Another Cultural Diversity Training That Works This week’s post continues with another cultural diversity training for improving your intercultural communications and cross cultural interactions at work. If you are already a virtual manager, you probably may have faced similar issues and…
Managing cultural diversity has become a key cornerstone for success in the current global environment. Our world has transformed, and so your colleagues may sit in the next cubicle or at a workstation one or more continents away. How do you build productive work relationships with team members with whom you can communicate instantaneously, but may not achieve true understanding with, due to cultural differences, language barriers and national characteristics?
You are not alone in experiencing these challenges!
Through my interactions with clients, colleagues, and professionals in the Organizational Development (OD) field, I concluded that a key advantage in today’s business environment is mastering the skill of working effectively with diverse groups. I have created Communicating Through a Global Lens as a guide for those who spend some, if not all, of their work life interacting with co-workers across the globe.
In our shrinking world, as people from various cultures increasingly interact, the importance of managing cultural diversity can hardly be overstated. And yet, people are often reluctant to discuss cultural traits because they do not want their generalizations to be interpreted as stereotyping, which have a negative connotation. In actuality, generalizations and stereotyping differ. Stereotypes tend to be negative statements emerging from perceptions about a few individuals that are applied to an entire group. Generalizations are claims based on thoughtful analysis. While stereotyping is undesirable, making generalizations about a cultural attribute can help someone understand another culture, creating a foundation for a relationship.
The materials and action steps presented in the following blog posts use these cultural generalizations, as starting points to help you better understand other cultures. Please note that these generalizations are not intended to imply that all individuals from a specific culture share certain characteristics or act the same way. No doubt, as opportunities to interact increase, we will all gain greater knowledge about our co-inhabitants on this planet.
The results, you will see, will be a stronger and deeper understanding of managing cultural diversity. You will learn about the dimensions of cultural differences and how to develop effective strategies to better manage and interact with multicultural teams spread out across the globe. These guidelines can help you gain another perspective and learn how to use cultural diversity to your advantage.
For more information and tips on managing multicultural teams for success, make sure to check out the latest edition of my book, Communicating Through a Global Lens.
