Inogen Alliance on the Importance of Understanding Cultural Awareness & Diversity in Global Business

By working to bring awareness and recognition of unique cultural behavioral differences to our work, we can further encourage shared understanding and enhance flexible thinking and communication, promoting diversity and inclusion through cross-cultural working. 

Top Five Cross-Cultural Communication Tips for Global Teams: 

• Be mindful of different time zones and how the timing of meetings and deadlines may affect someone’s engagement. 
• Provide a brief agenda before the meeting; this allows members to prepare how they will communicate their key points. 
• Be flexible with the preferences of other team members’ level of engagement. Often when an individual’s camera is switched off, disengagement is assumed, however this could be a result of poor Wi-Fi or people in the background. 
• Pause more often; give time to the members that value silence and are non-native speakers and consider inviting input from the quieter members of the group. 
• Be patient, maintain perspective and apply a dynamic approach when working with colleagues from different countries. 

Read the full article on the Inogen Alliance site to learn about topics including continuous cultural learnings as part of ESG Policies, potential challenges within different cultural contexts, and examples of cultural differences in business from around the globe. 

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