TRAINING COURSE IN INTERCULTURAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION AND NEGOTIATION

 

BACKGROUND

With the increased globalization of workplace settings across most industries, today’s managers need a more precise understanding of intercultural communication in an effective management strategy. It is important that managers proactively engage in communication skills assessment and make necessary adjustments in order to address the current needs of today’s increasingly diverse workforce.

Effective communication is essential for smooth and successful business operations. Communication, although challenging in itself, is even more problematic when dealing with clients, vendors, communities, or overseas counterparts who are from a culture different than our own or those with limited English proficiency. The behaviours, customs, and values of one culture are compared and contrasted with another, to better understand the impact these have on the social and professional interaction among employees, contractors, customers and suppliers from different countries.

Intercultural competence is no longer seen as a soft skill but is now a required skill of anyone wishing to work internationally. A lack of cultural sensitivity can lead to lost business, a failed assignment, poor client relationships, staff attrition and ultimately wasted time and investment.

OBJECTIVES OF THE TRAINING COURSE

This training program heightens awareness of cultural differences and identifies the skills needed for effectively addressing differences, both socially and professionally, across cultures. The course helps participants at every level of the organization accomplish international goals and objectives by providing tools to anticipate and recognize specific cultural behaviours that impact performance. The training course aims to create awareness that cultural differences are extremely common and that they do have a strong impact on doing business, on the communications with other people. The transfer of knowledge will ensure participants to acquire those competences and skills to develop their abilities to adapt their negotiating skills to different business situations and to deal with counterparts coming from different cultures. This training course will provide a proven knowledge of cross-culture negotiation techniques and communication skills to better manage and prevent conflicts or situations that occur in the workplace in the real life.

Though the participation on the seminar’s activities, participants will be able to:

  • Creating an efficient communication with different target audiences
  • Developing a positive relationship with external publics
  • Bringing new perspectives to problem-solving
  • Enhancing responsiveness to customer needs in the global marketplace
  • Increasing overall productivity and profitability
  • Increasing understanding of the cultural implications of negotiating across culture
  • eveloping the ability to adapt existing negotiation skills for an international context
  • Developing practical strategies for preparing for and achieving successful negotiations across cultures
  • Effective Communication approaches and styles in an intercultural international negotiation
  • Heighten awareness of cultural differences
  • Provide the tools to anticipate and recognize specific cultural behaviours
  • Facilitate the process of accomplishing international goals

TOPICS OF THE TRAINING COURSE AND METHODOLOGY

This seminar course is designed for corporate groups or individuals whose job performance would benefit from an understanding of another culture. The topics covered by the seminar will give to the participants:

  •  Increase self-awareness of one’s own and other cultures
  • Discuss the importance of language use, interpretation needs, and communication style
  • Determine what adjustments to expectations and behaviours might be necessary for successful interaction with other cultures

The course will cover the follow topics:

  •  Cross cultural communication and international negotiation
  • Intercultural and diversity challenges.
  • Leadership and management communication.
  • Meetings, negotiation and conflict across cultures
  • The impact of culture on business
  • Communication in the multicultural workplace
  • Understanding and evaluation of the counterparts
  • Cultural implications of negotiating across cultures
  • Communication styles for international negotiations
  • Business communication and negotiation styles: useful tools and technics
  • Basic tools and technics for public speaking and direct business communication
  • Corporate and ethic communication.
  • Corporate social responsibility and community relations.

STRUCTURE OF THE SEMINAR AND METHODOLOGY

The seminar will provide a balance of structured input and discussion of case studies, critical incidents and scenarios relevant to particular context. Through a series of ‘compare and contrast’ exercises, participants will begin to gain a better appreciation of their own culture and that of the target culture on several key dimensions.

The theoretical of the seminar will allow participants to be familiar and be aware of how conflicts arise and why is important to be able to identify and resolve them before getting out of control and damage the workplace environment and the quality of the work. Case studies will be review and shared to high light the possible scenarios that can happen in different business contexts and situations. The awareness of diversities, cross- culture negotiation, mediation techniques and communication skills can be useful to manage and prevent conflict and create a better workplace environment and more efficient.

In order to transmit the knowledge and practical tools to operate immediately and independently, the seminar will alternate sessions dedicated to the exhibition front of the concepts and group work in order to define a card design, starting from a context.

The teaching approach will provide an active participation of the participants. Lectures will alternate with practical and concrete examples and exercises to directly apply the techniques and concepts taught.

DURATION
The seminar will be implemented during 3 days of theoretic and practical activities, including exercises, simulations, assessments and case studies.

Maximum Participants: 25