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Jul 04

100 Views on Culture and Communication Skills Training

Communication Skills Training, Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »

Thanks to everyone who has been following the last 100 blog articles where we have explored different issues in the world of culture and communication skills training.

If you’ve just discovered this blog, have a look at some of the following articles we’ve published that have proven popular:

As we continue to post new articles on a regular basis, we hope that training professionals, international employees and organisations continue to find the Communicaid blog an invaluable tool to navigating this fascinating field.

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Apr 21

Beating the ‘No-Fly’ Order with Virtual Communication

Communication Skills Training, Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector No Comments »

The eruption last week of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajoekull volcano has caused major disruption to air travel throughout Europe.  As this took place during school Easter holidays, many UK families have been stranded abroad, unable to return to school or work.  Business travellers have also been affected and many meetings have been postponed and projects put on hold.  The disruption that this has caused to business has been immense and the impact of people being unable to travel is as yet incalculable.

In this situation, unprecedented in recent times, virtual communication comes into its own.  Companies that are equipped with video and teleconferencing technologies are likely to suffer far less of an impact than those companies that rely on face-to-face contact between colleagues in different locations.

© istockphoto.com/quavondo

While email and telephone usage is ubiquitous in today’s business environment, video and teleconferencing technologies enable companies to interact internally and externally anywhere in the world. This can not only save a great deal of money but allows global organisations to be responsive to business needs and to avert disruption in situations like the current no-fly order.

Savvy companies realise that communication via virtual platforms is most successful when they are aware of the obstacles and know how to overcome them. Cross cultural differences, the absence of non-verbal communication and working in different time zones are all issues that need to be handled sensitively when working virtually across cultures.

Communicaid’s Managing Virtual Teams cross cultural awareness training course is specifically designed to address these obstacles and equip managers with the knowledge and skills they need to communicate effectively with their teams through virtual means.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Apr 10

Multilingualism: Advantages of Seeing the World from Different Cross Cultural and Linguistic Angles

Communication Skills Training, Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Language Training No Comments »

The Italian film director Federico Fellini once said “a different language is a different vision of life”. A person’s world can stretch out in front of them for miles and miles or it can be a box around them depending on who they can communicate with.

Learning another language can open up new worlds, broaden your horizons and bring you into contact with many new cultures. The language you speak can mould your world view and by association your experience of life. Opening up to new cultures can enrich your life and give you new opportunities. Taking part in a cross cultural training program or in a language training course can help you broaden both your mind and your world view, increasing your cross cultural competence and your ability to communicate across cultures.

© istockphoto.com/catscandotcom

Many people think that learning a new language will be boring or too time consuming, but they are often surprised by the progress made even after the first few language training courses. Even a basic knowledge of a language allows you to communicate and interact with someone from another country. Being able to say something as simple as ‘¡Hola, buenos días!’ (Hello, good morning! in Spanish language) will improve the positive impression you make on your Spanish speaking counterparts while it will also help you to build the trust that is so vital when building international business relationships. Seeing that this secret code registers and gets a response from the native speaker can be very satisfying indeed. After a few more language training sessions this could follow onto a conversation – and from there who knows?

Businesses can greatly benefit from building the cultural and linguistic skills of their employees. Speaking another language can open new markets up to you that were previously closed. Because English predominates as the ‘global language’ of trade and commerce, people often forget that the ability to conduct business with a non-English speaker in their own language, and with knowledge of their cultural values and norms, can build lasting bridges and forge links with that individual or company for many years to come. By taking part in Communicaid’s cross cultural training programs or in our language training courses, you or your staff can learn the language and culture skills needed to truly break any communication barriers and achieve global success.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Apr 06

To Speak or Not to Speak: Avoiding Awkward Silences in Cross Cultural Interactions

Communication Skills Training, Cross Cultural Training, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Negotiation Skills 2 Comments »
 

© istockphoto.com/nyul

In an ever-increasing global working environment, the successful outcome of cross cultural business negotiations is often determined by our capacity to work effectively across cultures with international business partners. However, this capacity highly depends on the interaction process itself as much as on what is said during the negotiation. Turn taking strategies, or the way people structure their participation throughout the negotiation, are just one element of cross cultural negotiations that are crucial for success.

Have you ever thought to yourself, during a conversation, why isn’t he saying anything? Or have you found yourself getting frustrated that you can’t get a word in? Taking a turn is the precise moment in any interaction when the role of speaker is taken or given to another person. This can be shown through a pause, a change of intonation, decrease of volume or a gesture such as a head nod.

Methods of signalling that it is now someone else’s turn to communicate can vary significantly when working across cultures. For example, when doing business in Finland you may notice conversations are often filled with a series of pauses before the next person speaks. Conversely, doing business in Spain you will see that your Spanish counterparts often take their turn to speak before the other person finishes their sentence.

People unfamiliar with Finnish turn taking patterns may try to fill the silence while those communicating for the first time with Spanish counterparts may feel frustrated by their constant interruptions. Failing to understand when you can contribute to the conversation can have a negative impact on how you are perceived and the impact you make in cross-cultural business negotiations.

