Intercultural Communication, Training and Awareness

>> Match Facts:

World Cup qualifier, Group Six, England v Kazakhstan
Venue: Wembley Stadium Date: Saturday, 11 October
Kick-off: 1715 BST
UK TV Coverage: ITV 1 and BBC Radio 5 Live

>> Did you know?

* The first manned orbital flight by Yuri Gagarin took off from launch facility Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
* Kazakhstan is the world's ninth biggest country and is one of the fastest-growing nations on earth, partly because of its oil and gas resources

>> Facts and Statistics:

* Location: Central Asia, northwest of China; a small portion west of the Ural River in eastern-most Europe
* Capital: Astana
* Climate: continental, cold winters and hot summers, arid and semiarid
* Population: 15,284,929 (July 2007 est.)
* Ethnic Make-up: Kazakh (Qazaq) 53.4%, Russian 30%, Ukrainian 3.7%, Uzbek 2.5%, German 2.4%, Tatar 1.7%, Uygur 1.4%, other 4.9% (1999 census)
* Religions: Muslim 47%, Russian Orthodox 44%, Protestant 2%, other 7%
* Government: republic; authoritarian presidential rule

>> Language in Kazakhstan:

Kazakhstan is a bilingual country: the Kazakh language, spoken by 64.4% of the population, has the status of the "state" language, while Russian, which is spoken by almost all Kazakhstanis, is declared the "official" language, and is used routinely in business. Kazakh (also Qazaq) is a Turkic language closely related to Nogai and Karakalpak.

>> Who are the Kazakhs?

The word "Kazakh" means "a free and independent nomad" in ancient Turkish. Kazakhs have travelled along the steppes of Kazakhstan from western China to the southern border of Russia for centuries.

For centuries Kazakhstan was a country of nomads and herders. Tribes were the basis of society; the tribe was constituted of family members and the family elders. Inter-tribal marriages were important in establishing security and peace. To this day, Kazakhs say, "the matchmaking lasts a thousand years, while the son-in-law lasts only a hundred." Arranged marriages are still the norm in many parts of the country.

Read more >> Kazakhstan Culture

In today's world the list of qualifications for many management positions is of more and more resemblance to the Renaissance man. Sure you must understand some finance and economics and of course business strategy is a must-have for success. Then throw in some leadership and marketing know-how with a dash of sheer creativity and what do you get? You get someone who still needs to understand how to deal with people from a multitude of different cultures and then capitalize on burgeoning international markets.

Cultural diversity is extremely prevalent in our work force and populations. A company who wants to be successful needs management that both embraces this notion and understands it. The reality is that this is not happening enough. "Many leaders are operating on an old conception of the world around them and of human nature, including the nature of work, the worker, and the management process itself," John Saee explains.

Read more > Grant Deken

Dr. Geert Hofstede made a rare personal appearance as this year's keynote speaker at ITAP International's annual conference in Dublin, Ireland. In bridging the key gap between academic study and real world business applications, Dr. Hofstede's presentation highlighted the vital connections between national cultures and employee satisfaction and performance, with strategic emphasis on how these cultural characteristics vary from country to country.

Hofstede was introduced by Dr. John Bing, Chairman of ITAP International, Inc. "Dr. Hofstede's informative presentation and overall presence at the conference was a notable high point," Bing said. "His attendance highlighted his close association with ITAP, which now goes back almost two decades. Our work together has been a matter of personal satisfaction over the years."

Read more > Hofstede

As a company involved in cultural awareness training, we are often asked for a definition of intercultural competence. In short, there is no one answer that can be given to this question. Intercultural competence is a term that can be applied by many different people for many different reasons. As a result the definitions change depending on the angle at which people are looking at it from.

In essence intercultural competence can be summed up as the ability to work well across cultures. Yet, many will not agree with such a simple definition. As a way of presenting all the different opinions on the matter, we scoured some sources to see how others define intercultural competence. Here are the results....

Read more at Definition of Intercultural Competence

Nurses and health care providers who care for patients of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds often face such challenges as unfamiliar languages and cultural beliefs. To provide optimum care, cultural sensitivity and knowledge are crucial, especially in the case of patients facing cancer.

In the April 2008 issue of MEDSURG Nursing, authors Marcos Pesquera, Linda Yoder and Marilyn Lynk outline key aspects of provider care that help patients understand their disease and reduce the anxiety that comes with facing a serious illness in an unfamiliar setting.

