Title: Strategies Quiz
Course: PIM: Tricky Communication: Intent vs. Impact > Section: Strategies to Align Intent and Impact

Q: Scenario 1:

Jennifer is a young woman from the US who has been awarded a Fulbright scholarship to do research in Senegal. The day after her arrival, she has a meeting with Cherif, a young Senegalese man with whom she had a video call and who will help her navigate local archives. When she meets him in her hotel lobby, she is taken aback when he leans in and kisses her on both cheeks. "Ick!" she thinks. "We've had one video call and he assumes something is going on between us!"

Does Jennifer have it right? What do you think Cherif's intent was?
Feedback: If you said that Cherif simply meant to greet Jennifer in a way that is common in Senegal and in many other parts of the world (although the number of kisses would vary), then you either knew or guessed correctly. If you weren't aware of this custom, that's ok. Now you are!

Q: Scenario 1:

Jennifer is a young woman from the US who has been awarded a Fulbright scholarship to do research in Senegal. The day after her arrival, she has a meeting with Cherif, a young Senegalese man with whom she had a video call and who will help her navigate local archives. When she meets him in her hotel lobby, she is taken aback when he leans in and kisses her on both cheeks. "Ick!" she thinks. "We've had one video call and he assumes something is going on between us!"

What was the impact on Jennifer? How would you feel?
Feedback: There are many ways you might have responded, but the general idea is that Jennifer feels that Cherif is being overly-familiar with her, and she is uncomfortable with that level of intimacy in such a short time frame. Whether or not you feel the same depends a lot on both your interpretation of the Cherif's intent and your cultural norms for relationship development.

Q: Scenario 1:

Jennifer is a young woman from the US who has been awarded a Fulbright scholarship to do research in Senegal. The day after her arrival, she has a meeting with Cherif, a young Senegalese man with whom she had a video call and who will help her navigate local archives. When she meets him in her hotel lobby, she is taken aback when he leans in and kisses her on both cheeks. "Ick!" she thinks. "We've had one video call and he assumes something is going on between us!"

What could Jennifer have done to avoid the misunderstanding in this situation? What about Cherif?
Feedback: There is no one right answer, but here are some ideas... If Jennifer had researched key Senegalese cultural practices like greetings before her trip, she might have understood Cherif's behavior as customary. Maybe she would still be uncomfortable, especially if such close proximity was triggering in any way, but at least she would understand the intent. Even if Jennifer hadn't researched Senegalese cultural practices, she might call on curiosity and decide to observe greetings to see if kissing is common. She might also consult someone else from Senegal or talk with Cherif about how she greets new colleagues and ask about norms in Senegal. You might wonder about Cherif's role as the person who created a negative impact. In the scenario, you are given Jennifer's thoughts but not her external reaction, and it's possible that Cherif won't even realize the negative impact of his behavior if Jennifer doesn't use body language or words to signal her discomfort. Maybe you wonder: Who is responsible for bridging cultural differences in a situation like this? Obviously, Cherif might also have researched cultural practices to prepare for the encounter. But we chose to focus on Jennifer because she is the person entering the new cultural context, and she will likely encounter many more cultural differences for which she would do well to be prepared.

Q: Scenario 2:

Carlos has just been hired for a job that will start in six weeks. He receives a welcome email message from his new supervisor that begins, "Hey Carlos." The message includes a joke about how the two of them are going to have to work together to get more spicy food on the menu for the team's quarterly lunches.

Carlos remembers putting a dab of hot sauce on his food at the interview lunch, but it was a strategy to get himself to take small bites so that he could swallow quickly if someone asked a question. Really, he's not a fan, and why does his supervisor bring it up anyway? They hardly know each other!

Carlos sends back a short email that opens with "Dear" and that states that he looks forward to starting the job.

His supervisor doesn't know what to make of the response.

What do you think was the supervisor's intent?
Feedback: Most likely, the supervisor intended to come across as friendly -- he remembered something not work-related about Carlos from the interview and wanted to make a personal connection. His informal greeting may have been meant to let Carlos know that hierarchy in the unit is fairly flat or low power distance, and he doesn't consider himself far above Carlos in status. If you noted that the supervisor may have been trying to make sure Carlos felt welcome or put him at ease in a new environment, those are also great responses, and of course there are other possible correct answers here as well.

Q: Scenario 2:

Carlos has just been hired for a job that will start in six weeks. He receives a welcome email message from his new supervisor that begins, "Hey Carlos." The message includes a joke about how the two of them are going to have to work together to get more spicy food on the menu for the team's quarterly lunches.

Carlos remembers putting a dab of hot sauce on his food at the interview lunch, but it was a strategy to get himself to take small bites so that he could swallow quickly if someone asked a question. Really, he's not a fan, and why does his supervisor bring it up anyway? They hardly know each other!

Carlos sends back a short email that opens with "Dear" and that states that he looks forward to starting the job.

His supervisor doesn't know what to make of the response.

What was the impact on Carlos?
Feedback: Carlos was clearly uncomfortable. He may have had a different understanding of power distance and felt that his supervisor's informality and the fact that he would discuss food, which has little to do with the job, created too much familiarity. Maybe he found his supervisor's tone and comments to be disrespectful. Maybe he was also concerned about how closely he would be observed on the job given what the supervisor remembered about lunch. Or maybe he wondered if he would have to act like he loved spicy food to please his supervisor. Although you aren't given information about how either the supervisor or Carolos identify themselves in ethnic or racial terms, maybe you wrote that Carlos felt that the supervisor made assumptions about his tastes because of his name, Carlos, which is common in Latino communities. In other words, the supervisor might have assumed that Carlos identifies as Latino and applied the stereotype that all Latinos like spicy food. If the supervisor is indeed stereotyping, his comment constitutes a microaggression, and Carlos would have grounds to wonder if his new work environment will be welcoming.

Q: Scenario 2:

Carlos has just been hired for a job that will start in six weeks. He receives a welcome email message from his new supervisor that begins, "Hey Carlos." The message includes a joke about how the two of them are going to have to work together to get more spicy food on the menu for the team's quarterly lunches.

Carlos remembers putting a dab of hot sauce on his food at the interview lunch, but it was a strategy to get himself to take small bites so that he could swallow quickly if someone asked a question. Really, he's not a fan, and why does his supervisor bring it up anyway? They hardly know each other!

Carlos sends back a short email that opens with "Dear" and that states that he looks forward to starting the job.

His supervisor doesn't know what to make of the response.

How would you suggest that the supervisor navigate the situation moving forward? What about Carlos - what should he do?
Feedback: There isn't one right answer, but here are some ideas... The supervisor might reach out to Carlos by email again, this time mirroring Carlos's more formal tone. He might simply say that he looks forward to having Carlos on the team. If the supervisor realizes that he stereotyped based on Carlos's name, then he would do well to apologize and to say that he looks forward to getting to know Carlos better, including his food tastes. He might also use curiosity to explore Carlos's response to his original message. However, he would need to consider the fact that email can take up a lot a time, and Carlos hasn't started working with him yet. For that reason, a good solution would be to let Carlos know that he is setting time aside for the two of them to get to know each other and their preferred working styles once Carlos begins the job. The supervisor in this situation has more power and is also at risk of having committed a microaggression, but Carlos does have agency. You might think about how Carlos could assume positive intent and reframe his understanding of the supervisor's message. He might want to ask for clarification from his new supervisor to tease out what he actually meant rather than making assumptions. It may also be appropriate for him to ask other new coworkers about his supervisor's managerial style and sense of humor if he is unsure of how to interpret the message.