” may sound like an order. In turn, you might get a nasty reply and may not understand why. People often write things that they cannot easily say. Instead of responding via email, call them and you might hear a soft voice ready to solve the matter. Turks, like other Southern cultures, like to write and talk indirectly to be more polite. However, that means more words and more risk of misinterpretation. You can advise your team to write sentences as short as possible. However, in order to avoid short sentences being perceived as orders, they must use softeners like “please”. Because Turkish business culture communication is just beginning to convert from verbal to written in important matters, nothing replaces face-to-face dialogue.

Telephone conversations can be very problematic for nonnative speakers. Things can be misunderstood very easily. Especially during a crisis, a Southern temper can overwhelm a Northern culture with tone of voice. In turn, Northern neutrality can drive Southern cultures crazy. Teleconferences have become very popular lately due to cost-savings policies at most companies. If there are more than 4 participants, the attendees listening usually push the mute button and read, eat or write emails. One good piece of advice is not to send an email to the participants! A common mistake is to start talking when the mute button is still on—you notice a little too late that they cannot hear you!

Video conferences are like meetings, but they are also not the same. People can be a bit more difficult with their “virtual” personalities. Screens cover only a portion of the room, thereby creating an environment conducive to “hide and seek". The best thing to do is to place your core team in the middle of the screen and focus on others by remote control if necessary. Like meetings, it often takes a couple of minutes for people to get together on both sides. Be careful with the pre-meeting conversation among your colleagues as it can be misunderstood.

Visits are the best way of interacting as Turks are at their best when communicating face to face. Facial expressions and body language can compensate for language and cultural problems. In general, most people, and Turks especially, are more receptive when they are hosts. With newcomers, and first-timers especially, they are more sensitive with their choice of words. This, combined with Turkish hospitality, can create a positive and productive environment. It also creates a great platform for putting your people on stage, enabling visitors to get to know them in person and building trust between the teams which can prevent many future misunderstandings.

In multi-national corporations, managing the headquarters of your company can be as important as managing your local operations. Without proper communication flow, you can end up with low funding, few resources and little support, which damage your chances for success. Your team’s interaction is as important as yours. Therefore, if you are aware of the possible hiccups, you can prevent them.