Archive for category: Women Empowerment Articles

Mental Health Programs: Why companies should prioritize them

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Increasing mental health programs in companies does not only increase revenues. The benefits actually go beyond profits. Here’s why!

Having solid mental health programs in your organization attracts younger people to the company as well as increasing employee- and customer retention. Isn’t that what every company dreams of? Nevertheless, some of the more established companies seem to be stuck in their ways and still don’t prioritize mental health programs or don’t deem them as important enough. Especially after having lived through the pandemic of COVID-19, the world has seen how important mental health is. As we can increasingly see in this ever changing world, more and more young companies and start-ups are led by young entrepreneurs who make mental health one of their top priorities.

Having good mental health programs in your company is key to attract and retain talent

Having good mental health programs in your company is key to attract and retain talent

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a basis for understanding the role of mental health programs

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is what will guide you through this blog post. Personally, I believe it to be one of the best ways that someone has analyzed and understood human psychological needs. As you probably know, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is portrayed in a pyramid. At the bottom of the pyramid we have physiological needs (which include having air, water, food and shelter), then we have safety needs (which include personal security, employment, resources and health), then we have love and belonging (which include friendship, intimacy, family and a sense of connection), then we have esteem needs (which include respect, self-esteem, status, recognition and strength) and lastly, we have self-actualization, (which is the desire to become the most that one can be).

After a long analysis of this pyramid, I have found 4 reasons as to why companies should prioritize having good mental health programs to show their concern about their employees’ mental health. The reasons will be supported with Maslow’s needs (leaving out physiological needs).

Safety needs and reducing healthcare costs

Various studies have shown that there’s a direct impact between reducing healthcare costs and having good mental health. The national safety council in America has found that in 2021 some organizations have spent over $15,000, on average, on each employee giving them mental health treatment when asked for it multiple times. On a happier note however, employers who support mental health and have substantial mental health programs see a return of $4 for every $1 invested in mental health treatment. That would mean that prioritizing your employees’ mental health isn’t only positive for your company. It’s also positive for keeping your employees safe and healthy.

Love, belonging and collaboration

When an employees’ mental health is prioritized in a company, employees feel increasingly psychologically safe to share opinions and collaborate more effectively with their team. When we feel that we are in a safe space, we are more likely to discuss what we think with our peers, and we are more likely to approach people and be open minded to work with others that we haven’t worked with before. Everyone knows that feeling where if you’re in an environment that gives you negative energy you don’t feel like you want to give anything back. However, if you are in an environment that welcomes you with open arms, you are more than likely to feel positive energy and want to give that back. Hence, when mental health is made a top priority, the idea flow and creativity at a company increases immensely.

Pushing for inclusion
More than ever having good mental health programs turn you into an employer of choice

More than ever having good mental health programs turn you into an employer of choice

Esteem needs and loyalty

When companies are seen as prioritizing the mental health of their employees, among other currently salient issues, such as sustainability, customers are more likely to buy from those companies. The McKinsey group has recently published a study showing that 79% of the respondents said that they believe that wellness is important and 42% consider it a top priority. This shows us that not only is it important to prioritize mental health for employees, but it actually creates a stronger sense of loyalty from the customer to the brand because the company is seen as caring for the people that they affect.

Self actualization, innovation & employee retention

An employee who’s mental health is prioritized can foster an encouraging and risk-taking environment, where they and their colleagues feel more confident. This leads to all employees thinking outside the box, becoming more creative, innovative and possibly becoming more intrapreneurial. Thinking outside the box can contribute to a company gaining a new Unique Selling Point and what company doesn’t want that? Especially nowadays with younger people accessing the job market after having lived through the pandemic in almost complete isolation, the increasing value that they place on mental health means that companies have to start focusing on it more.

The more mental health programs are included in a company, the more likely younger people will want to join that company. I can just talk for myself, but when I apply to internships my three top priorities are that:

  • I can learn something from the company
  • The company prioritizes mental health and sustainability
  • The company is innovating new ways to help society

Mental Health Programs

Mental Health Programs

Psychological prosperity can be the result of a good mental health program

Looking back, I have learned a lot of things about myself over the years but one thing that I have really been working on is improving my physical and mental health and making sure that both of them are my top priorities. I deeply believe that everyone should do the same because let’s face it, work is important, but it definitely isn’t everything. We have so much to look forward to in this world, and we should be happy while exploring the four corners of the Earth.

