Cross Cultural Awareness

Are you leading a cross-cultural team and experiencing communication and value differences with a colleague overseas?
What would happen if your global team project coordinator mastered cultural diversity?
Do you need to enter new geographic markets but unsure of best business practices and etiquette?

“Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster." Prof. Geert Hofstede

80% of business is roughly predictable according to neo-classic economic theory, but a significant 20% is more or less unpredictable because its determinants are embedded in human behaviour. Add to these statistics, the additional dynamic of cultural and geographic issues in team communication, and the variant of 20% increases further.

Individuals coming from two contrastive cultural communities bring with them different value assumptions, expectations, verbal and nonverbal habits, and interaction scripts that shape misunderstandings. Anyone who has worked in an international or geographically dispersed team will be familiar with the frustrations of mixed messages, unpredictability and lost productivity as our culture influences how we approach problems.

Moreover, if not addressed at a core level, it does not go away over time because behaviours are deeply embedded in different norms and cultures, which go far deeper than corporate culture and can become even more entrenched when the pressure is on.

However, it is not all doom and gloom! When you take time to address the core issues underlying communication and team behavioural dysfunctions and to practice techniques and create structures for a more harmonious way of working that all can adhere to, the increase in productivity and positive attitude can be huge.

The starting point is awareness and understanding of the entrenched behaviours. When you have understood this, you can then build habits and structures in your daily working life that support positive communication in a global business economy.

What are the main objectives of this coaching programme?

Leads you to become a culturally competent person - aware of your own culture and how that is different or similar to others; raising your awareness of culture-for-business competencies
Helps your understanding and origins of national, regional, linguistic and cultural differences and their resulting behaviours; strengthening your expertise in handling culture-for-business challenges and dilemmas
Develops habits and techniques that will help overcome intercultural communication barriers
Provides a "culture centred" leadership perspective allowing you the opportunity to attend to the influence of culture
Promotes an organizational culture that is more satisfying to both individuals and their leaders by embracing and celebrating diversity

As with all human behaviour development, one cannot change others, one must change oneself.

The programme operates in three key stages of learning and application and can be run as both 1-1 and small-group coaching format:

Awareness (Recognition)
Tactical Change (Respect)
Strategic Change (Reconciliation)