The process of exchanging information, feelings, etc through verbal and non-verbal communication primarily between two or more persons is termed as interpersonal communication. Teamwork is essential for competing in today’s global arena and for the teamwork to be effective, members in team must effectively communicate so as to express their plans, share their ideas and understand each other viewpoints clearly. So, Interpersonal interaction plays a key role towards the success of the team.
But when working in a team it’s not possible to have members from same culture and background, and the interaction between members of different culture, practice, value and belief is called intercultural interaction. Intercultural interaction becomes predominant in multi-lingual countries like Singapore, etc and speaking with people from different cultures, we actually get a chance to know about them and their culture and it helps in having a strong bond with them.
As people from different culture have a different accent, it might be difficult to follow when we communicate with them. So, feedback becomes more important when we interact with people from different culture as it enhances the communication between the sender and receiver, and the most important thing we should keep in mind is that we shouldn’t assume the people from different culture to see things in the way you see it as it might break the communication
I have experienced the intercultural interaction when I joined my chess team. Our team comprised of players from different countries namely Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Srilanka, China, etc and initially it was difficult to follow them fully as each person had a different accent. Through feedback, I was able to understand them more clearly and was able to know about their culture and through intercultural interaction the bond between us became stronger.
I hope that through the intercultural interaction, members of the team become more strongly bonded and help in the team’s success.
Hello once again, Santhosh!
ReplyDeleteI like the explanations of both intercultural and interpersonal communications. They are both clear and concise, making me understand it better. But, more importantly, I like how you connected both interpersonal communication and intercultural communication and showed their relationship between one another. These two communications definitely come hand in hand. In order to work well in a team, we have to improve our skills in these aspects.
Since we're studying in Singapore, we live in a multicultural, multilingual country. Well, actually just from NUS itself, we can see how multicultural we are. We cannot escape the fact that we will have to work with different people from different cultures. Thus, we cannot neglect intercultural communication.
I like how you point out that feedback is important in communication since it will show the sender whether his point is made clear to the listeners. Also, you pointed out that providing feedback brought you and your team closer and hence, you are able to understand them better, which proves that it is important.
I'm glad you are able to form a stronger bond with your chess team through good intercultural and interpersonal communications. This might be one of the reasons your team is successful! Hopefully, the chess team can continue its streak!
Cheers
Qinxian
Hi Santosh,
ReplyDeleteYou have very nicely and clearly explained the meaning of intercultural and interpersonal communication. Your post has actually made me understand and realize the importance of these two topics. I also like the relationship you have drawn between the two, showing how one is dependent on the other.
I totally agree with you on the point that feedback is important.
As we all are aware it takes two to tango. Hence when a person tries to send his message across, it becomes very important for the receiver to give a feedback. This becomes really important when we are interacting with people from different cultures, as different words and gestures have different meaning at different places around the globe. Even though English is the widely used means of communication, people from different background have a different accent and speak at a different rate. Hence to properly get our message across receiving a proper feedback is of vital importance.
It is really pleasing to know that you have bonded well with your chess teammates even thought they are from a different background. This clearly shows the power of effective intercultural and interpersonal communication. I wish you and your team continues to flourish. All the best!
Cheers,
Saurabh Arora
Hi Santhosh,
ReplyDeleteI’ve enjoyed reading your post, as there were several points worth taking note of. I also liked the way how you clearly explained the concepts behind your post, and added an example of your own to further elaborate on it.
You mentioned that it is impossible to have members from the same culture and background, and I find it to be very true. There are an infinite number of combinations of cultures and backgrounds; it is not even safe to assume people from the same family will share a common culture. For example, me and my father may share different values and culture due to the fact that there is an age gap between us. My father may prefer watching Chinese operas but I would rather watch movies.
In fact, it is impossible to find 2 people of the exact same cultural background and beliefs. Everybody have different walks of life and different experiences, and all these experiences factor into how their cultural belief and behaviour is formed. It’s like DNA, unless you clone that person, no one else will share the same DNA as you; your culture is unique to yourself.
You also mentioned the importance of feedback in intercultural communications. It reminded me that I should voice out whenever I can’t understand other people due to accent differences.
Cheers,
Zhen Yong
Hi Santhosh,
ReplyDeleteI agree that in the midst of the inter-cultural barriers that we might face during communication, it is feedback, verbal or non-verbal, that would greatly help us along the way in achieving good communication.
By making use of feedback as a tool to solve some inter-cultural communication difficulties, we can facilitate a more effective communication. The use of gestures and words can be a good start to expressing your understanding and affirmation of a statement. Questions can be used to clarify details in a conversation. For example, when a sender speaks and the person he is talking to starts to frown and scratch his head, the sender can take that as a signal that the listener is not able to follow what the sender is saying. To successfully play the role as a good communicator, he should accommodate this expression of confusion and try to clarify the thoughts and then ask for affirmation.
I have to admit that I, myself, overlooked my part in making feedbacks. I’m used to nodding and saying ‘yes’ during conversations even though sometimes I don’t understand what I’m hearing, I unconsciously send a feedback that I do by nodding or saying “yes”. This, of course, can lead to lost information or misunderstandings.
Regards,
Paul
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