Nurses and other professionals first need to assess their personal attitudes and identify any biases or assumptions, Pesquera writes. Providers should then seek to understand a patient's particular culture and its influence on cancer prevention and control. To further build trust, health care professionals need to demonstrate empathy and validate the patient's comprehension by asking such questions as "Do you understand what I am asking you to do?"

Read more > Cancer Care

Appreciating that individuals from different cultural backgrounds have different cultural norms, practices and expectations is vital for success in international business.

Although companies all around the world seem to move closer to common practices and appear to become more alike each day, differences in the way we think or act profoundly influence business interactions. People and companies may have certain similarities on the surface, but our upbringing, our education and training in ways of conducting business, the basis for our judgements and behaviour, all vary - not only from country to country, but from region to region, from small company to large company, from one business sector to another. When there was relatively limited contact, and contacts were confined to a small number of individuals, cultural awareness was the preserve of a few. In today's world of global communications, team empowerment, everyone needs some level of cultural awareness.

Read more: Intercultural Business Skills

intercultural

Indian companies are clueless about local cultures and the social mores that prevail in their associates, joint ventures and subsidiaries abroad.

Like our ancestors we are now crossing the seven seas and establishing outposts in foreign lands. Indian companies are going global as never before! The excitement and can-do attitude of the corporates is palpable. Strategies, business plans, budgets, travel schedules and manpower in Indian companies are increasingly international. Boundaries are being erased not just on maps but in minds.
Key asset ignored

Many companies are however unaware of the cultural nuances involved in global business. Most of the time the acquisition programme is confined to "hard" business due-diligence. The information processing about a new business possibility is restricted to number crunching, contingency planning and future opportunities. The assets most central to the entire opportunity, people and personal networks, are entirely ignored!

Read more > India

So you have just been made the new team leader at work. Your colleagues draw from the US, UK, Germany, Brazil, India and China - a truly intercultural team. Working with people from different cultures and countries can be a challenge. What do you need to know? How should you go about being an effective team leader? The intercultural team leader needs to be aware of their style and how this fits in with the expectations and needs of their colleagues.

Firstly, as the team leader you to bear in mind the concept of leadership varies from culture to culture. If you want to be a successful team leader you need to appreciate who in your team expects what. What they expect will be culturally influenced.

Read more: The Intercultural Team-Leader

US officials say the military is transforming to meet the changing face of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. BBC Arabic's Roula Ayoubi reports on a new "cultural training" programme to improve US soldiers' skills in dealing with local people.

"Assalamu alaykum, Ahlan wa sahlan, welcome." With these words, Iraqi sheikhs greet a group of marines in a narrow room at the beginning of a training session.

The class is part of "Mojave Viper", a new pre-deployment cultural training course established to prepare US forces for what the military calls "irregular warfare" in Iraq.

The meeting starts with a prayer suggested by the group's Iraqi interpreter, who wears a marine uniform.

Read more: Iraq

The Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins next week. Millions of people from Morocco to Malaysia will fast everyday from sunrise to sunset for 30 days. Among these will be significant numbers of Muslims working in offices in Europe and North America where Ramadan slips past unnoticed. This lack of awareness can and does cause inconvenience, stress and unhappiness to practicing Muslims in the workplace. Kwintessential, a leading cross cultural communication training provider, has released a free guide for employers with Muslim staff to help them better understand the month and what it means to Islam's adherents.

Read more: A Ramadan Guide for HR Personnel

At this moment in time, the increase in cross border human traffic has meant that companies are no longer dealing with a homogenous native community from which they recruit their staff. Companies are now facing cross cultural challenges in how they recruit, manage and develop a multi-cultural staff. One area of note where HR and management are finding difficulties is in the interview room.

Read more: Culture and Interviews

Culture affects everything we do. It is a shared framework of understanding and a basis for communication. For marketers who work internationally or interact regularly with counterparts overseas, poor understanding of each others cultural background can lead to uncomfortable situations, bad decisions and ineffective relationships.

Dutch Professor Geert Hofstede developed the first model for measuring how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. Though dating from the 70s, his theory can still help reduce levels of frustration, anxiety and concern. It can improve your understanding of other cultures and success in global team situations.