When to Delegate & Why It’s So Important

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Knowing when to delegate and why it’s so important may not come naturally to everyone. It is, however, an important skill that does much more than just allowing you to achieve a healthier work and personal life integration.

If done right, understanding when to delegate will not just increase productivity and growth, but will also build your team’s confidence. It will show them you trust them, and boost their opportunities for professional development.

When to delegate is an important skill- Photo Credit- Alexander Suhorucov-Pexels

When to delegate is an important skill- Photo Credit- Alexander Suhorucov-Pexels

However, knowing when to delegate and doing so effectively is not always easy. It’s not just about reducing your workload, but about knowing your team, their strengths, and weaknesses so well that you’ll also find ways to challenge them and provide the right chances for them to grow. If done strategically, delegation will allow you to relax in the knowledge that your team has your back and let you concentrate on your own growth as well.

Being unwilling to delegate will affect not just your team’s productivity but also your own energy levels and ability to keep up with work. It’ll also create trust issues, limit everyone’s potential, and hinder any chance of you becoming a leader interested in mentoring and shaping up stronger teams.

Using Social Media for Business Success

Why is Delegation Important

  • It will help you focus on the most important tasks by freeing up some time. You won’t be overworked and that will make you far more willing to help and provide feedback to those who have taken tasks off your hands.
  • Taking on some of those tasks will offer team members stretch assignments where they may learn how to handle different scenarios. And hopefully, this will eventually lead to promotions.
  • Delegating a task can be a reward to prove you trust someone. This can make team members feel valued and thus, foster engagement.
  • Being able to delegate clearly and successfully will also improve your own coaching and mentoring abilities, as well as help you identify strengths and weaknesses, and reinforce your communication skills.
The Art of Intercultural Communication

When and What to Delegate

Knowing when to delegate can be tricky. There’s much more to it than just dumping your workload on someone on your team in order to have a little more time. Delegating can provide important teaching opportunities that should be put to good use. If you succeed, you’ll find yourself in a more committed and productive team that feels challenged, relied upon, and is not afraid to lean on each other to get the best possible results.

It might take some time for you to get to know your team well enough to delegate effectively. It won’t happen overnight, so be patient. Take the time to know everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. Once you do, it’ll be easier to know who the best candidates are for each task and who could use a little more practice in particular areas.

According to Dr. Scott Williams, professor of management at Wright State University, “Employees who feel that they are trusted and respected tend to have a higher level of commitment to their work, their organization, and especially their manager. In addition, effective delegation requires subordinates’ input during the delegation process.  When subordinates participate in making decisions that pertain to their work, they tend to have a greater sense of ownership of the work and increased commitment to its successful completion.”

Procrastination Do’s and Don’ts
Learning when to delegate is critical for your career - Photo Credit RF._.studio- Pexels

Learning when to delegate is critical for your career – Photo Credit RF._.studio- Pexels

A Few Rules to Follow

1Choose strategically: Know your team and their strengths. Knowing who is the best candidate to take up on a task is important, try to give people who need a little more practice a chance and let everyone grow. Some people might need a little more effort to get it right and you should know when to provide those opportunities.

2Be clear: About not just the project, but what your expectations are. This will help people plan to meet those expectations.

3Provide support and resources: Make sure that the people who have been assigned a task have everything they need to complete it successfully. It may take more time and extra planning, but providing teammates with courses and tools to build and strengthen skills will work to everyone’s advantage on the long run. Take the time to provide some mentoring and guidance.

4Be encouraging: Make sure you are communicating with everyone and be open to feedback and suggestions on how to make your team feel considered and heard. Having their back will make them much more passionate when it comes to having yours.

5Provide feedback: Publicly congratulate team members or groups who have taken on a delegated task successfully. If there’s any extra feedback, set up a meeting or one-on-one to make sure they know their work is appreciated, and which areas could use some improvement.

6Not everything can be delegated: This will depend on what it is you do, but it’s obvious that not everything can or should be delegated. The American Management Association recommends you avoid delegating tasks that: “are sensitive and personal in nature; require a degree of risk and decision making that is unfair to the delegate; require your personal expertise; require your personal leadership; or/and have legal restrictions.”

7Don’t forget to say thanks

Cultural Intelligence and Why You Should Care About Developing It

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In a world where the workplace and other essential spaces are becoming far more heterogeneous and diverse, it’s time to ask ourselves: what is the role of cultural intelligence? And why should we care about developing it as a personal and professional skill?

