Overcoming Language Barriers at Work
Personal tips for succeeding in a multi-lingual project
Although a small number of languages have permeated mainstream international workplaces, a universal business language has not yet been fully established. In accordance, there are still a number of important discussions regarding workplace understanding to be had. This post aims to highlight some effective strategies for overcoming language barriers based on personal experience.
This summer, I spent a considerable amount of time working on a multi-lingual project with Japanese students from Toyo University in Tokyo. While this was a rewarding experience, it was also an extremely difficult one. My group was tasked with generating a Pecha Kucha presentation on Japanese Work culture. The composition of my team consisted of three native Japanese speakers, one native Chinese speaker, and myself (a native English speaker). There were two significant issues that arose regarding this format. First, this was a timed presentation that required the incorporation of 20 slides of limited 20 second duration. Second, the presentation needed to be presented in English.
This meant that there was a large amount of logistical problem solving to be done prior to completing the presentation, and between my limited knowledge of Japanese and my group’s limited knowledge of English, there were some sturdy walls to overcome. However, I aim to discuss a number of strategies that helped me better manage these issues.
First, and most importantly, is to spend some time understanding the cultural and personal backgrounds of your team. One strategy that I found effective included organizing team trips or team lunches. Although it was difficult to fully interact with the group because of language barriers, I found that experiencing a new location with a group helped me establish bonds. This is largely because people seem to be more emotionally expressive when viewing something new or interesting, which helps generate understanding. Furthermore, spending time understanding cultural norms is an important strategy for success. For instance, (this is a generalization) many Japanese workers have difficulty questioning leadership or going against group decisions. Because I spent some time studying this, I was able to better read situations where one of my group members was simply agreeing with the group to avoid building tension.
A second suggestion regards the importance of establishing a baseline knowledge of each group member’s native language. Learning basic phrases, such as expressions for, “wow”, or, “that looks good”, can really help communication. Essentially, if you can respond to visual cues, you will be better equipped to voice your opinion, or express disagreement with one of the team members work. One of my group members, who had a very limited knowledge of both English and Japanese, was able to voice his input through simple expressions like these, and it helped to generate a smooth presentation.
Finally, a third important tip revolves around incorporating technology into your communication. Apps such as google translate can help generate short phrases that can be interpreted by the native speaker. Moreover, utilizing the phone to ask a multilingual friend to translate a few phrases can be extremely useful for more complex arguments.
Despite the barriers my group faced, we were able to generate a project that both met all restrictions and received praise from a number of English speaking and Japanese speaking professors. In general, for complex international projects, language barriers are not necessarily insurmountable. Strong group understanding and clever utilization of technology can help any group succeed.
