English is the dominant language in international business, as you presumably already know. But, you’ll find many markets or businesses where English is either not used at all or is a second language.
So, there will be many occasions when two people working for the same business may not be able to understand each other. Or can’t convey their message to others in the same language. Why is this important in the first place? Because one of the main reasons for lower productivity at work is poor or inadequate communication among coworkers.
However, there is no justification for this to jeopardize productivity, no matter internally or externally. Therefore, we’ve identified 7 different ways that might help to overcome the language barriers your business might be facing.
Arrange Language Lessons for your Workforce
Almost 75% of Americans don’t have a second language, reports show. As the majority of people speak English, this isn’t always good especially if you run an international business.
If employees working in your global offices need to communicate with each other, they will struggle big time. You can make things easier for your employees by arranging language lessons for them. Thus, pushing the boundaries of employee training and development.
According to research, if a person learns a second language, their brain starts functioning much better. Hence, by arranging language lessons for your employees, you will also reap the benefits of greater employee engagement and productivity.
Encourage Cultural Understanding Among Workers
A diverse workplace can generate around 19 percent more revenue than its counterparts having a less diverse environment. But, is diversity always an added advantage to your business? In a word, no. There are instances when language and cultural diversity can lead to conflicts among employees.
That’s the reason for having a shared, better understanding of each others’ culture. If you don’t encourage this cultural understanding, people would tend to be less tolerant of other languages and cultures. Which could have severe consequences for your business.
Because language isn’t all about the words we utter. There can be many unspoken impressions, phrases, or gestures which can cause misunderstandings between people from difficult cultures. So, what you are going to do is: you will ensure that people understand the different cultures. And are aware of the fact that such things can result in failures to correctly comprehend some communications. By doing so, you almost guarantee that your workplace will get along much better.
Get your Materials Translated into other Languages
You might want to have your documents, presentations, and other materials translated into other appropriate languages. This will help your global team members to cherish the same level of understanding other members enjoy.
Online translation services will help you accomplish this goal quickly and cost-effectively. When you hire a company, you will just provide them with the source material and tell them about your target audience and language. They will translate it to the professional standard.
Hiring a translation service isn’t easy though. It poses a significant set of challenges particularly when someone is a beginner. There are many types of translation services based on industry types. For instance, if someone runs an education business, all they need are education translation services to keep up with curriculum changes within their country or to adapt to global challenges.
So, be very careful as you look for translations of your text. Consider your industry type. You might be running an IT business. Thus, you need a partner who knows the ins and outs of technical documents, user manuals, training courses, etc. And can deliver professional technology translation services to your business. After all, you don’t want to run the risk of poor and confusing translations.
Consider Hiring a Professional Interpreter
A professional interpreter is someone who deals with spoken content and translates the message for two parties having any language barriers. Most translation companies provide such services and allow you to even get an over-the-phone interpretation service if you can’t afford someone to be your workplace.
Hiring an interpreter can help you interact with foreign clients who don’t understand your language. A professional translator will ensure that both of you understand each other during the meeting and can conduct business efficiently.
Look for other Alternatives
Sometimes you have to change the way you tackle language barriers. For instance, you might need to sift through a huge amount of data or want the content to be translated in real-time chat. Machine translation software could be an ideal case in such scenarios. Like you can use Google Translator which is absolutely free and supports many popular languages to translate between.
Also, you may use visuals to your advantage. Your end goal is to get the point across, so if a picture or photograph can cut it, why not. Instead of using words, use images to convey the message, whenever it’s possible. Nevertheless, this is also a fact, we can’t always rely on machine software or images. There could be many complications such as inaccuracies with machine translation.
The idea was just to give you some ideas on how you can break down the language barriers in your business. From arranging language classes to getting your content translated into other foreign languages, all these provide some nice tips you can follow to overcome communication gaps and other linguistic obstacles. The list is not comprehensive though and you can also come up with other important ways that can help get around any language barriers. Please describe them in the comments section below. Thanks for reading.