Through cultural intelligence individuals can not only interact effectively with people from other cultures and in different cultural contexts but appreciate important distinctions and how these may influence both work and social situations among colleagues.

Also referred to as cultural quotient (CQ), cultural intelligence has become a vital part in helping organizations foster a stronger, more collaborative, and more productive work environment. Where employees of different cultures have better relationships not just among themselves, but with clients and customers around the world. Just like relationships require a certain amount of emotional intelligence to thrive, interacting in a global workplace, with people who have different views, customs, and cultural experiences, requires cultural intelligence.

Cultural intelligence is vital to good workplace relationships- Photo Credit- Jacqueline Brandwayn- Unsplash

Cultural intelligence is vital to good workplace relationships- Photo Credit- Jacqueline Brandwayn- Unsplash

What is Cultural Intelligence?

An article by Christopher Earley and Elaine Mosakowski for the Harvard Business Review defines it as “an outsider’s seemingly natural ability to interpret someone’s unfamiliar and ambiguous gestures the way that person’s compatriots would.” In CQ: Developing Cultural Intelligence at Work, Earley teams up with Soon Ang and Joo-Seng Tan and says cultural intelligence is “a person’s capability for successful adaptation to new cultural settings, that is, for unfamiliar settings attributable to cultural context.”

Earley and his collaborators assert cultural intelligence “picks up where emotional intelligence leaves off” and deals with people and situations in unfamiliar surroundings.

The Art of Intercultural Communication

In business, among many other benefits, cultural intelligence leads to better relationships between coworkers, better communication with customers, and it can even improve sales across some markets. It helps people navigate complexities within different cultures and this fosters better, more open relationships, where people and their creativity can thrive.

Why Is it Good for Business?

Cultural intelligence has become a big asset and companies are looking for people who can prosper along with their multi-cultural teams. People with high cultural intelligence can help create the necessary environment to drive up creativity and innovation within businesses, thanks to their ability to incorporate different resources and multiple perspectives in multi-cultural workplaces.

Forbes reports that “employees who possess a high level of cultural intelligence play a vital role in bridging divides and knowledge gaps in an organization: educating their peers about different cultures; transferring knowledge between otherwise disparate groups; helping to build interpersonal connections and smooth the interpersonal processes in a multicultural workforce.”

We live at a time when having cultural intelligence is critical- Photo Credit- Joel Muniz-Unsplash

We live at a time when having cultural intelligence is critical- Photo Credit- Joel Muniz-Unsplash

The Three Sources of Cultural Intelligence

Cultural Intelligence has three components: the cognitive, the physical, and the emotional/motivational. While not all managers will excel in all three components, the best we can hope for is some sort of balance between the three. It doesn’t really work with two out of three since each element significantly depends on the other two to succeed.

1Head (cognitive): Learning about other cultures as well as your own and taking the time to observe and draw your own conclusions about not just particularities, but similarities too. Learning about where you come from will help you have a more analytical view that doesn’t always comes naturally to natives.

2Body (physical): You can’t just learn about different cultures. The way you act and behave around them can say a lot about your willingness to understand another culture. In fact, by adopting some of the habits and mannerisms that define them or are particular to them, you can develop a small understanding of what it’s like to be them.

3Heart (emotional/motivational): Confidence is a key element to help people stay motivated. You must be comfortable enough to make mistakes and learn from them instead of giving up out of fear of saying or doing the wrong thing.

Think Personal Projects Are a Luxury?
If you want to be a true global citizen you must master cultural intelligence- Photo Credit-Unsplash

If you want to be a true global citizen you must master cultural intelligence- Photo Credit-Unsplash

Seven Important Elements to Keep in Mind

1Self-awareness: Understand your cultural background and be honest about cultural biases and assumptions. You should also learn about your own culture and how it’s perceived by others.

2Curiosity: Be curious about all the big and little details that define people of different cultures. Read up on their history and discover their literature. Look for newspapers online, plan a movie night with movies and tv shows written/directed/produced by the culture you’re looking to learn about, and get out and find opportunities to talk to people from other cultures with an open mind.

3Commitment: Developing cultural intelligence is a commitment to keep learning, keep growing, and to allow yourself time and patience to understand these things don’t just happen overnight. It won’t always be simple and it’s important not to give up.