Hofstede concluded that there are 5 dimensions to cultural cross-communications. By knowing how a culture measures up on each scale you can understand their behaviour and relate to them more effectively.

Read more> Culture Clash

"Cultural know-how can be a great advantage in a competitive market but it has the potential to play havoc with relationships. It is critical to be aware of the differences. This means taking the time to research cultures, appreciate needs, moulding your concepts and ideas and most importantly communicating in a suitable manner".
Neil Payne, Kwintessential

We have been made aware of a rival to our humble Squidoo page at Zimbio.

The wikizine is worth an occassional look now and again but will never be as great as this one!

Check it out > Intercultural Communication

The homogenous team is a thing of the past in most international organisations and companies. More and more teams are made up of people with different nationalities and therefore different cultures, languages, ideas, behaviours and ways of doing things. Some would argue that the 'international language of business' negates any communication issues within such a cross-cultural team; however those with hands-on experience of such teams would disagree.

When people of different cultural backgrounds come together in any setting there will always be issues in terms of interaction. This is because they bring with them their own cultural baggage in terms of how they do things and expect things to be done. Cross-cultural issues will not always be a hindrance, in fact they can many a time be a force for positive creativity, but as and when a clash of cultures occur it has a negative impact, especially within a team.

By way of introducing the idea of cross-cultural communication within a global team we focus on four examples of issues that occur when team members are of differing nationalities.

> Language

Although English may always be the language of the office it does not mean everyone is totally confident in its use. Also bear in mind they may not appreciate the language to the same degree as a native speaker. Issues resulting from this include:

* Non-native English speakers may be more reluctant to express themselves freely. This might interfere with the ability of team members to offer their maximum contribution.
* Non-native speakers may not always be able to express themselves in the manner they intended. Words can be misused, given the wrong emphasis or statements can come across as rude.
* Some cultures rely heavily on the use of body language and gestures. When non-verbal signals are being given they will not be picked up on by others. Also their communication style may be inhibited when the meetings are conducted virtually.

Some things team leaders or team members can do to improve this are:

* Provide additional opportunities for all team members to contribute more easily. For example, allow people a chance to write things down before a meeting or as part of a follow-up.
* Keep language simple: avoid idioms, slang, irony, etc.
* Non-verbal communication is important. Team members should be aware ways in which members may express negative responses or concepts. For example, silence may be one method that could be wrongly interpreted as agreement in other cultures.

Read more >> Culture in Teams

>> Cultural Diversity

Canada is culturally diverse. This goes back to the 1890s when it began inviting people from all over the world to settle in the country to help it develop and grow. Canadian immigration policy was historically open, welcoming and egalitarian in its philosophy. This has also manifest into the psyche of the nation where people are encouraged and to retain their cultural identities, traditions, languages and customs.

>> Individuals concerned with the group

Canadians are generally a tolerant, polite and extremely community-oriented people. Although they are individualistic in terms of their basic cultural traits, they nevertheless place a great deal of emphasis on the individual's responsibility to the community. This is seen as giving balance and a good quality of life.

>> Regionalism

Most Canadians have a strong allegiance to their province or region, sometimes more so than to the country. There are some broad differences between regions, which can generally be summed up as follows:

* Atlantic Provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland): The people are somewhat reserved and provincial, to the point that they are seen as old-fashioned.
* Ontario: This is the business hub and the people tend to be business-like and conservative.
* Western Canada (Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan): The people are open, friendly and relaxed.
* British Colombia: The people are less conventional. This province is often viewed as the Canada of the future.
* Quebec: The French region, has a distinct cultural identity. The people are extremely regionalistic/independent.
* North: The people have a strong pioneer spirit.

Read more >> Business Culture Canada

"The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people." Woodrow Wilson

With the march of globalisation and internationalisation growing louder and stronger, few successful businesses can now escape the need to work across cultures. Even if businesses or organisations are not working abroad or with foreign entities, it would be a challenge to identify any that have a mono-cultural workforce. Even in the South West, businesses ranging from manufacturers to farms to care homes are employing foreign personnel in order to operate at maximum efficiency.

With this move towards a cross-cultural business environment comes a need for people to be aware of how culture impacts the workplace. Unfortunately, as many quickly discover, the rest of the world does not do things "like we do". Cultural differences impact everything from inter-personnel communication to health and safety procedures to project management. In short, no corner of any business escapes.

