Truth 57
You Have to Talk to Them, Even if It's After Hours

In Truth 56 I described my job at Microsoft managing Corporate Procurement. In this job I had two peers: a European manager and an Asia Pacific manager. The European manager was based in London, and the Asia Pacific manager was based in Japan. To better ensure that the various procurement organizations worked well together, I realized that I needed to focus on building a relationship with each of my peers. We decided to put a simple communications plan in place to help the relationship-building.

I established a pattern of regular biweekly phone calls, which I made with each of my peers. We agreed up front to block out the time on our calendars regardless of our agendas and to take only the amount of time necessary. I scheduled my calls at 8 a.m. with my European peer and at 4 p.m. with my Asia Pacific peer to ensure that we would be doing the calls during work hours for both of us. Sometimes the calls had some important issues and decisions that we needed to discuss, and other times the issues weren't as important. Sometimes we socialized during the calls, and sometimes not. Each call was important, though, in that it helped build trust in the relationship and strengthen our sense of teaming with each other. A significant part of our organizations working well together was the fact that our respective leadership took the time to get to know each other and develop a personal relationship.

In today's world of the Internet and e-mail, it is very easy for us to want to utilize the efficiency that technology has to offer in how we communicate. Don't get me wrong; I'm not advocating bringing back the pony express as a means of communication. I love technology and use e-mail and the Internet every day. I do think that at times, particularly when communicating across cultures or time zones, you need to get on the phone and talk. Talking real-time to a colleague provides an additional dimension to your interaction that e-mail doesn't. Aside from being less time-consuming than e-mail, talking on the phone better facilitates building a relationship with your colleague. Hearing a person's voice makes a message more personal and allows you to better understand emotions like frustration, happiness, fear, and sadness. I've found that by getting on the phone and talking with a colleague, I can get a much better appreciation of his or her business challenges, empathize with his or her situation, and establish trust in our relationship.

Hearing a person's voice makes a message more personal and allows you to better understand his or her emotions.

If you have a cross-cultural colleague you need to build a relationship with, put a few techniques to work to help you both get your point across more effectively:

• Schedule regular phone discussions. Agree with your colleague on how often you'll talk, who will call whom, and how structured or unstructured the phone calls will be. Regularly scheduled discussions will help set expectations for both you and your colleague on when you will talk as well as enable you to "save up" agenda items for your next phone discussion.
• Alternate who gets up early or stays at work late. If you're working in different time zones and are unable to schedule discussions during business hours for both of you, alternate who gets in extra early or stays late. Aside from showing a degree of courtesy to your colleague, this also shows a commitment to the relationship, because you're willing to work outside normal business hours to talk with your colleague.
• Be prepared. Spend some time thinking about the items you want to discuss, get an idea of how long each will take, and send your discussion items to your colleague ahead of time. I'm not suggesting that your phone discussion be too rigid or structured. Just make an effort to use both your and your colleague's time well by preparing up front.

Getting your point across effectively to a colleague from another time zone, country, or culture means you need to take some time to talk real-time. Get him or her on the phone to discuss issues, talk about projects, or ask about family. Talking together helps you put a personality behind the words and better paves the way to a more effective relationship between the two of you.