Smart companies take intercultural diversity as a serious success factor. One of them is Converteam, a worldwide leader in power conversion.
Converteam’s Global ICS IT team gathered in late March in Mamallapuram, Chennai, India. A culturally diverse group of delegates – German, French, Brazilian, Chinese, English, US-American and Indian – participated in the Global ICS IT Convention. Key stakeholders proposed an intervention on the subject of intercultural sensitivity for business effectiveness and team synergy.
An Eye-Opener
intercultures’ Chennai-based consultant Sreemathi Ramnath picked up the theme established by the key-note on change-management to demonstrate via role play how perceptions of self and others in an multicultural setting may lead to conflict escalation. She went on to present examples of intercultural interfaces to explain the areas of possible gaps in business communication between people from different cultural backgrounds.
In the second half of the workshop, the 40 delegates were assigned the task to explore their expectations, their peeves and the advice they would give to their colleagues from other cultures. The intervention was much appreciated and considered an “eye-opener”. Many delegates said it gave them new insights into culturally motivated behaviors and they believed it would pave the way for a new, enhanced synergy amongst them.
