Characteristics of

Competent
Intercultural
Communicators
 World Bank (2010) identifies the following traits
that define a competent intercultural communicator.

1. Flexibility and the ability to tolerate high levels of uncertainty

2. Reflectiveness or mindfulness
3. Open-mindedness
4. Sensitivity
5. Adaptability
6. Ability to engage in divergent thinking (or thinking creatively) and
systems-level thinking for thinking how each one in the system or
organization influences each other
7. Politeness
1. Flexibility and the ability to tolerate high
levels of uncertainty

 Tolerance for uncertainty refers to an individual’s

attitude about and level of comfort in uncertain
situations

 Situations of uncertainty most often become clearer as

they progress, but the anxiety that an individual with a
low tolerance for uncertainty feels may lead them to
leave the situation or otherwise communicate in a less
competent manner.

 Individuals with a high tolerance for uncertainty may

exhibit more patience, waiting on new information to
become available or seeking out information, which may
then increase the understanding of the situation and lead
to a more successful outcome
2. Reflectiveness or mindfulness

 Mindfulness
means being aware or heeding, for
example 'mind your language', 'mind the gap'.

 Reflectivethinking can be used as a means of

focusing on our own thought processes - in the
context of diversity, as a way of being mindful of
the processes underlying our attitudes to others
3. Open-mindedness

 Open-mindedness is receptiveness to new ideas.

 Open-mindedness relates to the way in which

people approach the views and knowledge of
others, and in the words of Dean Tjosvold
"incorporate the beliefs that others should be
free to express their views and that the value of
others' knowledge should be recognized”
4. Sensitivity

 Sensitivity is the quality of being tender, easily

irritated or sympathetic.

 An example of sensitivity is lights hurting

someone's eyes. An example of sensitivity is a
person who gets upset very easily
5. Adaptability

 Adaptabilityas a skill refers to the ability of a

person to change his actions, course or approach
to doing things in order to suit a new situation.
We constantly change our lifestyles because our
world is changing always.

 When there is shortage of a commodity in the

market, we switch our demand to substitute
goods
6. Ability to engage in divergent thinking
(or thinking creatively) and systems-level
thinking for thinking how each one in the
system or organization influences each
other

 Divergentthinking is a thought process or

method used to generate creative ideas by
exploring many possible solutions
7. Politeness

 Politeness
is the practical application of good
manners or etiquette
 Note that in addition to culture, either
elements such as gender, age social status,
and religion must also be taken into
consideration when communicating with
others. Refrain from showing bias when
talking to someone by following the tips
1. Avoid stereotypes, i.e., generalizations about a
certain group

2. Challenge gender norms, avoid using “he” and

“man” to refer to a general group of people. To
remedy this, you may use plural pronouns or
rewrite a sentence to avoid using pronouns. The
use of his/her is also acceptable
3. Do not talk down on younger people and the
elderly

4. Be sensitive to the religious practices of others

5. Be polite at all times, do not belittle people

you perceive to be on a lower social class than
you