Leading Critical Change

Over many years managing projects worldwide my experience has been that Brits talk to much in meetings held in english with international colleagues. Here are some of my thoughts on what has contributed to a history of British verbal excesses across the globe .

1. Inexperience

In the English language: non-British = Foreign = strange and different. Inexperienced Brits speak too fast, use jargon, make private jokes with other Brits in meetings … This is plain rude! It is only nerves – but the impression left is damaging – that Brits think they are superior, and that non-British colleagues have less to contribute.

2. Wrong Team

When the “who” and “why” is wrong or unclear then interactions degenerate towards personal agendas or self-justification. Unproductive talking encourages others to join or attempt to redirect. For meetings in English – the native speakers dominate.

3. Unstructured Interactions

In unstructured meetings big talkers dominate – if English is the language of the meeting – the native speakers have the advantage. They often do not leave any space for the non-native speakers who need more time to formulate thoughts.

4. British Culture (1)

Adversarial debate is ingrained in British culture – i.e. “if you don’t agree with me it must be because I have not got my point across well enough (or you are stupid) and I need to restate my case”. This leads to Brits talking too much.

5. British Culture (2)

We are also action oriented. But in an international environment you just cannot leap to defining actions as the first step as fundamental assumptions somewhere in the chain ….. ( situation –> issue –> root cause –> solution options –> best solution –> components of solution –> specific actions –> deadlines –> ownership) may not be shared with all of your colleagues. In a multinational environment personal assumptions about ‘how things work’ are more likely to be incorrect!

Culturally Europeans especially want to focus more on building consensus around the whole story chain – whereas the ‘Brits’ and the ‘Yanks’ go straight for the actions. This leads to misalignment and a lot of debate – often heated.

MY TOP-TIPS

- be clear on purpose and participation (written mission)
- make structured space in agendas for each individual to contribute effectively
- prepare for each interaction 1-on-1 with each individual (listen and coach)
- chair and manage interactions tightly almost like a Question Time presenter
- build consensus using the chain to get from situation to actions
- check and recheck assumptions and statements in meetings (repeat & write down)
- have non-business interactions to build personal relationships

Working out of the UK has really helped my work back in the UK.

How lazy we all are here in our interactions. We make huge assumptions about how others think and how things get done. I have found that using the same techniques back in the UK has made a huge impact.