Overview:
Despite good intentions, teamwork and leadership are often hindered by different assumptions, expectations and interpersonal styles, which zap productivity and reduce trust between co-workers. Research reveals that teamwork is strongly shaped by individual cultural values and expectations. Today’s workforce is diverse with differing ethnic, cultural and language backgrounds, causing conflicting approaches in giving information and feedback, making decisions, disagreeing and persuading, as well as differing beliefs about how to lead, be led and who to trust.
This active workshop walks participants through nine steps that align teams to improve efficiency and reduce misunderstandings. With information from the Harvard Business School’s 10 Must Reads, The Cultural Map by Erin Meyer, That’s Not What I Meant by Deborah Tannen, and the instructor’s international experience, this course provides tools and techniques that can be used immediately to create a cohesive team culture.
By the end of the course, participants will develop strategies to help bridge silos, clarify conflict, and solve problems more effectively.
Participants will be able to:
- Explain why cultural complexity is important in communication.
- See and understand unconscious influences on communication and their impact on project team success.
- Identify the connection between cultural imprinting and conflict.
- Resolve conflict and strengthen teams by assessing values, conversation styles, and approaches to communication, work and leadership.
- Create a strategy for managing communication more effectively by understanding how people talk, listen and approach their work.
- Facilitate team activities that help inter- and cross-cultural teams to get work done efficiently and successfully.
- Develop personal communication skills that affect the success of culturally complex teams.
- Increase motivation and set performance expectations for yourself and your teams.
- Complete a lessons learned review to understand how to implement techniques immediately.
Who Should Attend:
Anyone interested in improving their communication skills to address conflict and problem solving, particularly those who work with cross-cultural and inter-departmental teams.
Prerequisites:
No previous experience is required. Willingness to share and participate is encouraged, but voluntary.
Cost: One-day class
Location: Location and driving directions will be emailed separately upon registration.