Even though Europe stands united behind the flag of the European Union, its citizens still speak their own languages, watch different television shows, and read different newspapers. Football, the world’s most popular game, is something that many Europeans share in common. People from different backgrounds come together to watch the game – even though they might wish for different results.

Perhaps an effortless and enjoyable way to practise your English is to follow the Champion’s League in English. Here are a few English language websites about football (‘soccer’ in American English) that you might find useful: soccernet.com, fourfourtwo.com, sportinglife.com, footballnewsblog.co.uk

VISCA BARÇA!

Many of the same rules still apply to holding an effective meeting, which we will quickly re-cap after this paragraph, but it is essential to take into account the new element of cultural diversity.

Imagine a scenario such as Company A in Spain merges with Company B in Germany. All of sudden, there are new team members that have different expectations. In Germany for example, it might be appropriate to hold a meeting at 2:30 in the afternoon, while in Spain said meeting might fall square in the middle of the average Spaniard’s lunch hour. Differences in behavior, meeting pace, and overall presentation are other things to keep in mind.

Multicultural or not, virtual or face-to-face, it’s still best to pay heed to our conventional knowledge about effective meetings. So when you organise a meeting it’s best to:

• Hold meetings only when they are necessary. Meetings for the sake of meetings are a sure way to induce sleep in even the most gung-ho workers.
• Make sure everybody attending the meeting is clear about the agenda, and keep the meeting focused.
• Consider if the people attending the meeting need to be there. While it may seem obvious, sometimes meetings become a matter of habit, and nothing is less effective than a room full of unengaged, non-participating people.
• Don’t give monologues. Keep the attendees of the meeting involved with questions and allow for feedback, as long as it does not stray too far from the agenda. Listen actively and question.
• Keep an eye on the clock. No matter what culture you’re in, starting the meeting on time, and ending it on time, will be appreciated by everybody.

For those attending meetings the same classic rule applies. Participate, participate, participate. It’s also helpful for everybody when questions are asked. If you don’t understand something, it’s likely that someone else doesn’t either.

Probably the single most important thing to remember when participating in or chairing a multicultural meeting is to have respect. Respect individual differences and each person’s level of participatory comfort.

More likely than not, today’s multicultural business meetings will be conducted in English. This likely means that a good percentage of those attending will not have English as their mother tongue. In order to be fair, simple, straightforward English ought to be used. And, just as importantly, use visual cues and ask people for feedback, where appropriate, on important meeting points. This helps engage people who may be uncomfortable because they are using English as a second language, or those who are normally more reserved. Speaking clearly is especially helpful in virtual meetings, where often we rely solely on our ears.

Just as important: for those non-native English speakers participating in a meeting it is important to realise that you are not alone. You shouldn’t feel bashful if you didn’t understand something. If something needs to be clarified, don’t hesitate to ask about it. Repeating something in a meeting is far preferable to dealing with confused team members further down the line.

We all have preconceived notions of what a successful meeting is. The multicultural soup of today’s globalised economy presents us new and exciting challenges. Joaquim Vaz, Training & Development Manager at Bakemark Ibérica / Purac Bioquímica, perhaps put it best when asked to give advice on chairing and attending multicultural meetings: ‘Find out about the other participants beforehand. Learn about their cultures. Do your homework.’

Buzzwords – also known as neologisms – are new words that are common in certain environments. They are frequently used, yet they are often ambiguous, even to the people using them. Here is a quick quiz of some common buzzwords you may have heard recently. We will do our best to provide you the least ambiguous answer (even for us natives of the English language sometimes these terms are maddeningly vague):

Staycation
a) An altercation where each person stays still and stares menacingly at the other person
b) A new form of yoga involving cat-like poses
c) A vacation spent at home

Answer

Leveraging knowledge capital
a) Stealing an idea, changing a few things and claiming it’s your own
b) To enhance your knowledge with extra learning
c) To supply your workforce with new important knowledge

Answer

Talking points
a) Three little dots (…) that say a lot, without actually saying anything
b) A short list summarizing a speaker’s agenda
c) A phrase repeated over and over until everyone believes it

Answer

Hotspot
a) Something you develop after staying out in the sun too long
b) A feeling you get in your stomach after eating chicken vindaloo
c) A venue that offers wireless internet (wi-fi)

Answer

Action items
a) A cooler sounding name for a ‘to do’ list
b) Toys for adults
c) Jean-Claude Van Damme’s new movie

Answer

Herding cats
a) An ancient Chinese sport
b) A nearly impossible task
c) A British rock group from the 80s

Answer

Golden parachute
a) A Greek myth by Homer
b) Nickname of the Canadian paratrooper brigade
c) A large benefit package given to terminated employees (usually top executives)

Answer

Bandwidth
a) A measure of available and consumed data in computer networking
b) How fat a band’s members are
c) The amount of resources that a person or group has available

Answer

Pain point
a) Point where a business feels loss of productivity or other annoyance due to poor organisation, lack of resources, etc.
b) A deadly martial arts technique
c) A very small and irritating detail

Answer

As you can see, buzzwords can be confusing and ambiguous, so when in doubt, remember it never hurts to ask!