Living in Russia as a foreigner is a unique experience. This country, full of contradictory images, can bring the best and, unfortunately, the worst. Working among Russian colleagues is an excellent opportunity to find out the true nature of this culture often perceived through biased stereotypes.

The behaviour of Russian employees and managers, once the first weeks of mutual observation and diplomatic gestures are over, becomes little by little bewildering at best, and possibly disturbing at worst. However, with a little curiosity and open-mindedness, the reality that appears may be highly instructive and useful for the rest of your stay.

A new field of business management can help in understanding the hidden layers of the Russian culture: cross-cultural management. Composed of a bit of anthropology, a bit of sociology and a lot of management theories, this new field helps understanding why the  culture is different.

Each foreign businessperson abroad faces, at one point, shocks, misunderstandings and drawbacks. Because the Russian culture appears not too dissimilar from most of the western ones, it blurs the perception and, indeed, makes the misinterpretations even more painful than usual. Each of us has built up a set of “tricks” to better navigate in this turbulent environment, but what about the newcomers, the spouses or the infrequent travellers? How to approach the Russian culture while minimizing the risks?

The area of application is too wide to be covered in one article; however, we can review a few common features that would make your life in Russia more pleasant.

For example, cross-cultural specialists dub the Russian culture as “high-context.” This concept, originating from American anthropologist Edward Hall, means the way we communicate is not loaded with the same hidden content. When interacting, interlocutors of such cultures assume the other one is knowledgeable of the same background information. Required knowledge is below the waterline, implicit, patterns that are not fully conscious, hard to explain even if you are a member of that culture. The way of talking is quite cryptic to the newcomer.

In practice, the use of nicknames (or diminutives), inside jokes or corporate traditions are the most visible features. The newcomer needs to be initiated to belong to the group. You may notice that Alexei is called Aliosha by his colleagues; that there is probably a poster in the coffee-room with quotes from famous soviet movies and that no birthday is to be ignored among the staff. The newly expatriated manager who locks himself in his office without participating in this “folkloric” tradition is surely going to have a hard time working in Russia and is likely to have a moderate (if any at all) authority among the local staff.

This is mainly because such cultural dimension is also linked to the notion of hierarchy. High-context cultures favour the use of titles, level and distinction. Again, presenting your manager as Professor Ivanov has its own loaded meaning. Hierarchy here has little to do with soviet bureaucracy or old fashion management. You find the same features in Japan, Germany or France. The use of Вы instead of Ты is another mark of the necessary distance that exists between people here. Undermining this point may create some frustrations among your Russian colleagues and subordinates. Hence, it is advisable to clearly state your diploma on your business cards (PhD, MBA, etc.) and to let every one of your staff have their own. There is not such thing as a flat organisation in Russia.

When talking to new business contacts, the fact that the Russian culture is high-context (or ‘diffuse’ according to cross-cultural management specialist Fons Trompenaars) means that “let’s get down to business” is a no go here. If you assume that both speakers need to be loaded with the same information in order to successfully communicate, then you’ll understand that “small talk” is crucial. You need to lead the discussion following a centripetal spiral: you start with subjects remote from the business world (weather, politics, family, sport, etc.) in order to get to know each other, and, finally reach the business subject. Business, then, is not the key element anymore, rather it is the quality of the relationship.

Following this logic, words are not so important as context, which might include the speaker’s tone of voice, facial expression, and gestures. Consequently, a face-to-face discussion is the standard for business in Russia. Although the telecommunication infrastructures allow talking on the phone (which is very much used) or to send faxes and emails, the traditional businessperson here goes regularly on “komandirovka” (business trip) in order to talk about the deal in person. Not surprisingly, written contracts bear less binding power than an oral agreement and a handshake after dinner or sauna!

While talking about negotiations, it is worth mentioning that high-context cultures such as Russia favour a circular way of thinking. When a set of problems needs to be addressed (such as discussing a contract), circular thinkers will approach the deal as a whole. In the opposite direction, linear thinkers like to resolve problems one at a time. Therefore, when two teams with opposite thinking models meet, frustration may run very high. One team will wish to solve all the issues present in the order of the day while the second one will focus on reaching a general deal where long term relationship and vision outweigh the technical details.

In order to reconcile those two models apparently opposite, one way is to plan ahead, with a representative of each team, and a flexible order of the day with the possibility to alter it till the last moment. If the discussions are run at a high level of hierarchy, make sure the head of your team has the matching title with the Russian head of delegation. Also, your team leader should have the proper decision power. Once the Russians agree on the big picture (circular thinking), decisions can be done on the spot; trusting non-decisive specialists can easily solve mere technicalities. Finally, the schedule needs to be precisely planned with numbers of breaks to allow the Russian side to recap the past discussion (especially if the discussions are not conducted in Russian) but more importantly to allow necessary one-to-one small talks useful to clarify misunderstandings and defuse burgeoning frustration.

In marketing, this cultural dimension may be the turning point of a successful campaign. In Russia, localization needs to go further than translation. Low-context cultures, such as Anglo-Saxon ones, do not rely on hidden knowledge and therefore the commercials are often understandable by all (which explains why Hollywood movies are so popular abroad). The assumption is that the viewer does not know anything about the product but the commercial needs to be understood, and remembered. A few years ago, during a football competition, a Russian beer company showcased a player with a strange-looking hair cut. The coach was telling him: “You already played against the Polish, so just do the same with this team, lead them to the wrong direction”. The player nodded, turned and run. On his back was written his name “I. Sussanin.” Russian viewers, loaded with history lessons, laughed at this commercial. However, if one does not know Ivan Sussanin, the Russian hero who led the Polish army to the wrong direction during the war with Poland in 1613, then the joke falls flat. The whole punch line was implicit.

Culture should not be considered as a side dish by foreign organisations in Russia. Focusing solely on the bottom line and market shares may be a very short-term tactics but in no way a sustainable strategy to enter the Russian market.

The case of high- versus low-context culture presented here should appeal to any expatriate living in Russia. As seen, what counts is what is hidden. Nevertheless, one needs to go further to fully decipher the Russian culture archetype in order to better understand what is happening.

The goal of cross-cultural management is primarily to develop awareness of differences, then to understand them, and finally to overcome them in a reconciliation process. Educating oneself about the other culture is an advisable initial step. Next, open-mindedness and communication are the subsequent ingredients of successful cross-cultural management. In complement, or to accelerate the process, tailor-made trainings may be organized. They prove to be surprisingly effective to explain to members of a company how to understand each other, hence shortening the learning cycle of the required tips and tricks one needs to know to enjoy living in Russia. Remember, there is no ready-made intervention from the shelf since each organisation is unique and presents cultural dimensions in line with its distinctive identity.

Misunderstandings and crises are interwoven in any cross-cultural environment. Fortunately a great deal of solutions exist to prevent and overcome them. Cross-cultural management may then be a positive catalyst.