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With many modern businesses operating on a global scale, it’s not uncommon for employees to work as part of an international team. Effective collaboration isn’t always easy, even when you’re in the same office. And cross-border employment can also pose its own unique challenges.
In this article, we’ve laid out the common communication obstacles globalized businesses encounter, as well as the practical steps and tools you can use to address them.
The role of international business communications
Whether you’re coordinating with colleagues in another country’s branch or working as part of an international remote team, there are all kinds of situations that will call for effective communication.
Some issues may be immediately obvious, like needing translation during a video meeting. Others may be more subtle, like the ways cultural differences impact how we interact and work together. For international teams to collaborate effectively, you need policies that enable both understanding and respect.
Why is this important? Maintaining strong international communication allows businesses to coordinate projects on a global scale, maintaining brand consistency and enabling company branches across the world to respond to developments in a timely way.
The challenges of communication in cross-border employment
Collaboration can be difficult at the best of times. There can be disagreements, misunderstandings, and delays that hold everyone else up. But throwing cross-border communication into the mix presents its own unique challenges:
- Language barriers: Although many people are multilingual, it’s not a common job requirement outside of specific roles. And even when people do speak a shared language, there’s a lot of slang that will be different. As such, multinational teams are bound to encounter language barriers that make it harder to coordinate and share information accurately.
- Time-zone management: Time-zones limit the extent to which teams can collaborate across borders without the need for overtime. Asynchronous positions are something you always need to consider when scheduling meetings or setting immediate deadlines.
- Cultural sensitivity: Maintaining cultural awareness is important to prevent causing offense or putting colleagues in a difficult position. This includes remembering things like foreign holidays, different standards for what is deemed ‘polite’, and other cultural norms.
- Regulatory compliance: Branches operating in different countries may be subject to different laws and regulations. You need to be aware of how they can vary, as they can significantly impact the ways you approach projects and objectives. Effective comms policies ensure there aren’t any accidental violations.
Whatever communication challenges you might face as an international business, it’s always possible to improve. It’s about building up a rapport and understanding between the different branches of your company.
Free to use image from Unsplash
Caption: Different timezones can make co-ordinating meetings a challenge
6 steps to seamless communication in cross-border employment
As with all collaboration, working across borders in a global company requires you to build up a rapport. The challenges we’ve outlined so far can make getting there seem difficult, but following these six steps can make a world of difference.
1. Embrace virtual tech for collaboration
Modern technology has made it far easier for global companies to operate efficiently, such as:
- Video conferencing apps: Video calls allow for face-to-face conversations with people anywhere, at any time. They’ve played a huge role in the uptake of remote work over the past few years, while also becoming an essential tool for global organizations.
- Asynchronous messaging and virtual workspaces: Asynchronous tools allow us to communicate and work on projects without having to worry about availability and time-zones. This makes them ideal for teams with members in different locations.
- OKRs for shared goal-tracking: Objectives and Key Results connect individual and team projects to your company’s overarching goals. This makes them a highly effective way of unifying branch operations and making sure everyone is on the same page.
- Virtual phone networks: Virtual phone networks mean you don’t have to rely on a physical location like you would with a landline-based network. Giving each team, department or even individual their own virtual phone number means anyone can reach anyone, regardless of location.
Tools like these have come to define modern business communication, in both local and global businesses alike. You need to make full use of them if you want truly seamless communication in cross-border employment.
2. Provide translation tools, training and language support
Language barriers are probably the first thing you think of when it comes to issues with communication in cross-border employment. They can impact everything, from meeting conduct and email correspondence to job description strategies and reporting.
Fortunately, there are plenty of options at your disposal to address language barriers in your organization. AI-powered tools can transcribe and translate video calls in real-time, while dedicated interpreters can help people communicate tactfully and without misunderstanding.
You can even go a step further by offering language training for employees. Increasing the number of multilingual employees in your business helps to enable better ad-hoc communication across borders. Language training can also be a great way of getting employees engaged with the cultures of their colleagues. Plus, according to a LinkedIn report, 84% of employees think learning adds purpose to their work, meaning this training can also help boost motivation and engagement.
Free to use image from Unsplash
Caption: Providing language training focused around business communication can help break down barriers
3. Cultural sensitivity training
Inclusive leaders are great, but it’s important to foster cultural sensitivity in employees too. The right training helps to ensure cohesion between team members, branches, or affiliate businesses.
Different cultures place their own emphasis on certain word choices, non-verbal cues and gestures. Understanding these things is essential for maintaining respectful cross-cultural communication.
However, cultural sensitivity training doesn’t just address communication. It should look at all aspects of culture that can impact a person’s working life. For example, when collaborating with colleagues in another country, you should try to be aware of things like national holidays or observances.
4. Share standards and protocols where possible
It’s easier for people to collaborate when everyone has a shared understanding of how things are supposed to work. Unified policies across a global organization ensure that everyone has a common touchpoint, even in the face of language barriers and other obstacles.
Of course, it’s not possible to standardize everything. Different regulations and work cultures in different countries mean your various branches will have their own ways of doing things. As such, standardization should prioritize results and focus on areas of overlap between your teams or branches.
5. Exchange regular feedback
Effective communication is as much about content as it is delivery. If something about your strategy for communication in cross-border employment isn’t working, people need to be able to speak up.
That’s why regular feedback between international colleagues is essential. Of course, how you do that is up to you. Common feedback options include anonymous or open surveys, 1:1s, group meetings, and employee check-ins.
Just remember that employee feedback is only effective with follow-through. If actionable feedback doesn’t result in observable, meaningful change, employees may lose faith in the feedback process and stop offering genuine insights.
Free to use image from Unsplash
Caption: Regular check-ins can catch communication issues before they spiral out of control
6. Review and improve policies over time
Seamless communication in cross-border employment doesn’t happen overnight, especially not for an expanding business. Growing pains are an inevitable part of going global. As such, you’re not going to catch every obstacle the first time round.
Using a combination of feedback and performance data, you should be able to highlight areas for improvement in your communication policies. Plus, even if your current comms policies function well now, the workplace is constantly evolving. New tech can significantly change the ways we work and communicate, like how AI has streamlined reporting and translation.
Communication in cross-border employment is everything
Between the sheer distance and other obstacles that affect communication in a multinational business, there can be a lot of room for error. This unwieldiness can make cross-border collaboration difficult — but with the right policies and processes in place, it can be made much easier.
Whether you’re addressing communication barriers, cultural sensitivity, or any other issue, it’s important to listen to your employees. Conduct regular feedback exchanges, identify underlying issues and give your people a voice.
Putting the effort in here is well worth it too, as seamless communication in cross-border employment means more efficient collaboration, less conflict, and greater social connection between your employees.