4Flexibility: New cultural experiences require you to adapt and adjust to new scenarios. You’ll have to be flexible to reshape and integrate what you learn into your identity. Also, things won’t always go as planned so just go with the flow.

5Openness: Be open to meeting people, eating new foods, going new places, experimenting new flavors and feelings. Be open to looking at experiences from other point of views while setting your own aside. Try to see things from their perspective without filtering everything through what you know of your own culture.

6Relationships: Build close relationships with people from other cultures. Just like there’s nothing quite like seeing a place through a local’s perspective, experiencing a culture through someone who is excited to teach you about it can give you a more intimate understanding and help you develop cultural intelligence.

7Humility: Accept that you won’t know everything, and that you are likely to take some missteps as you work on developing a stronger cultural intelligence. Make sure you’re paying attention and learn from mistakes without losing your motivation.

Using Social Media for Business Success

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If I had a dollar for every time I heard the phrase “Hannah, get off your phone!” I would be a trillionaire. I cannot count how many times my mom has told me to stop looking at social media and start living in the real world. But what is the real world? Today I’ll focus on how to use social media for business success, because in the real world social media is at the center of everything.

Companies that use social media for business success understand their clients

Companies that use social media for business success understand their clients

“The omnipresent power” & how it has taken over our lives

Zuckerberg, Spiegel, Dorsey, Systrom – these are all names which have altered the trajectory of our lives. Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, Instagram, among many others, are what rule the world today and separate surviving businesses from extinct ones. Social media has taken over our world because it’s such an easy way to get a summary of a business and what they do. Social media, or as I like to call it, the omnipresent power, decides whether businesses will sink or swim, all because of three simple reasons:

  • Accessibility
  • Connectivity
  • Convenience

Anyone, with a phone/tablet/computer and a stable internet connection can sign up to social media and see what’s going on in the world. They can also connect with their friends and family all over the world. Social media provides people a way to feel close to their loved ones at any point in time; and it’s such an easy way to communicate with people who are quite literally on the other side of the globe. Look at me and my mom: we send each other Instagram reels and feel connected to one another, although we are thousands of miles apart.

People like sharing their lives on social media

Social media is the real world, it’s not a fad that will disappear anytime soon

5 reasons why social media is a game changer

Social media is here to stay. In fact, during a recent Red Shoe Movement Signature Event in New York City, the topic of how to leverage social media to further a company’s goals was touched upon. The experts discussed how important it is to use social media for business success and briefly touched upon why it can be a game changer. Let’s look at the 5 reasons I came up with as to how social media can overturn a business.

1It brings you closer to the people you really want to connect with – your customers. Before customers buy from you, they will look at your social media presence and will make up their mind whether they want to buy from you or not.

2Your competitors are there. You have an easy way to benchmark yourself against other businesses in the industry. This not only decreases the amount of market research necessary, but it also makes the job 10 times easier because you have everything that you need with one click.

3It’s one of the easiest ways to get noticed by new customers. When posting giveaways, competitions, or anything else along those lines, new customers easily catch wind of it. Posts are shared and reposted and reshared which reaches a wider range of people.

4It’s a constant reminder of your company and the products/services you offer. Depending on your usage of social media, they will always have your company in the back of their minds. Keeping the memory of it fresh and warm.

5It builds a community. It makes your customers feel connected to your company and each other. When one person starts buying, then other people will too. The word will spread. Purely because everyone wants to be part of a social media trend, and no one wants to feel left out.

Responding to your customers on social media is critical for your business success

Responding to your customers on social media is critical for your business success

The risk of disregarding the importance of social media for business success

It doesn’t matter how many studies are done on the importance of social, nowadays, there are still some businesses that seem to think that social media is just a fad. However, the following statistics might change your mind and force you to double check whether you are using social media for business success.

  • Around 55% of consumers learn about new brands online.

If you don’t have a strong social media presence, a lot of people won’t know that your company exists. You might be saying to yourself at this point, “but there are so many other ways that I can reach my customers”. And this is where I would say, yes, but no. The fact is that nowadays Gen Z and Millenials don’t check emails, don’t check Facebook, don’t read flyers or brochures and let’s not even talk about letters that come in the mail. Gen Z and Millenials will Google you online and if they don’t find anything about you, most of the time they will not trust the brand.

  • Around 68% of consumers say that social media helps them interact with the company.

