Q is for Questions
Have you ever asked, “Are there any questions?” at the end of a meeting, only to be answered with complete silence?😶 Asking questions in cross-cultural communication situations can have interesting outcomes – and often unexpected ones.

Maybe the participants really have no questions…or, just maybe, you’re part of a global team and the participants are from cultures that are not used to speaking up in front of their leader or presenter.

As with all elements of conversation, asking questions in cross-cultural communication comes with its own nuances. The image below shows a few questions that we need to pay special attention to in intercultural contexts.

For the question I mention at the start of this post, here are 3 quick strategies you can use to elicit more questions from participants:
– Ask them to meet without you (the leader/presenter) and come back with a combined report of questions and feedback
– Have an anonymous survey where they can submit questions and feedback
– Ask questions in the third person, to remove pressure off individuals E.g. “What will employees think about this idea?”

A-Z of Cross-Cultural Awareness
This blog post is part of a series of short posts on cross-cultural awareness. Keep an eye out for the rest of the series.