The other day I was talking with a client who was looking for a partner and using one of
online dating services. She had requested someone who “liked traditional roles,” and was finding all sorts of surprises when she talked with gentlemen with whom she had been matched. It seems “traditional roles” meant to one man that man works outside home, and woman is homemaker. To another man, it meant both have paying jobs, but woman does cooking, cleaning and childcare, and man does household repairs and lawn work. To yet another man, it meant woman must be monogamous, while man can be polygamous. Our assumptions about language can get us into a lot of trouble in communication, and nowhere is this more common than in workplace. Today’s office typically includes people from different cultures, and business may be conducted with people from other cultures and countries as well. As US becomes more diversified, we can no longer count on having same language or customs within an office.
Some examples? In some cultures, contract is binding and stands as it is when completed. In another, it is beginning of a long series of negotiations.
In one culture, a handshake means a deal. In another, a contract is needed.
In some cultures, a price is fixed and non-negotiable. In many others, bartering is more common, and a price mentioned is just a suggestion to be argued around.
In some offices, a deadline is set in stone. In another, it’s always bendable.
Even within US, there are a large number of “cultures.” People in south called northerners “Yankees,” and claim they are brusque, and cold.
Northerners may talk about inefficiency in south, or long drawn-out conversations which don’t “stick to business.”
Even within locations there are differences. San Antonio, Texas, where I live, is over 50% Hispanic. Up road just an hour is a town that was originally a German settlement, and then another hour north, is Austin, state capital, where demographics are yet again quite different.
During my years as a fundraiser, writing grants, I discovered many differences as I dealt with city government, county, state and federal. The rules were different within each, in subtle ways I had to learn as I went along.
