Cross-cultural tips - For Italian managers, the Chinese staff do not share opinions enough. Why? What to do?

By Giorgia Madonno - Marco Polo Consulting

During my cross-cultural consultancy in China often Italian managers complain because Chinese staff during meetings do not share opinions enough or do not share with bosses their point of view and do not ask questions.

Why does it happen?

1. Because across cultures the same behavior may have a different meaning.
For Italian people sharing opinions with the boss or during meetings is considered appropriate, even expected. It shows from the employee interest, ideas, proactivity, competence, leadership... but in China this behavior has a completely different meaning. Chinese staff do not share opinions in order to show respect to the boss, to give him/her "face". At school students learn not to give opinions but just answers to precise questions. They learn that the teacher (and then the manager) is the person who has all the answers and cannot be challanged.

2. Because the finality of a meeting in Chinese and in Italian business culture is different. In China meetings are held to share information. The boss communicates his/her decision and then assigns tasks to staff. The opinions from staff are collected before the meeting, often one by one, individually by the boss, possibly by email and the boss, considering them, take decisions.

In Italy meetings are used to brain-storm, to share ideas and come-out with new possible solutions. Often the decision is taken out of the meeting (maybe informally at the coffee machine and communicated by email). For Italians the team discussion is considered very productive when there is plenty of new ideas and solutions to problems. For Chinese people the Italian meeting is messy, unclear, useless.. because no decisions are taken there, because there is not any next steps communication.

Both these approaches are not right or wrong... they are just different. But how to make Chinese and Italians working effectively together with so different points of view?

During our consultancy workshops with Chinese and Italians we always discuss about this issue and we came out with a list of tips that may help (Continue)



1. Manager speaks last in meetings:  If managers speaks first, sharing his/her point of view, the staff will never says something different. Expressing different ideas from the boss would be considered very rude. Let the staff speaks first they will feel more free to share.

2. Let Chinese discuss in small groups: if you ask Chinese to discuss about a topic in small groups they will be less afraid to tell some ideas, because the responsibility of saying something "stupid" will be shared among the group members and because they will have more time to think and compare ideas.

3. Collect opinions before the meeting: do as Chinese managers does. Ask individuals' opinion first, by email for example and than summarize during the meeting asking participants to give comments on them. It will be easier.

4. Send the agenda and documentation before the meeting: if people know what they have to talk about during the meeting and if they receive documentation, they may come prepared and they will feel more secure in telling what they think. Clarify which is the purpose of the meeting: decisions, information, brainstorming. They will arrive with the right expectations.

5. Tell clearly to your Chinese staff what you expect from them: tell that you want their opinions, do not give it for granted. They do not know and they are not used to! tell them that is fine to do it, that you will appreciate it, and will not consider it unrespectful. And when they do, tell them that this is good, give positive feedback or they will not try again.

6. Provide a safe and "emotionally free" enviroment: Italians are emotional and if they are upset they show it very clearly, Chinese take it as a very aggressive response and often take a comment emotionally said as a strong attack. They are neutral, they learn in the family and at school not to show emotions. When a person rises the voice or shows disagreement with gestures or emotions well ... they feel to be really in trouble. Consider that what you judge as a normally assertive comment or question by them could be seen in a completely different way.
Sometimes ago, one of may clients told me a very interesting story. Once he asked to his Chinese team members, which was explaining him something: "are you sure?", a very simple, neutral question, right? well, the Chinese person, replied with a very worried tone of voice "Do you think I am laying to you?". The question was interpretated as a sort of attack, a lost of trust, and this for sure was not the intention of the manager. Imagine how the same Chinese can react if you rise also your tone of voice.

7. Ask more simple, narrow questions. Chinese people think in a different way. For people leaving in China this is very clear when you have to take a taxi and explain where to go to the taxi driver. You learn very fast that you cannot tell the driver something like "you first go to this place, then you stop, because I have to wait for a friend, and when she arrives we will go in another place". He will get lost! the sentence is too long, there are too many information all together. Better you explain which is the first place you have to go and then, only when you arrive to this place, you tell that you have to wait for a friend and then, when your friend arrives, you give the new address. Segmentation of the question or information is the key of success. It is the same when you ask for opinions, ask specific and narrow questions, and possibly do not ask "what do you think?" but "What would you do?" Chinese are pragmatic.