It is within this context that the idea of leadership is being challenged. Our "western" conceptualisation of who a leader is, what they do and how they do it is not shared the world over. Today's leaders need to be adept at leading and managing people of different cultures; they need to listen to the 'voices of the people' as well as understand what those voices may actually be telling them. This in essence is the crux of the challenge; when people perceive the world, communicate and view their leaders in different ways, the leader's ears may be ringing with misunderstood messages.

The leader will come across cultural issues in many different guises. By way of illustrating the challenges of cross-cultural leadership and for the sake of brevity this article will examine two interdependent issues: the role of a leader and communication.

Read more >> Leadership in a Cross Cultural Environment

For anyone interested in the intercultural field, SIETAR are a great organization to get involved with.

SIETAR members view the world as a set of interdependent people and cultures which are equal in value and offer a variety of perspectives and approaches to living and working in a global community. The main purpose behind our efforts is to increase acceptance and respect among and within cultural groups, thereby paving the way for world peace.

SIETAR goals

The main purpose of SIETAR is to encourage and support the development and application of values, knowledge and skills that promote and reinforce beneficial and long-lasting intercultural and inter-ethnic relations at the individual, group, organization and community levels..

Specifically, the SIETAR Global Council pursues the following goals:

* To enhance the awareness of intercultural issues in policy-making, business, and education
* To contribute to the solution of societal problems by facilitating communication between peoples of different cultures, and encouraging research directed toward improving knowledge and practices in the field
* To provide multi-disciplinary, professional expertise in intercultural issues in practice and research by establishing a network of intercultural specialists
* To contribute to the development of standards for interculturalism, and for the practice of intercultural education, training and research
* To support publications, personal and professional exchanges, research, and other projects as well as regional, national and international conferences and other events.
* To find ways to cooperate across borders to enhance the benefits of SIETAR membership and to enlarge the impact of SIETAR in the world.

Visit SIETAR

The Culture Vulture has started his own intercultural del.icio.us bookmarks page for anyone interested. There you can access websites he thinks are of use to people interested in intercultural issues.

When it comes to communicating across different cultures, understanding the language may be just the beginning.

A leading intercultural communications expert said that the ability to "read between the lines" and understanding non-spoken expressions in various cultural contexts is also an important part of communication, one that's often overlooked when studying foreign languages.

According to Park Myung-seok, professor emeritus at Dankook University, the English-education curriculum in Korean schools does not reflect this fact nearly enough. Park has written several books on the topic of intercultural communications. Most recently he co-edited a book, titled "Communicating Nonverbally: An Introduction to Nonverbal Communication."

Read more > Communicating Nonverbally: An Introduction to Nonverbal Communication

As the credit crunch continues to bite with vengeance, business across the globe are assessing how to use 2009 in order to be prepared for a possible up-turn in 2010. For many the answer will lie in working more internationally. However, a survey released today shows that businesses not only need to pay attention to costs, business processes and the like but also to the cultural awareness of their personnel.

Most analysts and business leaders acknowledge that 2009 will be a difficult year. With the flow of credit at an all time low and government policies needing months in order to take any affect, people and businesses are gearing up for a rocky year. However, businesses worldwide are approaching the downturn with a strategic response and analysing how to consolidate market positions in order to take advantage of the awaited up-turn. One strategy being implemented is to look abroad.

Looking beyond national borders offers many advantages in terms of reducing costs, finding new revenue streams and increasing market coverage. However, although going global seems an attractive proposition businesses must be aware of potential pitfalls. Apart from red-tape, local business conditions and the complexities of setting up operations, cultural awareness is critical for personnel working in foreign countries.

Read more >> Cultural Awareness for 2009

An international book festival in Dubai is facing the possibility of a mass walkout in its inaugural year with authors queuing up to protest against the censorship of a book that discusses homosexuality.

The Canadian novelist and former Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood sparked the controversy by pulling out of the Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature after a fellow writer was blacklisted for offending "cultural sensitivities".

The book at the centre of the latest storm is The Gulf Between Us, a romantic comedy by the English writer Geraldine Bedell which is set in a fictional Gulf emirate. It was due to be formally launched at the festival but has been withdrawn by the festival at the last minute because it features a gay relationship. Bedell commented: "Can you have a literary festival and ban books because they feature gay characters? Is that what being part of the contemporary literary scene means? The organisers claim to be looking for an exchange of ideas - but not, apparently, about sex or faith. That doesn't leave literature an awful lot of scope."

