International
relations and communications is not something that I thought I would be doing
in this position. However it is something that I have been faced with at my
internship, and have learned that I will most likely be faced with in the
future as well. As the world becomes globalised we are all becoming more
connected, and working with people from other countries and cultures is now a
part of everyday life. However, this also means that we need to have a deeper
level of understanding when it comes to interacting with people from different
cultures and nations.
Recently
at my internship I had the chance to meet and liaise with an investor from
China. I had the opportunity to spend some time with her at an event and at a
lunch meeting, and I quickly realised that you need to have a level of
knowledge and understanding about the culture of the person you are interacting
with.
For
example, in the Asian and Chinese culture it is extremely important to show
high respect to your co-worker or boss. This can be shown through attire, body
language, and punctuality. I have included the following small tips and tricks
that will go a long way to impressing your visitor or co-worker:
1. It
is important to ensure that you have enough business cards to exchange with the
Chinese visitor, and when presenting the card, you must ensure that you give it
to them with both hands, face up. When receiving a business card it is
important to view the business card for a few moments before putting it away.
This is a sign of respect.
2. It
is important to be prompt and on time to a business meeting, even if it means
arriving 30 minutes before hand to ensure you are prepared.
3. Quite
often in the Chinese culture business meetings will involve going for meals and
food. And continuous relationship or “Guanxi” is often expected. This is where
ongoing and developing social relationships can influence and facilitate
business dealings.
4. I
have also found that communication is made extremely more difficult when there
is a language barrier. Stephanie, our Chinese investor only spoke little English,
and so I found myself using a lot of body language and motions to describe what
I was trying to say. Thankfully technology, aka Google Translate, helped me a
lot when communicating with her. We shared photos and life experience and did
have a nice time. But it really was a valuable insight into doing business with
another culture.
Who would have thought that I would actually be using my knowledge from International PR so soon!
Who would have thought that I would actually be using my knowledge from International PR so soon!
It
is so important to follow these small steps to ensure that you are respectful
to your business partner or visitors as no doubt, many of us will be
interacting with international visitors on a regular basis when we enter the
‘real world’.
I
have learnt this from my time with an international visitor to the business,
but for more information please view the following website:
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