In our diverse workplace being able to work effectively across cultural divides is an essential skill for any Leader, professional, Manager or Worker. Cultural Intelligence (CI) is the capability to relate and work effectively across cultures. Culture has been one of the key competencies in fields ranging from leadership and psychology, engineering, and finance, to accounting and marketing. The higher your CI, the more likely you will experience success working in a diverse, globalized world.

They are many different types of culture. These include occupational, organizational, age and even gender. However, one of the most prominent types is national culture. That is the norms, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, customs, and values that exist within the population of a country.

Cultural differences in communication can also cause significant problems. Million-dollar business deals can be lost, international negotiations can fail, and workplace problems can intensify. This exciting but practical training course is run as a masterclass in all aspects of culture and how you can thrive in a multi-cultural world.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants should be able to:

• Develop your ability in working and relating effectively with people from different cultural backgrounds.
• Understand the limits of your own CI and know how to improve it.
• Describe the meaning of each of the five cultural value dimensions.
• List ways to minimize the barriers to cross-cultural communication.
• Assess your own work and how to adjust it to apply your CI.

Duration:       5 Days

Who Should Attend

This training is suitable for a wide range of professionals but will greatly benefit:

• All Leaders, Managers & Supervisors
• Human resource (HR) Professionals
• Marketing and PR Specialists
• Any professional who needs to develop their CI.
• Expatriates working on global assignments or those who manage expatriates.

Course Content

Day One: The Psychology and Meaning of Culture

• Where culture comes from and why it matters
• Understanding globalization
• Your own cultural map
• The seven levels of culture (national, workplace, gender, age, regional, religious, occupation)
• The Hofsted five cultural value dimensions

Day Two: Communicating Across Cultures

• Why communication differences and barriers occur.
• How to remove barriers to communication
• Stereotypes and stereotyping explored.
• Non-verbal communication (body-language) and culture
• Workplace culture and the impact on organizational communication

Day Three: Cross-Cultural Negotiation

• The basics of negotiation with CI
• Cultural differences in negotiation
• Overestimating and underestimating cultural differences in negotiation
• Negotiation traps to avoid.
• Developing your cross-cultural negotiation skills

Day Four: Managing Expatriates and Diversity

• International assignments and global career development
• Culture shock and global working
• International Human Resource issues
• The business case for cultural diversity
• Nationalization programmes

Day Five: Developing and Maintaining Your CI

• Developing a global mindset
• How to improve your CI
• Managing in multi-national companies
• National culture & strategy
• Personal Action Planning

General Notes

• This course is delivered by our seasoned trainers who have vast experience as expert professionals in the respective fields of practice. The course is taught through a mix of practical activities, theory, group work and case studies.
• Training manuals and additional reference materials are provided to the participants.
• Upon successful completion of this course, participants will be issued with a certificate.