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Intercultural Training

Variety is the spice of life

Are you working on international project with partners from multiple countries? Are you interested in intercultural training for your team? 

Understanding cultural diversity

Intercultural training will help bring you the needed communication know-how to work effectively with partners or clients from other cultures. My trainings provide you cultural knowledge and awareness to develop a cross-cultural mindset so that you can confidently navigate in an international environment.

Intercultural Communication

Intercultural Communication

Shifting perspective. If you negotiate contracts with global partners and you want to better understand your international clients’ expectations, training your intercultural skills will help you be more effective.

Intercultural Training USA

Intercultural Training USA

Understanding US American culture. If you are doing business with partners or colleagues based in the United States, this training will explain the "why" behind American behavior.

Intercultural Training Germany

Intercultural Training Germany

Understanding Germans culture. If you are doing business with partners or colleagues based in Germany, this training will give you an core understanding of the German cultural mindset.

International Team Development

Exploring team culture. If you are working with a multicultural team and would  like to improve your team's performance and communication, this training offers a complete package suited to your goals.

Relocation Training without COVID

Relocation Training

Better prepared.  If you are about to relocate to Germany or to the USA, or you often go to the USA or Germany for short work assignments, intercultural training will give you valuable know-how for a successful start.

Why Intercultural Training?

Perception is everything

Cultural Roots

Alongside business culture, lies personal, regional and country culture. Our values, beliefs, expectations, communication styles, social customs and politics are the foundation of our very being. 

Culture is a mindset that cannot be exported as easily as a product. It is learned, experienced, believed and comes from years of socialization and reinforcement in a particular environment. Corporate culture gets its roots in the board rooms from the people who run their organization. 

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.

Marcus Garvey

Culture Clashes

Culture creates fundamental differences in people. Obvious differences we see when we look at a person, by noticing their clothing, hairstyle, language, but behavioral and attitude differences cannot be viewed, they can only be experienced. Conflict between people, or cultural clashes, comes from differing values, beliefs, expectations and ways of behaving. 

The stranger sees only what he knows

African proverb

Miscommunication road 

International businesses and organizations face the challenge of bringing diverse people who may not even live in the same country together to work towards common goals. If companies and institutions ignore the cultural factor of their employees, partners and customers, they risk heading down a road paved with miscommunication and failure.

Everybody believes that their reality is the real real reality

Paul Watzlawick

Thriving on cultural differences

International companies and organizations can learn about cultural differences, allow for them and create strategies which promote intercultural competence and benefit from different approaches. Intercultural learning and intercultural skills, such as empathy and tolerance for the unknown, are essential for operating effectively in an international environment. 

One of the most effective ways to learn about yourself is by taking seriously the cultures of others. It forces you to pay attention to those details of life which differentiate them from you.

Edward T. Hall

My intercultural training approach

Discovering a new vision

Would you like to expand your competence in intercultural interactions?

Becoming interculturally competent is a skill that can be learned and trained, just like learning a language.

Intercultural competence helps us strive for a new shared vision, a dialog that has multiple perspectives with common goals. 

Benefits

  • Improve your communication with colleagues and clients from other cultures
  • Acquire intercultural know-how
  • Develop skills for stronger partnerships

Step 1: Creating awareness

Never underestimate the importance of local perspectives.

Developing an awareness of your cultural mindset, getting knowledge about foreign counter-parts and identifying areas of possible conflict are the first aspects in establishing strategies for better communication.

Step 2: Values assessment

Impact of values on behavior

I do a value assessment which specifically locates personal values and expectations which have an impact on behavior. Based on this knowledge, we identify where communication needs to be improved. 

We create a training program which builds intercultural know-how around your specific work-place situation. You will locate strategies for better communication with your international team and foreign partners.

Step 3: Training and applying knowledge

Integrating cross-cultural know-how

In the training, you will learn about your personal communication style, your values and expectations, and get an understanding of communication and intercultural dimensions. As you get an understanding of how foreign counterparts may differ, we explore how to bridge cultural gaps. You will learn how to leverage differences, create common goals, build strategies for improved teamwork and expand your intercultural competence.

Step 4: Coaching cross-cultural competence

Lasting Results

Long term success depends on how your skills and knowledge are applied once the training is complete.  Feedback and follow-up coaching ensure that the training has a lasting impact.