Your Meeting May be Virtual, but the Cultural Differences are Real.

What You Need to Know to Manage Cultural Differences in Virtual Global Meetings.

“So Tanaka-san, what do you think of Sandra’s idea?”, you ask of your team lead in Tokyo on a Zoom conference call. You’re in London, Sandra is in New York, and several other members of the global team are in various other world locations.

Tanaka responds with what looks like a smile on your screen, then remains silent. Maybe it’s the connection, you think.

“Tanaka-san, how’s your connection?”, you ask.

“Good, thank you, Collins-san”, he replies.

“Oh, ‘cause I didn’t hear your response, so I just wasn’t sure if the connection was OK or not.”

Screen shots of the faces of other members of Tanaka-san’s team indicate they seem unsure of what’s happening, and look somewhat apprehensively at each other. Then, after what feels to you like an uncomfortably long moment of silence, Tanaka-san responds,

“Collins-san, there were many fine ideas in Sandra-san’s comments. A few things perhaps need some further study. Maybe we can all share some ideas and questions between now and our next meeting for further clarification”.