Such implicit rules of turn taking are deeply embedded in our communication style. A lack of awareness of how people pause or overlap in conversations can lead to misinterpretation, confusion and frustration. Participating in a cultural awareness training programme such as Managing International Teams or Doing Business in Finland will help you understand the cross cultural styles of turn taking and ensure you communicate more effectively when doing business with international counterparts.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Mar 26

Latest News from Communicaid

Communication Skills Training, Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources, Culture training for the Public sector, International Business English, News about Communicaid No Comments »

© istockphoto/Mike Bentley

The Totally Expat Show, taking place on 24 May 2010, will see Communicaid acting as a Gold Sponsor exhibitor, as well as delivering a case study in collaboration with one of its key clients. The exhibition is the largest in Europe aimed at global mobility professionals and expatriates. Read more here.

International consultancy firm Deloitte has been working in collaboration with Communicaid in a committment to build and improve relationships with customers across the globe. Click here to read more.

Communicaid contributes to the February 2010 issue of  Newsline, ECA International’s newsletter aimed at International HR, with an article on managing international teams. Read more.

The 2010 schedule for International Business English courses is now available on Communicaid’s website. Courses provide core skills for the international communication needs of legal, insurance, financial and HR professionals. Further details available here.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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Mar 16

Intercultural Training – Essential for Global Success

Communication Skills Training, Cross Cultural Training, Cultural training for Relocation, Culture, Culture training for Business & Management, Culture training for Human Resources No Comments »

Today’s world is characterised by global organisations with operations and employees across the world in constant contact via traditional and modern communication methods. The coming together of different nationalities offers organisations access to an unrivalled talent pool. However, it also creates new obstacles that internationally focused companies and institutions have to deal with in order to be successful.

© istockphoto.com/urbancow

Intercultural training can help employers and employees navigate the challenges of international working rooted in cultural differences by helping them develop their intercultural competence which is essential for global success.

International organisations working across the globe should provide intercultural training options for its employees to ensure they:

  • Understand the implications of cultural difference on business
  • Understand how they are perceived by their international counterparts
  • Communicate effectively across cultures
  • Build successful cross cultural relationships
  • Help the organisation have a competitive edge in the international market

A high level of competence in the areas above, developed through intercultural training, will result in more successful financial cross cultural business endeavours, an improved corporate image and long-term relationships with international counterparts.

Understand the impact of cultural difference on business

Intercultural training programmes like Working Effectively across Cultures provides employees with a foundation for understanding the impact of culture on business. Through the analysis of several key dimensions of culture, employees are able to understand how their own cultural values compare to those of their international counterparts. Being aware of different attitudes to things such as time, hierarchy and risk raises awareness of potential differences and helps to develop strategies for successfully working across cultures.

Perception and Image

One of the most important things intercultural training develops is self-awareness. By understanding both their own culture and that of their international counterparts, employees are able to better identify differences which they will need to adapt to. Through an increased awareness of how they might be perceived in other cultures, both individually as representatives of the company, they will avoid any potential miscommunication and improve global business.

Effective Intercultural Communication

Another important area that intercultural training helps develop is intercultural communication. Different verbal and non-verbal communication styles can cause misunderstandings and frustrations that can potentially affect international business relationships and cause a decrease in productivity and efficiency due to the lack of knowledge or appreciation of cultural differences.

Problems in communication may arise from the obvious linguistic differences, but also from the often less apparent differences in cultural values which are often unconsciously embedded in people’s behaviour. The awareness gained from intercultural training about employees’ own cultural values and the impact they have on how they behave and are perceived is essential for anyone working in international organisations.

Build successful cross-cultural relationships

When working across cultures, it’s extremely important to consider the importance employees place on relationships. In some cultures, doing business means getting straight down to the tasks at hand while in others doing business is all about developing a solid relationship first. Stories abound about companies who were not able to build effective relationships with their international counterparts resulting in lost deals. Knowing how much time needs to be spent developing the relationship before starting negotiations or planning a project will ensure success. Intercultural training programmes can provide employees with the knowledge and skills necessary to build effective global relationships.

Increase competitive edge

Communicating and working across cultures often presents huge risks for international businesses. Communicaid’s intercultural training can help prevent wasted time, lost revenue and damaging misunderstandings which occur as a result of a lack of knowledge and understanding of the target culture. Understanding how people think and why they behave the way they do will help employees work more effectively, which in turn, will give the organisation a competitive edge over other organisations who lack this intercultural competence.

© istockphoto.com/Yuri-Arcurs


In an article about measuring the benefits of intercultural training John Schieman wrote, “Quantifying the business improvement from cross-cultural interventions is challenging, however it is clear that cross-cultural competence has the potential to make a significant contribution to top and bottom line results as well as individual performance.”

Intercultural training ensures international organisations maximise positive outcomes of intercultural interactions and reduce potential cultural faux-pas which could result in huge direct and indirect costs as well as lasting damage to the company’s performance and reputation abroad.

© Communicaid Group Ltd. 2010

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