Proposal to improve effective communication between Chinese and Finnish teams

These days, it is common for companies and organisations to have multicultural and cross-functional teams, which may be located in different physical spaces and hence, have to collaborate in virtual environments. As a result, effective communication has become more critical than ever. This research study focuses on the current internal communication issues between two teams located in Chinese and Finnish. The study addresses cultural differences and language barriers between these two teams and proposes several action points for improving cross-border communication effectiveness. The research follows the theoretical framework based on a literature review and previous studies on the communication process, intercultural communication, and cultural differences between China and Finland. The theoretical framework defines a list of hypotheses to be tested in this study, where the data collection process uses qualitative research and semi-structured interviews. The interviews were conducted virtually with pre-selected participants from both China and Finland. Ten participants were interviewed, six were from China, and four were from Finland. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, documented, coded, and themed for analysis. Following the results of the interviews, four core themes were identified: language competence, communication channel, intercultural communication, and communication pattern. The results verified whether the hypotheses were established correctly and are in line with the theoretical framework of this research. To address existing communication issues summarised based on interview results, a suggestion was made to support people in comprehending their communication styles, help the employees and teams understand each other better, and improve their teamwork, communication effectiveness, and productivity