Virtual communication

Does videoconferencing work?

I’ve recently been involved in a large number of video conference calls and have had to revise my opinion of their effectiveness, in a positive sense, thanks to the technological improvements of recent years. But when it comes to communicating with Japanese counterparts, video conferencing is still no replacement for face-to-face meetings.

The issues involved in remote communication with what are known as “high context” cultures like Japan are well documented. People from such cultures prefer communication that relies on nonverbal cues such as body language, silences and voice tones. People from low context cultures (the US, Germany and Australia, for example) prefer explicit verbal communication.

It would seem, then, that video conferencing is the next best thing to meeting a high-context person face to face, and certainly preferable to e-mail and phone calls. My impression so far is that it can work, but mostly for regular, formal group meetings.

Even then though, there are some problems. Firstly the native English speakers don’t realise that the way they are speaking – conversational, lots of “witty” asides and sentences which tail off – is alienating the group at the other end. All the classic Japanese group meeting behaviours start to emerge – eyes shut, furrowed brows or side conversations to clarify comprehension and intention.

The solution to this is to speak “international” English – clear short sentences, lots of clarifying and comprehension checking statements and questions and use of visible agendas, notes and slideware.

Still, differing expectations about the functions of meetings can affect the outcomes of a video conference. In Japan, decisions are reached outside of formal meetings. A person wanting to make a proposal will talk informally to all possible people affected, and maybe send around a proposal which will be marked as approved by all the different teams concerned. A meeting might then be called, but it will be for rubber stamping purposes, to report back or to draw up action points. In western cultures, however, meetings are seen as the chance to brainstorm or resolve differences.

Finally, there is one vital piece of communication that video conferencing cannot enable – “informal contact.” In Japan much of the negotiating and trust building is done outside formal meetings – in pubs, karaoke bars and restaurants. It’s the infamous honne and tatemae problem – there is the official opinion, which will be expressed in group meetings but to know the real story, you have to be out of the office, talking one to one, or amongst a select few.

Face to face continues to be necessary from time to time, not just in the first phase of virtual team building. I’ve had plenty of beers and trust building with Japanese colleagues over the years, but when speaking one to one on the phone, in Japanese, they sometimes cannot be straight with me. The reason for this is not profound – open plan offices are the norm in Japan, so everyone can hear what you say.

This article originally appeared in the Nikkei Weekly

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Three tips to get Japanese people to read and respond to your emails

A British participant in one of my recent training sessions asked me why her Japanese colleagues so often start their e-mails with “Hoping this finds you well”. She found it quaintly polite. I explained that in the days before e-mail, when business correspondence was more formal, it was standard practice to begin letters in Japanese with comments regarding the seasons, gratitude for the continued custom, and solicitous remarks regarding the recipient’s health and fortune. Perhaps, therefore, her colleagues were trying to carry on that tradition.

A Japanese acquaintance has added a second explanation. I mentioned to him that one of the major frustrations for Europeans working in or with Japanese companies is the lack of response to e-mails sent to Japanese counterparts in the company headquarters. He said that often if the e-mail is very short, with no opening remarks, his colleagues assume it is not an urgent request and just an informal comment. Also, if the e-mail does not have “Dear X-san” at the start, they think they are just being copied on a message, and therefore no reaction is required.

Although I do often recommend a “personal touch” to start an e-mail to Japanese people, it does seem to contradict my other recommendation, which is to keep e-mails as short as possible. I know I have an allergic reaction to long e-mails in Japanese, resisting reading them until I’ve had at least one cup of coffee, and you can be sure that many Japanese have an equally allergic reaction to densely written English.

If the e-mail is too long, particularly with big chunky paragraphs of English, and the action point is buried near the bottom, the recipient may not read it all, and therefore miss what response was required. Chopping long paragraphs up into numbered bullet points is one tactic that many Japanese have told me they appreciate. The action point or conclusion should be brought up to the top of the e-mail, or if the logical flow does not allow for this, highlighting it in bold, and in a different color, will help the English-phobic spot what is required of them.

The third recommendation for getting a quicker response does not have so much to do with the format as with the personal relationship. The plain fact is that e-mails written in English are going to get a lower priority than e-mails written in Japanese because most Japanese companies still prioritize domestic sales and domestic customers over foreign ones. If the e-mail is in English, the chances are it is about a foreign customer. In fact I have found in the past that some Japanese companies’ spam filters throw almost everything in English into the junk-mail folder.

The only way to overcome the mental spam filter is to have met your counterparts and established a good relationship with them. Then, when they see your English e-mail in a sea of other Japanese e-mails, instead of putting it off to another day, they will spot your name and take a quick look to see what you are asking because they feel personally obligated to you. A gentle reminder of the personal relationship in your opening remarks will reinforce this – another explanation as to why Japanese sometimes put “hoping this finds you well” in their e-mails.

This article by Pernille Rudlin, European Representative of Japan Intercultural Consulting, originally appeared in the 23rd February 2009 edition of the Nikkei Weekly

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