Three Situations where Cross-Cultural Communication Breaks Down

3 Situations Where Cross-Cultural Communication Breaks Down The cross-cultural teams are responsible for facilitating the cross-cultural communication. For that purpose, the colleagues must target an atmosphere of open communication meaning thereby, they must dare to share. Unfortunately, this is rarely easy. In fact, they face challenges that arise in three areas.   1- Eliciting Ideas Participation norms differ greatly across cultures. Team members from more individualistic countries, such as the U.S. or Australia, may be accustomed to voicing their unfiltered opinions and ideas, while those from more hierarchical cultures such as Japan, tend to speak up only after more senior colleagues have expressed their views. People from some cultures may hesitate to contribute because they worry about coming across as superficial; Finns, for example, favor a “think before you speak” approach, in stark contrast to the “shoot from the hip” attitude that is more prevalent among Americans.