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As Congress and the White House compromise on a bill that will allow the U.S. computer industry to import more than 300,000 foreign programmers and other highly skilled employees over the next three years, the nation continues to face one of the biggest waves of immigration in U.S. history. How will this influx affect work culture – especially in high-tech circles benefiting from the higher H1-B cap?

WashTech asked Muriel Jerome-O'Keeffe, managing director of Alexandria-based JTG Inc., a communications consulting firm specializing in cross-cultural training, to explain the ramifications of a lack of cultural sensitivity in the tech workplace.

Q: What are the principal cross-cultural issues that tech firms face in dealing with clients?

Muriel Jerome-O'Keeffe: Because of the global nature of business today, companies increasingly face cultural misunderstandings stemming from the misinterpretation of cultures, values and behavior.

Firms tend to assume that since most everyone speaks English, we all understand one another. But this is not so. Companies often have difficulty communicating with clients and colleagues, negotiating partnerships, selling skills, and listening to clients' needs. Establishing long-term relationships and problem-solving are also challenges.

Lack of cultural understanding can be costly – personally and economically. In particular these cross-cultural issues can affect staff development, material gain, marketing, client relationships, managing operations, computer applications development, collegial cooperation, and ethical standards.

Jerome-O'Keeffe: Tech firms need to realize that how you motivate your staff is rooted in your own culture. Different cultures have different styles of thinking, perceptions, learning styles, creativity stimulants, and decision-making processes. Managers at tech firms need to become better leaders of multicultural teams and learn how to address these issues to make their teams productive.

For example, an American manager would probably become pretty irritated by the repeated apologies of a Japanese colleague. The American would instead expect explanations and solutions.

In Puerto Rico or the Dominican Republic, colleagues begin the day with some relaxed chitchat. In the U.S. work culture, this behavior often would be considered wasting time.

First, managers need to learn how to create inclusive and cohesive teams, to build on shared values and to communicate effectively with limited-English-speaking employees or business partners.

With an integrated multicultural team, firms are more likely to come up with "localized" products ready to be sold/distributed all over the world. And this applies to software as well as widgets and IT services.

Jerome-O'Keeffe: In general, Americans are seen as having a strong sense of self with a lack of knowledge of other countries. Americans are perceived to have a strong sense of time; clocks "run" in the U.S. and they "walk" in other countries.

Americans tend to stress personal accomplishments more than social status or personal affiliations – in contrast to Indonesians or Malays, for example. In addition, the informal atmosphere – particular prevalent in U.S. tech firms – can be perplexing and misleading to foreign workers.

Jerome-O'Keeffe: Every country has its own customs, standards and norms. The multicultural marketplace is full of pitfalls. Therefore firms should set up cross-cultural training seminars to illustrate basic intercultural concepts through simulation exercises, discussions, games, videos, debriefing sessions, and case studies. Firms should design a strategic approach to implementing cultural diversity and teach intercultural communication.

For example, we helped an American IT company and France Telecom working in South Africa cooperate for the benefit of the South African client. We set up seminars/briefings on meeting etiquette, French vs. U.S. communication styles, contract negotiations, and how to close a deal in Paris over dinner.

Jerome-O'Keeffe: A typical trainer was born, lived, studied, and worked in the countries for which s/he's offering training. Having hands-on business experience is key with practical and conceptual experience in his/her field of expertise. In addition, for trainers interested in pursuing a degree, a number of universities in the United States offer master's programs in Intercultural Relations.