As a new manager you may become involved in projects that cross national boundaries with significantly different cultures. The history of managing projects involving different cultures does not present a very favorable picture. Fortunately there has been some improvement. Within the last couple of decades American industry realized that it did not have all the answers; those people across either ocean had excellent ideas and were able to match wits with our best and brightest. In reality managing projects across cultures is about people. As I noted in the early part of this article, managers do not manage people; they manage the activities of people. That is the first step toward developing working relationships in other cultures. You do not manage people; you manage their activities.
Managing across borders involves knowing the people you’re working with. While organizations recognize this as a need in their own country, they somehow conclude that getting people together face-to-face when other cultures are involved may not be necessary. It’s important that you know something about the person on the other end of that telephone line or that e-mail. You can’t manage cross-cultural projects if you don’t know the people and the culture.
Language is generally the greatest barrier. It takes a great deal of patience, especially when language fluency in each other’s language is lacking. Working with translators provides one way but much depends on the competence of the translator. While giving some lectures in Bulgaria in English, my comments were translated into Bulgarian by an interpreter. I noticed during my presentation that I wasn’t receiving the kind of feedback from the audience that I had expected. During the break I asked my host, who spoke excellent English, whether or not the translator was editorializing. A definite yes. The interpreter was providing his own spin. We discussed the issue with the translator and while the situation improved it was less than satisfactory. The next day I was provided with a new translator who really functioned as a translator.
Having spent many years working in Europe I found that on major projects it’s possible to develop a project culture that somehow transcends two cultures, or even three or more cultures if necessary. It takes a project manager who is sensitive to the cultural issues, makes at least an attempt to learn some of the language, and more importantly learns something about the history of the countries involved. The project manager doesn’t need to be dominated by a new culture. Don’t waste time on the nonessential. If certain formalities or protocols exist, follow them unless they’re detrimental in some way to the project. Focus on the work at hand and on managing activities.