Beyond Borders at #SLA2014

SLA Europe DigiComms

Michelle Bond is back again after kindly writing up the ‘Beyond Borders’ session from #SLA2014; a session which Michelle Bondexplored working across different cultures and countries.

True story: before I decided to be a librarian, I was considering doing my masters in cross-cultural communication. I thought it might be a bridge between my itinerant lifestyle and a proper career.

So I was very interested to see this session on the schedule at the conference, and even more interested to see what the panelists had to say about their time working overseas. The panel consisted of SLA Europe President Don Roll; new SLA Fellow Catherine Lavelle-Walsh and Hyoshin Kim from Douglas College with Geraldine Clement-Stoneham acting as moderator.

Taking the form of a Q&A session, the panel had many tips and stories to share about their experiences. There was plenty of laughter as the panelists recounted tales of mishaps and unintentional offenses, which for me shows the most important part of intercultural communication (and a general life tip) – don’t take yourself too seriously! I was also particularly impressed to hear that Don had only spent a total of 2 weeks outside of the US before moving to the UK!

My top 5 tips from the session are:

  1. Do your research before engaging – some cultures have specific customs which you should adhere to. One often used example is of the exchange of business cards in China – this is an important custom and is quite intricate, including ensuring you present the card with two hands and study the card you are given in return.
  2. Body language is just as important as spoken language.
  3. Everyone has an accent – even you! This is also linked to another tip, which is…
  4. Don’t assume your cultural habits are the norm. Don told us that whilst in British meetings there is always the exchange of social niceties before work starts, whilst New Yorkers will generally jump straight into it. Neither is the ‘correct’ way of doing things, it all depends on context.
  5. Vocabulary used is important – remember there are different forms of English and different vocab used across them (think “trousers” vs. “pants”). Also be careful about using humour – British people tend to have a very dry humour which isn’t necessarily appreciated overseas.

Overall I really enjoyed this session; it had lots of tips that rang true to me, having spent a lot of time overseas. It also chimed really well with the ‘Beyond Borders’ theme of the conference, and I hope I added to this by tweeting the session and engaging with various people about the issues raised. It would be great to see this session run again in the UK.

 
 

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