Purposeful Dialogue: Be Aware of How Working in a Multi-Cultural Setting Can Affect Communications
A Story
[Note: The full document Strengthening Purposeful Dialogue: A Handbook Of Guiding Principles, Protocols, and Strategies is available for download.]
A Candidate for the Most Uncomfortable Meeting Ever
A college committee was meeting to review the draft of a plan under its consideration. The person chairing this meeting was doing so for the first time. Another individual was actually presenting the draft plan. After only a few minutes, it became clear that the plan was in a very rough form and probably not ready to be considered at this level. Also after a few minutes, it became clear that the meeting was taking on a decidedly ugly tone. Several committee members were venting their frustration with the plan by offering extremely critical and dismissive comments that bordered on personal attack. Unfortunately, all of these comments were coming from Westerners among the group and were directed at the Micronesian presenting the plan. Other Micronesians on the committee sat in silence, displaying body language that expressed displeasure with this mode of dialogue. So ultimately, only one “voice” was heard. The meeting ended with the draft more or less in tatters and a feeling in the room that the committee was utterly divided by two culturally different patterns of dialogue that were neither compatible nor "purposeful."
Afterwards the committee chair, who was a Westerner, admitted that he felt the discussion had unfolded in ways that distressed him, but he was not sure how to redirect things.
Protocol
Particularly in higher education, meetings can be the setting for discourse that is highly critical. When you have a group of people trained to think critically about ideas and issues, such discourse may be inevitable and, in some cases, desirable. However, that does not mean that the mode for expressing criticism must be negative or personal. Following a few simple protocols can help avoid having a meeting such as the one in this story:
- Make sure committee chairs receive training in how to conduct meetings, including how to manage and direct communication in cross-cultural settings.
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Both committee chairs and those bringing documents to a group for action should make sure those documents receive some level of “quiet” critical review beforehand. Doing so would mitigate some of the negative focus that overwhelmed this particular meeting and would also be respectful of those who attend the meeting.
Strategies
In the situation described in this story, the committee chair bears ultimate responsibility for the tenor and direction of the committee's dialogue.
- The chair could act as a "gatekeeper" and make it a practice to meet privately beforehand with those presenting to the committee. If the chair deems the presentation not sufficiently developed, then he or she should provide suggestions for revision and delay presentation before the whole committee.
- The chair could also monitor the flow of dialogue among the group, noting when the gaps and silences among those speaking or not speaking can undermine the effectiveness of the group.
While the chair can set an example and remind committee members to carry out respectful dialogue, individual committee members also bear responsibility for sustaining "purposeful dialogue" Doing so in this case would have meant weighing the effect of the tone of their words on others in the group. The type of critical comment that can be the norm in Western settings might be counterproductive and disrespectful in cross-cultural settings.
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