If you have little familiarity with cross-cultural training (also known as intercultural training), this overview will increase your understanding of its typical patterns and demonstrated potentials.

• Cross-cultural training is grounded in a practice-oriented research tradition that's now half a century old.  For information about the origins, purposes, and methods of intercultural work, click here to read our 1500-word introductory article, "What Is Intercultural Consulting?"

 
• Cross-cultural training, properly designed and delivered, does not emphasize the transmission of facts about unfamiliar cultures.  Rather, it's primary focus is on behavior modification.  To learn more about this, click here to read GROVEWELL's publication entitled, "On the Design and Delivery of Intercultural Training (Properly Understood)." 

 
• Cross-cultural training for international assignees ("expatriates") and their family members is not identical to cross-cultural training for global teams and business units.  For information about the best practices for expatriates, click here for GROVEWELL's dedicated expat website.

 
• There are two basic types of cross-cultural training:
  
  
1. Culture-general training introduces participants to the mindset and perspectives of interculturalists (similar to the mindset and perspectives of anthropologists).  Most people have little familiarity with this way of understanding their environment; culture-general training enables them to consider fresh insights and useful new behaviors.

 
2. Culture-specific training addresses the day-to-day interactions among people from two or more cultural backgrounds (for example, Americans and Chinese) who are collaborating on behalf of their employer(s).  Thanks to research, much is known about the observable and, more importantly, the out-of-awareness values and behavior of members of the major business-oriented cultures.  Culture-specific training enables participants to develop new behaviors and practical skills for productive interactions with colleagues and counterparts in and from specific other cultures.

 
• For global teams and business units, culture-general training may be delivered on a stand-alone basis.  However, almost all global businesses require employees and managers in one specific culture (e.g., the U.K.) to be effective in their daily interactions with employees and managers in at least one other specific culture (e.g., India).  Therefore, training with impact and lasting applicability requires culture-general training followed by culture-specific training.

 
• A typical sequence of training events is this: at least half a day of culture-general training followed by at least a full day of culture-specific training.  GROVEWELL strongly recommends this 1½- or 2-day  sequence to its client firms as the minimum investment that is capable of delivering cost-effective outcomes in daily practice.  Note that the culture-general day and the culture-specific day need not necessarily be adjacent (for example, Monday-Tuesday).

 
• Maximum cost-effectiveness for any client firm comes about when the culture-general and -specific training is followed by consulting.  Quite often, the consulting involves GROVEWELL's trainer in a participant-observation role vis-à-vis certain of the client firm's real-time, real-life global interactions.  One low-cost way this occurs is when GROVEWELL's trainer(s) are included as silent listeners to selected international conference calls.  As soon as possible after the call, the trainer provides specific insights, feedback, and advice to each conference-call participant.

 

• Influencing Colleagues Across Organizational Units & Mindsets is primarily about influencing colleagues within global organizations, but is infused with the intercultural perspective.  For more information, click here.

• Working Effectively on International Projects is primarily for the managers and staff of global projects; it, too, is infused with the intercultural perspective.  For more information, click here.

• Working Effectively with Americans was developed for use with local nationals across Asia-Pacific and the Middle East; it helps them become better able to work well with American colleagues and counterparts.  Intercultural insights abound.  For more information, click here.

GROVEWELL has no all-purpose, "off-the-shelf" cross-cultural training program.  All of its cross-cultural training is customized with a specific client and/or set of business activities in mind.  And, of course, its follow-up consulting is targeted with pin-point accuracy at the level of each employee and manager.
-
Addressing Your Cross-Cultural Training Needs
-
If your global expansion isn't progressing as well as you had hoped, or if culturally different colleagues in your far-flung unit or virtual team are getting on each other's nerves -- or worse! -- explore solutions with us.  Pick up the phone, dial +1-718-492-1896, and ask to speak with Cornelius Grove. 

Keep in mind the old adage that "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."  This certainly applies to business activities across cultural boundaries!  Just ask any manager who invested the time to address cross-cultural differences after these threatened to derail a critical global initiative.
-
-
Additional Information
-
GROVEWELL LLC is one of the earliest adopters/appliers of the findings of the 62-nation, 11-year GLOBE research project on the cross-cultural dimensions of leadership.  For GROVEWELL's extensive interpretative overview of the GLOBE Project's findings, visit Grovewell.com/GLOBE.
-
For additional information regarding GROVEWELL's understanding of and approach to global leadership challenges, click here.

To obtain specific information, or to inquire about engaging GROVEWELL's services, contact info@grovewell.com.
-
For more details about the benefits and features of GROVEWELL's wide range of LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS, click on the various options below.