E002_How to improve your safety culture through intercultural intelligence-part 2

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Welcome to this episode, the second in a three-part series on improving your safety culture through intercultural intelligence.

We are living and working in an interculturally complex world. Often, challenges arise when we make assumptions that we all work, make decisions, communicate, share information, and comply with a common set of standards and norms. That is the aim, but we are dealing with human beings, and we are like the colours of the rainbow, multifaceted and complex.

In our last episode, we asked, "How do you make your teams feel included so they can speak up, stop the job, and trust their gut feelings without being ostracised by the larger group?" This week's podcast jumps right back into that conversation, so let's carry on where we left off and focus more on communication and decision-making. 

Note: Conversational waste is one of the most significant costs to every organisation and will be explored in another episode. 

The questions that we are exploring in this episode are

• How are informal and formal decisions reached in the local community/team/group?
• Is the speaker or the listener more responsible for accuracy in understanding?
• At what distance do people normally stand from each other when in conversation?

Our aim is that these questions and our conversations will trigger some thoughts and ideas in you. It's about taking a step back and stepping into somebody else's shoes just for a moment and saying, What are our differences? And how can those differences make us more the same?

Over to you and some thoughts to ponder.

If one can remember only one rule for communication, it should be that communication is about triggering the proper response instead of sending the right message.

What are the right communications to have to trigger the correct responses so that everybody, regardless of whether they're indirect communicators, direct communicators, time-oriented planners or relationship people-oriented planners, comes together for a common purpose and safe, efficient operations? 

How do you create that third cultural space, allowing multiple cultures to come together to create a new working relationship, a new working culture?

Quote of the episode

If one can remember but one rule for communication, it should be that communication is about triggering the proper response instead of sending the right message.

Thanks for listening!

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This episode was produced under Safety Collaborations Limited and now continues as part of Karin Ovari Limited. While we are not currently releasing new episodes, the entire library remains active, and the topics covered are just as relevant today as when they were first recorded.

To learn more about my current work in leadership and communication, visit karinovari.com and the leadership community, The Supervisors Hub.

Connect with us on LinkedIn: Karin Ovari, Nuala Gage,

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Stay Safe, Stay Well
The Safety Collaborators