The festival director, Isobel Abulhoul, issued a statement in which she said: "I knew that her work could offend certain cultural sensitivities. I did not believe that it was in the festival's long term interests to acquiesce to her publisher's request to launch the book at the first festival of this nature in the Middle East."

Author's Comments:

The news story is one that has been brewing for a long time and is not the last of its kind we will read about. Dubai, and anyone who understands the region, knew that by trying to become a centre of world trade, commerce, art and sport that it has to bring in people from all over the world. This has resulted in a flood of expat labour as well as huge numbers of visitors/tourists. Naturally with foreign visitors come foreign ideas, beliefs, notions of acceptability and world views.

This row is a fine example of what happens when you invite the western literati to an event in a conservative Muslim Gulf state. Both sides have an issue here. Writers, in this case spearheaded by Atwood, see this as censorship against their freedom of ideas, freedom to pen whatever they like about whoever they like and basic freedom of expression. Muslims see this as an an unwanted element that can not be encouraged. It is however unfortunate for the event organisers that by banning the book they have drawn more attention to it.

In short, both sides have something to learn. The writers need to appreciate Dubai is a Muslim country with strict ideas, some of which have absolutely no flexibility. There must be some senstivity towards this in that a respect needs to be show for another's way of life, beliefs and faith. Emiratis can not be expected to roll over and accept whatever is thrown at them in the name of modernity and freedom of speech. On the other hand, Dubai needs to assess how it will handle similar issues that arise in the future and think of alternative means to overcoming such bad publicity.

Source: Censorship vs Cultural Sensitivities: the Dubai Book Festival

Taking a product global has always posed its challenges to marketing executives, requiring them not only to tackle language barriers but also understand the thought processes and rationales of people from different cultures.

In a recent piece for Engine Search Watch reporter Frank Watson highlights how these challenges manifest in the age of mass internet communication and the dangers inherent in forgetting the subtle as well as the obvious differences between us all.

In his article he touches on such issues as the translation of search engine terms, the potential cultural discrepancies between those speaking different languages in the same country and the reluctance of people from areas of the globe where internet usage is less established to fully engage with online marketing strategies.

To read more click on the link below.

Read more....

Small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe are losing business due to a lack of "linguistic and intercultural skills" among their employees, EU Multilingualism Commissioner Leonard Orban told business representatives this week.

"Sometimes people think that English is the lingua franca for business, but this is not true," Commissioner Orban told participants in a roundtable discussion on the importance of language skills for SMEs, held as part of the EU's SME Weekexternal .

"In terms of communication, English might be the lingua franca, but in addressing consumers everywhere in Europe and outside the EU, of course the company should [%u2026] develop linguistic and intercultural strategies," Orban said.

The commissioner was addressing a roundtable which focused on "practical tools" to help small countries improve their work with languages. Discussions focused on possible shortcuts to better multilingual communication, reaching out to new customers abroad, and "making better strategic use of language skills".

Read more > Business

Intercultural Business or international businesses is a growing issue as more and more countries are opening their doors for foreign investors. Culture as you might know defers from one country to the other and running an intercultural or international business simply means more understanding and tolerance is needed to steer the business through heavy tides.

The main cultural difference when running an intercultural business is the language, as it is the vehicle for communication. You would wonder why your colleague from overseas got so upset after you merely blurted a few words for greeting purposes. This is very important, especially when it comes to countries that take certain etiquettes as gestures of respect.

Keeping the above points in mind consider the complexities of working on an international stage where modern business demands people to travel to foreign grounds to negotiate with foreign clients, colleagues or customers with their own set of cultural rules.

"To have respect for ourselves guides our morals; and to have a difference for others governs our manners." written by Lawrence Sterne, Irish novelist & satirist (1713 - 1768). And he really meant it, understanding and abiding to the cultural etiquettes of our intercultural business partners will not only earn you respect but also shows that you have good manners inherited from your own culture. The consequences for small etiquette mistakes made amongst colleagues or to the customers could lead to soured relationships, lost deals and poor business results.

