Who and why do you trust?

Author : Marike Verniers

To make progression in a group, it is significant to have the ability to trust one another but entrusting someone is not necessarily that simple. The trust of numerous people has been breached at one time or another, making it tougher to earn the trust from them. In specific cultures, trust is established based on the connection people experience. In other cultures, trust is built based on what you have accomplished (Meyer, 2015). This blog will explain more about relationship-based trust and how to interact with individuals from Japan, for instance.

When partnering with people from another culture, it is significant to possess not only typical knowledge about said culture such as, for instance, greeting with a bow or a handshake. When fancying to collaborate with people from Japan, it is vital to know particular values that are meaningful in business life. The key values in Japanese business are generating connections and maintaining these relationships (Japanese cultural values in business relationships – Elcano Royal Institute, 2022). The Japanese aim to build strong relationships with their staff and colleagues. These good relationships are critical for the decision-making process as they are more comfortable doing business with friends, and not just acquittances (Meyer, 2015). In Japan, a great deal of money and time is spent to socialize outside of office hours. In those hours, they want to get to know the potential foreign partner as much as possible. The after-work meetings are unofficial gatherings where more detailed information about the business is relayed and where everyone can voice their personal feelings about it. In observing these key values, there can be conclude that the trust in Japan is relationship based.

To conclude, I will provide 2 tips for networking with people who have a relationship-based culture.

• The most important advice is to value long-term relationships. It is reassuring to know that you can come to them for future projects without any concerns about trust. These long-term relationships can be achieved by being honest with each other, being transparent and by fulfilling promises (How to Build Trust in the Workplace: 10 Effective Solutions, z.d.).

• The second recommendation is about communicating with each other. Miscommunications quickly occur and are best prevented. When there is any uncertainty, it would be wise to request additional clarification (How to Build Trust in the Workplace: 10 Effective Solutions, z.d.). The proper medium of communication is equally relevant. For instance, opt for chatting or videoconferencing rather than email. These communications will appear more personal (Technology, 2021).

It can be concluded that people should think more about how to earn each other's trust. The blog covered the 2 main ways to win the trust of those from a relationship-based culture, namely, to use the right medium of communication and to look at the long-term relationship rather than the short-term relationship.

REFERENCES

Meyer, E. M. (2015). The culture map: Decoding how people think, lead, and get things done across cultures. PublicAffairs. 

How to Build Trust in the Workplace: 10 Effective Solutions. (z.d.). https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-build-trust 

Japanese cultural values in business relationships - Elcano Royal Institute. (2022, 17 January). Elcano Royal Institute. https://www.realinstitutoelcano.org/en/analyses/japanese-cultural-values-in-business-relationships/ 

Japanese Culture - Business Culture. (2021). Cultural Atlas. https://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/japanese-culture/japanese-culture-business-culture 

Technology, S. (2021, 15 September). SPS Technology - Working with Globally Distributed Teams - Building Trust (Task-Based & Relationship-Based). https://tech.spscommerce.com/2021/09/15/working-with-globally.html