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Five principles for business women crossing cultures

In everyday language, we use the term business culture or business etiquette to describe the way in which business individuals or groups act in a business setting. 

While cultural awareness is important for everyone, a woman in business often face various social or religious customs affecting females, and they often confront prejudices and stereotypes in many societies. Sharing from personal experience these cultural challenges are often experienced on business trips overseas.

Apart from managing my UK based multicultural teams, I was required to travel abroad more than usual in the last 12 months, which for me means, business trips to countries other than Poland or England.Recently, I have travelled on business from the UK to Romania, Switzerland and Ukraine.

Flying from London Luton to Bucharest, we visited Romania in February accompanied by my business partner, Neil. We were meeting with a global marketing business and Neil had meetings scheduled with his partners.Soon after we met my clients in the hotel lounge, it became obvious that before we enter the meeting room, we must change our approach and call Neil to join us. His presence during the negotiations with the two male Romanian business counterparts was invaluable.

Lesson learnt from that situation was to research the background of the Romanian business partners we were meeting, which would not only help me to establish their expertise and possible personalities but also help to build rapport from the start as well as be prepared for my male business partner to be fully involved.

We travelled to Switzerland in April, to meet our potential suppliers. Prior to my trip we were well aware of German-speaking, French-speaking and Italian-speaking areas and since we were visiting Zurich in northern Switzerland we had all the appointments booked and confirmed well in advance allowing plenty of time in between to ensure we arrived at least 10 minutes ahead of time and wait at the reception area, as being late would be considered very rude which I believe was greatly important, especially in the German-speaking areas.

In Zurich, we met my Swiss friend, Agata, for “Zmittag” (lunch) so that we were culturally well briefed for “Znacht” (the evening meal) with my potential suppliers later that day. 
Advice received from Agata summaries below:
• Swiss business relationships vary between cantons. For example, German-speaking Swiss like to get straight down to business and dispense with niceties, whereas French and Italian-speaking Swiss allow for more small talk and preamble to business.
• Be aware of your body posture ensuring you do not slouch or stretch in public and remember to control hand movements reducing them to zero – Agata knew I like to gesticulate a lot as I speak.
Agata also suggested that I let my Swiss colleagues pay for the meal since the Swiss are traditional and not only I was meeting a man but also, we were their guest. I also let her pay for my lunch as we were paying for the meals when she visited us in London.

In Switzerland, professionalism is paramount, even outside the workplace and although the hospitality and atmosphere outside business meetings were fantastic throughout the three days, we were very much aware during lunches, dinners and even in the evening out at a bar that we are all still representing our companies.

In May, we took a flight from London Stanstead to Lublin in Poland where I met Alina, my Ukrainian guide – and we travelled by bus for about two hours to Kovel in Ukraine. My sister insisted that I meet Alina in Poland talk to her on the way and enter Ukraine with her. Thankfully, I took the advice and the support from someone local and trusted allowed me to get a much better feel for the country before crossing the border, at the border and later - in the hotel and during business meetings.

In some hierarchal cultures, like Ukrainian, where age dictates status, younger women often have to prove their credibility, for a start, for example, highlighting any part of their backgrounds that allows local staff to trust their expertise.

The people we were meeting were all fluent in English, taxi drivers and waitresses spoke Russian. Being able to speak Russian and having Alina who took care of me during the two-day business trip, helped us greatly in Ukraine. It was also important to have business cards in English and Russian clearly stating my degrees and my title.

Observe and value diverse cultures like you observe and respect different personality types and apply these 

FIVE PRINCIPLES FOR BUSINESSWOMEN CROSSING CULTURES:

WAIT
Understand that you are a guest in a foreign country and demonstrate that you are prepared to wait patiently or arrive earlier, if necessary.

OBSERVE
Especially when it comes to dress code, dressing more conservatively and observing local businesswoman and trends will help to blend in with the local business dress protocol.

MAKE MOST OF THE TIME
Pre-book meetings and last-minutes alternatives in case your meeting gets cancelled or rescheduled. Stay positive, focused on your business goals and make most of the time either by gaining new contacts, experience or winning business.

ASK FOR SUPPORT
Whenever possible ask your employer or business partner to travel with you or ask for a trusted person for example your interpreters for full availability and support at the location.

NETWORK
Learn what you can from other business people who have been in places you are planning to visit.
In everyday business, we chose to adopt a positive attitude. although often stressed I say to myself this will be an excellent opportunity to either close the deal and grow my business or gain experience and grow myself. Likewise, your positive approach will help you to establish and maintain a healthy relationship with other like-minded foreign business partners and achieve your business goals.

Be prepared and aware of cultural and language barriers, stay positive and be a great businesswoman crossing cultures and closing deals!
 


About the Author
Iwona Lebiedowicz Consultancy (ILC) helps our client companies to communicate better and build thriving relations with their clients and employees from different countries and cultures.
In the blog Iwona shares practical strategies for better communication results in today's business climate.

Iwona is passionate about business and personal growth with over fifteen years' experience in senior leadership positions in public and private sector organisations leading large multinational teams and successfully managing large-scale change projects.

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