SPRING 2020 | PM magazine
LANGUAGE MATTERS: TIPS FOR ARTFUL PROJECT MANAGEMENT IN THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE
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Did you know that language serves different functions in different cultures and regions? Anita Pandey, Ph.D. Therefore, the purposes for which we employ language, U.S. Liaison and the way we organize our Childhood Education thoughts, in both speech and International writing, differ. While most of us use language to convey certain shared functions, such as informing, persuading/selling, and requesting, some individuals use language to communicate culturally distinct functions. The function of showing respect, beyond the general terms “Sir” and “Ma’am”, is an example. In Nigerian, Indian, Korean, and Japanese culture, this culturally significant function of language is realized through the use of honorifics and/or additional signals of respect like the term “Oga”, which literally means “Big man” (i.e., boss) in Nigerian English. Cultural sensitivity is an essential interpersonal and
“Some project managers are put off by what they describe as a ‘thick accent.’ The reality is that everyone who speaks a language has an accent.” team-building skill for effective stakeholder engagement, and language awareness helps us become culturally sensitive and strategic project managers (PMs). How so? According to the Project Management Body of Knowledge Guide (PMBOK), intercultural communication presents challenges; messages are not always interpreted as they were intended, since people from different cultures communicate using different languages and dialects (PMI, 2017). Project managers (PMs) need to have a thorough understanding of the nuts and bolts of language, so that they can pay close attention to the role that sounds, words (including idioms--technically classified as “words”), and how larger units of language play into project success. This piece begins by focusing on sounds, the smallest unit of language and ends with discourse, the largest unit of language, as visualized in the pyramid, depicted in Fig. 1. When English Sounds Different: Developing a Tolerance for Different Accents Have you ever been hesitant to make a purchase or work with someone because of their accent? Some project managers are put off by what they describe as a “thick accent.” The reality is that everyone who speaks a language has an accent. An accent is simply the sound quality of one’s speech and a mark of our identity. The way we pronounce words; the stress and intonation patterns that we employ; and the pitch and tone of our voice, collectively yield our accent. Some of us have a regionally distinct accent, such as a New York accent or what is broadly described as a “northern accent”, while others have an accent that signals their ties to a specific social class or ethnic group. Our understanding of messages can sometimes be compromised by noise (physical, psychological, and semantic), and an unfamiliar accent is sometimes construed as one such barrier. Has it ever occurred to you that you might be the one that is hard to understand and not the other way around? As such, our accents might be hard for some to decode (PMI, 2017). Project managers must develop language/accent tolerance to effectively communicate with their teams. In most organizations, it is common practice to have project teams representing diverse cultures. Therefore, decoding everyone’s accent is paramount to ensuring on-time project completion. Effective communicators attempt to
connect with their audience by focusing on the content(as opposed to the sounds), by rephrasing, by seeking clarification (when decoding an accent becomes challenging), and/or by adapting to the listener’s speech and communication style. They might mimic an accent in order to establish a sense of affinity and to convey similarity or shared experiences. Some of us are gifted in this regard. We can change accents with different communication partners almost effortlessly. Hence, the importance of feedback from the receiver when decoding a message, to be certain that the transmitted message was understood just the way the sender intended, thus avoiding misunderstanding in communication which is crucial on projects. Adopting a speaker’s accent is one way to build trust and to enhance our sales appeal. Efficient project managers also aim to connect with their stakeholders as quickly as possible. Hence, they usually accommodate to the stakeholder’s speech and/or communication style, including their use of mannerisms and nonverbal language. This phenomenon is termed speech accommodation or translanguaging (Pandey, 2012). Accent matching and/or other forms of speech accommodation are one
“To minimize misunderstanding and to enhance trust and team building, project managers would do well to familiarize themselves with different World Englishes, and with the varieties employed by their co-workers. “ technique that savvy project managers employ to build trust. Project managers who have worked in diverse environments are more likely to be tolerant of differences in accents. Frequent intercultural encounters expose us to subtle and not-so-subtle variations in language and culture, and such exposure to nuanced communication is vital to our personal growth and success in today’s global workplace. In the heyday of outsourcing, many U.S. companies based in India prioritized and provided accent neutralization sessions in a bid to eliminate their Indian employees’ regional accents. However, this practice of minimizing and/or obliterating one’s accent is exclusionary and contrary to the professional mantra of cultural acceptance and inclusion, because as project managers it is essential to have the communication skills of transmitting the appropriate meaning in the tone of voice and actively listening to the speaker, removing barriers that can hinder comprehension. A Word to the Wise: Word Use Varies Given that English is the global lingua franca (or link language), we must recognize and learn to appreciate differences in lexical usage and interpretation. Geographic variations in vocabulary are to be expected, so we should pay close attention to lexical differences and ask questions when we are unclear about a word or idiom. Adequately translating words and expressions—many of which are non-translatable (because they encode unique cultural concepts like “najar/nazar,” terms for the evil eye in Hindi/Urdu) requires us to
be open to differences in cultural beliefs and (English) language usage, since we all use language to encode ideas we consider important. Familiarizing ourselves with different dialects of English also makes us more effective project managers. Most countries colonized by the British have continued to use English as their official or quasi-official language. They have both adopted and adapted English, yielding different brands of English, including American English, Nigerian English, and Malaysian English. World Englishes (as they are termed, see Fig. 2) or these global varieties of English have distinct sounds and intonation patterns (i.e., accents), unique words and/ or idioms, phrases, and sentences. These “Englishes” also serve distinct language functions that are culturally significant and that are structured differently (i.e., they have different discourse units). To minimize misunderstanding and to enhance trust and team building, project managers would do well to familiarize themselves with different World Englishes, and with the varieties employed by their co-workers. Videos and media (e.g., YouTube music and movies) from a variety of cultures could be very beneficial in expanding our language and cross-cultural horizons. Media can also be beneficial in making us more trustworthy and cross-culturally aware. Remember that communication is critical to team-building, especially in project management, to create success in every organization. In the project management profession, being an effective communicator means that your spoken and written communication are clear, concise, complete, ethical, and positive (PMI, 2017). A good intercultural project manager knows that these essential criteria are communicated differently in different language varieties. Effective project managers also know that they do not yield effective communication in every single geographic and/or subcultural context. Brevity, for instance, is considered rude in many Asian and African cultures, and even in the U.S., professional communicators buffer negative news (yielding lengthier messages) for face-saving and legal reasons. As project managers, we must be mindful of our language use and interpretation. We must make every effort to understand why speakers communicate the way that they do. Understanding how language works helps us remove language barriers that hinder comprehension and trust. In verbal communication, we must adopt an appropriate tone of voice, and in speech and writing, we must show that we are caring and compassionate active listeners and readers (i.e., we are we-oriented, as evidenced by our pronoun usage and other collaboration- and credibility-affirming language that we employ). Emotional intelligence, which is arguably more important today than demonstration of the Intelligence Quotient (IQ), requires us to adjust our language to meet the needs of our stakeholders. To that end, an understanding of the components of language or individual language building blocks, and subcultural variations in language use will make you a better project manager. References: Kachru, B.B. (1992). The Other Tongue: English Across Cultures. Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press. Pandey, A. (2012). Language Building Blocks: Essential Linguistics for Early Childhood Practitioners. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University. Project Management Institute (PMI). (2017). A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide). 6th ed. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, Inc.