Cultural etiquettes are complex and unwritten rules that reflect a culture's value. To better improve the strength and bonding in an intercultural cooperation, one can stress the values of cultural respect. For example: Japanese don't really shake hands when coming face to face with a client, they'd bow. When seeing such events it is rude not to bow back, but if you return the favor means you've done your homework and hence a better negotiation is expected later on.

Intercultural business owners need to have their employees or managements cover the aspects of intercultural etiquettes and differences. A more conclusive suggestion is that the more we understand each others culture the more likely we'll have a good relationship. Understanding cultural etiquettes doesn't mean that what they are doing to another person is wrong. As it may seem rude or lack of etiquettes to perform a certain act, but it may be that their culture takes this as being normal. Example: Japanese slurping loudly while eating noodles imagine doing that in an Italian restaurant.

There are many people and cultures in this world, and they all live in this little planet called earth. No matter how far you run or how deep you go, we're all under the same roof. There is no cultural dominance of only one, and hence before entering a certain market or country it would be a better idea to understand their local culture. It would be an advantage over other businesses to have an intercultural company as you have a variety of representatives all set and ready to penetrate the buried gold that lies hidden in the vast majorities of communities in the world.

Amongst the most complicated mathematical calculations there is another aspect of life that is by far harder to understand and comprehend that is; the human nature in which how we communicate. Communication skills are a set of rules that can be applied universally but not necessarily meaning it will work in majority cases. For example: Majority people like sweets but very few don't.

What is much more frustrating in this modern era is that a high demand for intercultural interdependency is apparent? And with more and more cross-cultural businesses and organization springing out, understanding and acquiring intercultural communication skill would prove to be a benefit for one's personal agenda. And since intercultural communication skills can be better understood by first understanding the basic fundamentals for communication.

To get a better understanding of intercultural communication skills, a thing you can do is to tweak the few basic outlines of communication skills into blending it with the consideration of cross-cultural limitations. The benefits of acquiring such skills are that certain tasks require such skills such as a representative for a company in a foreign country. By having the competence of performing such tasks would increase the value of oneself whether it is individually or in an organization.

Let's get to the basic intercultural communication skills, before you go pouring and scavenging books for cross-cultural communication information GOD already gave us the answer when we were born. Confuse??? God gave us two ears and one mouth asking us to "Listen more, talk less", stick to this basic rule and you'll master the skills of communication.

Listening is one thing, listening without judgment is another whole new aspect. Saving your judgment after understanding what was said is tricky as it is in our nature to interrupt, try practicing with your friends. This can be explained in simple as listening without thinking about what you will say next.

When dealing with cross-cultural clients they may speak faster with their local tongue, and when you don't get their message clearly ask them to repeat what they've said. Don't act like you know, because you don't know and might risk insulting others. After understanding what your intercultural client or colleague said, repeat back what you heard and understand, this will double confirm your comprehension.

In and intercultural businesses where arguments are made everyday, screw this principle into your head "nobody wins an argument". Dealing with cross-cultural clients or colleagues is tricky, what seems right for you might not be for him. So do not insist in being right as that is not the point, if you're right you will never be able to listen nor communicate with others, as your barriers are set.

Down to the bottom-line, we can summarize that all culture share the same appreciation of certain aspects. And for you to accomplish such intercultural communication skills, integrity and trust is a must. Don't say what you don't mean, don't break promises, keep to the commitment you make and inn the end they'll see you as one with them.

Details of a course I came across which is all about training people to handle difficult people and situations at work. It has a cross-cultural angle to it.

We all come across difficult people in our jobs on regular basis. However, when is someone being truly difficult intentionally and when is someone perceived to be difficult due to cultural biases? The stress of handling difficult people and difficult situations can create a lack of productivity, poor attitude, and reluctance to come to work.

Our courses help people appreciate the cultural biases/norms that they may have which lead to them viewing people as difficult. Alongside this they also give people the skills to deal with genuinely difficult people. Through hands-on activities and practice exercises, participants learn how to better deal with all sorts of difficult situations from complaints to time wasters.

Visit the site > Intercultural Communication and Difficult People

The Culture Vulture came across a nice set of customer services training courses that tackle the issue specifically from an intercultural perspective. For example they offer a Call Centre and Help Desk Course that looks not only at the basic business skills needed to be a call centre operative but also the cultural awareness you will need to deal with the different nationalities you may have to deal with.

Check out the courses at > Customer Service Courses