This is where digital customer service comes in: responding to comments, responding to direct messages, liking stories and tagging customers, are just a few ways you can establish trust with your consumers. Let’s take an example: imagine you walk into a store because you’d like to return a faulty product, but you cannot find a store clerk. Five, 10, 15 minutes pass and still no one approaches you and you also cannot find anyone. You get increasingly frustrated and at some point you walk out of the store and decide you will never go back in. The equivalent to that nowadays, is when a customer leaves a review online, and it is left unanswered; especially when they are angered with the product/service provided.

  • Around 43% of customers have increased their social media use to discover new products online.

A big percentage of your customer pool probably discovered you through the Internet, and are now loyal because of it. If you don’t promote your products/services online then you won’t be as noticed as you could be.

Using social media for business success

Using social media for business success

Using social media for business success means using it the right way

As a Gen Zer, I grew up with social media; it’s my normal, and I would like to help you feel the same (but please take it with a grain of salt).

1Consistency is key – post multiple times a week and keep the content similar but not the same. You want to inform your customers of what’s to come, but you also want them hungering for more.

2Involve your customers – use social media features to your advantage: upload polls and surveys, let your customers ask questions and make sure they have a way to contact you. Bottom line, make sure that there is no wall between you and your consumer.

3Have fun – I see so many businesses online that take themselves too seriously and just post informative content with a lot of statistics. Don’t get me wrong, that’s also very important to do to establish credibility with your customers. But at the same time you want to show your customers that you are just like them, that you can have fun like them, that you think like them, and most importantly, that you understand

I know social media seems daunting. Believe me, even though I was born during the age of technology, I’m always surprised at the different things companies come up with to increase their social media presence. Hopefully this has convinced you that social media isn’t just a toy for young people, but it’s the key to success to build a thriving business.

The Art of Intercultural Communication

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Communication with Confidence

I’m 19 years old and have lived in eight different countries on two different continents. Although I was born in Austria and both my parents are filled with Austrian blood, there’s not one country that I would call home. I may still have a lot of other things to learn but if there’s one thing I’ve mastered it’s the art of intercultural communication. I’ve obviously made my fair share of mistakes and wanted to be gobbled up by the ground, but with each misstep I learn and feel more confident in my ability to communicate better. This post is my attempt at trying to shield you from that same kind of embarrassment.

Intercultural Communication is critical for our world

Intercultural Communication is critical for our world

Failing at Intercultural Communication

The other day, I was having a coffee with a group of friends among whom was Juan (not his real name). Juan, who’s Peruvian, and I were talking about the grades that we had just received and he told me he did well, while my other friends did average. I told Juan that he had reason to be proud of himself. Now, instead of saying a simple “thank you”, Juan turned the color of a tomato and was visibly uncomfortable. I was speechless. What was meant as genuine praise to my friend, ended up creating an awkward situation for everyone involved: Juan was embarrassed and I was stunned to silence.

I had absolutely no idea what was going on and why I made my friend so uneasy. Has that ever happened to you? Because I can tell you, that’s not the first time something like that has happened to me. As if the universe heard my prayers, I was given an intercultural communication course that revolved around exactly what I wanted to know: why my comment made Juan want to be swallowed whole.

What is cultural diversity and how to make it work

What is it?

According to the definition of Oxford reference, intercultural communication is “an umbrella term for the interaction between people from different cultural or subcultural backgrounds”. In simple terms, it’s how people from different cultures communicate. That’s usually what causes so many issues between people from different backgrounds and can be the cause of stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination.

But what makes intercultural communication so difficult? I mean, communication should be easy especially if we interact in the same language… right? The answer to that question is absolutely not. Just because we speak the same language, doesn’t mean messages are received in the same way that they were intended.

So, the first question that we have to ask ourselves is how good are our communication skills?. Once we have mastered our own communication skills, we can then move on to understanding why intercultural communication is such a problem.

Intercultural Communication

Intercultural Communication

What Makes it Such a Hassle?

Firstly, intercultural communication involves individuals from different cultural backgrounds who may have different values, beliefs, norms, and ways of communicating so the cultural barriers are really the things that we have to break down. These barriers can include language, social norms, non-verbal communication, and varying cultural expectations. All of this can lead to misunderstanding, confusion, and frustration.

Another reason why intercultural communication can be difficult is that individuals from different cultures may have different communication styles. Some cultures may value direct communication, while others, may prefer indirect communication. This can lead to some cultures reading between the lines where there is actually nothing to read.

