As anyone who has worked abroad will tell you, a communication strategy that's effective in one country doesn't necessarily work in another.

For instance, the direct negative feedback given by a German boss might seem unnecessarily harsh in America, while an American worker's enthusiasm might come off as excessive and insincere in Germany.

We spoke with Erin Meyer, a professor at the international business school INSEAD and the author of "The Culture Map: Breaking Through the Invisible Boundaries of Global Business," about how praise and criticism are given in 12 different countries.

Here's the most interesting stuff we learned: