Intercultural Communication Competence - Paper Example

As you all know, communication is significantly essential to this project due to the need to share information and also to brainstorm ideas for the project. Each team member is on the team because of their unique talents, and there is need to work together towards achieving the project milestones cohesively. Communication will be vital in sharing information as well as understanding the project instructions which will be sent through email at the beginning of every week and an update of the project progress at the end of the week (Ting-Toomey, Stella 123).

Communication Guidelines and Elimination of Cultural Assumptions

Despite the geographical differences it is advisable to work together to promote uniformity, and the collective project goals are achieved. Online communication is the only approach to communication that will be possible all through the project. Hence, it is essential to come up with uniform communication guidelines and principles to bridge the intercultural differences between the project members. Understanding cross-cultural communication skills can significantly reduce or entirely avoid unnecessary misunderstanding and misinterpretations that are caused by ineffective communication. One way of promoting intercultural dialogue on the course of the project is the elimination of cultural assumptions that have been created and promoted through social media. Cultural assumptions can be offending and will eventually lead to communication breakdown which will negatively affect the project success (Lustig, Myrone, and Jolene Koester 6).

Adoption of a Common Language

Intercultural communication requires understanding and similar communication language. It is important for all the team members to identify a common language that will be used throughout communication in the project duration. I am aware that all the team members have a basic understanding of English which we will adopt as the instructional language for the project. As second language speakers, all the team members are requested to maintain official tone and simplicity when writing emails for inquiry and report on the project progress. Simplicity will ensure that there is mutual understanding and eliminate the possibility of any confusion. While communicating, it is important also for the team members to address each other by our respective names when requesting an inquiry from a specific project member which will further eliminate confusion and impersonation (Ting-Toomey, Stella 123).

Cultural Sensitivity

Misunderstandings and communication breakdown can significantly affect the project implementation. Therefore, cultural sensitivity while communicating should be given priority to promote mutual understanding from an intercultural perspective. As the project leader, I think that it is commendable for all members to acquaint ourselves with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds of all the team members to acquire cultural competence. Working as a team and creating common rapport between the team members will promote cultural understanding which will create closeness. Involving each other in the project decisions will ensure that there is a common ground to foster understanding between the team members (Chen, Guo-Ming, and William J. Starosta 354).

Empathizing

Project members are encouraged to empathize with other team members, and the individual cultures will be treated as equal without giving priority and superiority to any particular culture. Empathizing is the process of understanding and trying to communicate in other cultures perspective which promotes identification of specific words and how they should be used to avoid misinterpretation and communication breakdown (Ting-Toomey, Stella 125).

With some effort in creating intercultural communication, I believe that at the end we can truly understand each other and have fluent and meaningful communication which will be of significant importance to the project success.

John Smith

1 Enclosure

Communication Guidelines

Distribution

Chang Xiang

Boris Schumacher

Mohamed Patel

Alejandro Bosini

Works Cited

Chen, Guo-Ming, and William J. Starosta. "Intercultural communication competence: A synthesis." Annals of the International Communication Association 19.1 (1996): 353-383.

Lustig, Myrone W., and Jolene Koester. "Intercultural competence." Intercultural communication across (2003): 1-6

Ting-Toomey, Stella. "Conflict face-negotiation theory." Conflict Management and Intercultural Communication: The Art of Intercultural Harmony (2017): 123-127.