Another complication is the rise of cultural stereotypes and biases. Stereotypes and biases can lead individuals and whole groups to make assumptions about others based on things they’ve heard or seen.

Finally, it’s important to recognize that intercultural communication is a two-way street. Both parties involved must be willing and excited to learn about each other’s cultures, be open-minded, and adapt their communication styles to ensure effective communication. Needless to say, this isn’t always the case as individuals may be resistant to change or may hold onto their cultural beliefs and values, making intercultural communication a hassle.

There is a lot to be learned to master intercultural communication

There is a lot to be learned to master intercultural communication

How Can we Communicate with Confidence?

To solve intercultural communication issues, we first need to review the theories of the two visionaries that birthed intercultural communication. One of them is Geert Hofstede (from the 1980s) and the other one is Erin Meyer (from the 2010s). Both of them have identified different but yet similar dimensions to help them explain cultures.

Starting with Hofstede, his cultural dimension theory (which I suggest you take with a grain of salt because it’s a bit outdated) relies on six different dimensions:

  • Individualism (personal goals are achieved first) versus collectivism (the groups’ goals are achieved first)
  • Masculinity (competitive society focusing on material rewards) versus femininity (a society looking to improve quality of life)
  • Short-term orientation (a society that preserves traditions and lives in the present) versus long-term orientation (a society that focuses on the future)
  • Uncertainty avoidance (the degree to which a society can understand that the future is unknown)
  • Power distance (the degree to which people lower down in the “food chain” know and accept that power is distributed unequally)
  • Indulgence (giving into desires) versus restraint (curbing desires)

Hofstede claims that with solely these six dimensions, he can explain why a culture acts in a certain way. Let’s take my home country, Austria, as an example. Hofstede claims that Austria has low power distance and high individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and indulgence. Now you may ask, how does that help me with intercultural communication? Well, let’s take a closer look: we are said to have low power distance, which means that we are not a very hierarchical society. Hence, our communication is very frank and blunt because we want to make democratic decisions and that fast. We are also more individualistic which means we want to achieve our own goals first and not beat around the bush – direct communication without reading between the lines is favored. So, the next time you talk to an Austrian, keep these thing in mind and don’t take it personally if we are too direct.

The second visionary is Erin Meyer (please take also these these with a grain of salt since they’re just approximations, just like Hofstede’s), who proposes eight different dimensions:

  • Communication (low-context versus high-context)
  • Negative feedback (direct versus indirect)
  • Persuading (concept first versus application first)
  • Leading (egalitarian versus hierarchical)
  • Deciding (consensual versus top-down)
  • Trusting (task-based versus relationship-based)
  • Disagreeing (confrontational versus avoids confrontation)
  • Scheduling (linear versus flexible)

I like Meyer’s dimensions much more because they fit better into our modern society. Again, let’s take Austria as an example. We are a low-context country, which means we focus on direct communication, which is why we also give direct negative feedback in a diplomatic, but honest way. We also prefer to be confrontational because we want to get the problems out of the way and discuss them right there, right then.

The art of intetercultural communication

The art of intetercultural communication

How Can we Master the Art of Intercultural Communication?

With the following three simple steps you can master intercultural communication:

1 Learn about different cultures. It’s as easy as sitting down with a stranger from a different culture and just chatting about what you know about each other’s culture. That can be anything starting from food all the way to dance rituals. Explore different angles and gain as much knowledge as possible because ultimately knowledge is power.

2 Learn to adapt. I know it’s easier said than done. To adapt to a different culture when you’re so adamant about retaining your own culture is not easy. However, since it’s a two-way process, one of you has to start the process, and why shouldn’t be you if you know the theory behind it now? Focus on understanding what you can improve in your communication and try to apply Hofstede’s and Meyer’s dimensions to help you understand where the other person is coming from.

3 Go out there and make mistakes. You will never learn if you don’t take a step into the outside world and put your new communication skills to use. Full disclosure: you’ll absolutely make mistakes and you will sometimes feel like a fool just like I did with Juan. However, because you have made those mistakes, in the future, you are sure to not make the same ones because you will have learned from the past.

These three steps may seem insignificant and silly, but at the end of the day, intercultural communication is a piece of cake. Sometimes, it might be a small little cupcake but other times it might be a four-tiered wedding cake. Whichever cake it may be, you have now the full skill set ace intercultural skills. The only thing left for you to do is to go out, sit in a coffee house, order your staple drink, turn to the person next to you, and talk. What are you waiting for?