Intercultural Competence in the Workplace

In an era of globalization, contact between people of different national cultures has become very common. However, the fact that people can speak to each other using a shared foreign language – usually English – does not guarantee effective communication, understanding, or agreement. In everyday working life, intercultural misunderstanding can easily escalate into interpersonal conflicts without the intercultural dimension even being recognized.

Seminar Goal:

The goal of this seminar is to increase cultural awareness, discover the idiosyncrasies of people's own culture, and understand how their culture is perceived by members of other cultures. During the training, participants will be introduced to the six most common sources of intercultural misunderstanding and conflict, which frequently lead to a breakdown of relationships and even the failure of joint ventures.

The content of the training will enable participants to identify potential sources of conflicts in their specific work environment. The participants' level of sensitivity and tolerance for different attitudes and behavioral patterns of members of different cultures will increase and thus facilitate communication, collaboration, and the accomplishment of common goals. At the end of the training, participants will realize that working in multinational environments is not an obstacle but rather a chance to grow, personally as well as professionally.

Target Group:

Anybody working in multicultural environments, e.g., international teams or joint ventures, staff in contact with customers or suppliers of different cultural backgrounds.The seminar is especially recommended to people in leading positions.

Seminar Contents (2 days):

• Cultural Awareness – Definition of “Culture”, cultural identification,  cultural self-image, stereotypes, and expectations
• Intercultural Differences – Comparisons of cultures (empirical findings), cultural dimensions, values, norms, behavior, and standards
• Summary: The Six Most Common Sources of Conflict – The most important differences between cultures that lead to misunderstanding and failure of business relations and joint ventures
• Consequences of Different Cultural Socialization on Everyday Working Life – Expectations towards leaders, attitudes towards women, decision-making processes, formal and informal meetings, low and high context communication, dealing with time and deadlines, and more.
• Prevention of Conflicts and Building Relationships – Avoiding typical pitfalls, knowledge of taboos, building and maintaining relationships, gifts and invitations
• Managing Cultural Diversity – Discovering the opportunities of multicultural workplaces (e.g., creativity, innovation, better problem-solving) and practical strategies (addressing biases and creating a welcoming environment for everyone).
• Standard Target Cultures: Europe, USA, China, Japan, India, the Arab World.
• Special Topics and Target Cultures: Prior to the seminar, we use a questionnaire to ask participants about their previous knowledge, cultural background, target cultures, as well as any existing intercultural problems, needs, and demands. The results will be considered and addressed during the training.

The seminar is conducted by Beatrix Stahlberger (Psychologist/Coach). She has been giving training on the issue of intercultural psychology for more than 25 years.