Obseravation of team behaviour:Intercultural and Interpersonal communication.

According to me, intercultural communication means language interactions between individuals and groups perceiving themselves as belonging to different cultures. Formerly, the cultural factor was hardly recognized as capable of affecting communication and social relations. But now cultural identity is one of the main reasons of all relational or communication difficulties.

The world today is characterized by an ever growing number of contacts resulting in communication between people with different linguistic and cultural backgrounds. This communication takes place because of contacts within the areas of business, military cooperation, science, education, mass media, entertainment, tourism and also because of immigration brought about by labour shortage or political conflicts.

One intercultural scenario which comes to my mind is Pepsi Cola's "Come Alive With Pepsi" campaign, which when translated for the Taiwanese market, conveyed the unsettling news that, "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave."

Communication needs to be as constructive as possible, without misunderstandings and breakdowns. Lack of knowledge of another culture can lead to embarrassing or amusing mistakes in communication. At the worst, such mistakes may confuse or even offend the people we wish to communicate with.

Every act in this world has both a positive and a negative side. The negative aspects should not hamper our lead towards the support for intercultural communication which helps widen our arena of knowledge, wisdom and the understanding of the value of diverse cultures.

“I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the cultures of all the lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any”. – Mahatma Gandhi

Importance of effective communication and teamwork.

Communication is a translation of our thought process in a sequential and cogent manner which can be either through words or in writing.it has to be in such a way that the message is correctly conveyed to the receiver

Effective communication skill helps us to bridge with others. Being able to communicate effectively is therefore essential if you want to build a successful career. To do this, you must understand what your message is, what audience you are sending it to, and how it will be perceived.

Teamwork is the coming together of an alliance or group of minds to collaborate, co-operatively work on a project, solve problems, negotiate, resolve conflict.In today's quickly changing business environment, teams have emerged as a requirement for business success.

Teamwork is essential for competing in today's global arena, where individual perfection is not as desirable as a high level of collective performance. In knowledge based enterprises, teams are the norm rather than the exception

It's more a means to a synergistic way of working. Properly managed, teamwork maximizes strengths, bringing out the best in each team member. These specific, possibly unique individual strengths are then complimented by the strengths of others, or of the team as a unit.It stimulates new ideas, facilitates growth and keeps us competitive. teamwork helps to achieve goals more efficiently and leverages diverse individual skills.

Effective Communication and teamwork are very important skill for us to achieve success in both personal and professional life.

picture source: http://radynetimpact.org/