We have all been raised in a culture that has its own ways of thinking and seeing the world. That way of seeing the world and interpreting things in a certain way is often so strong, that when faced with people who do things in another way, their behaviour feels wrong. It is almost impossible to understand them: their way is often seen as ‘wrong’ because it is different from the way we do things.

We all need to realise that every culture has a richness in history and tradition, and is as valid as our own, even though we can’t understand the behaviour properly because it feels odd.

Awareness of the different ways in which the diverse range of people in our world operate within their cultures enables people to interpret behaviour as it was intended, even though it may feel foreign or even rude when they see it through their own cultural filter.

Introduction

Once individuals begin to understand the differences in respect to language between people of different cultural backgrounds, they will start to be able to interpret and respond to the different needs of callers. Even good manners and basic human decency have different behavioural interpretations depending on what culture you’re viewing them from. They will develop awareness around how to become the cultural chameleon, reading the signals of their colleagues and clients and responding so that the recipient feels comfortable.
Part of becoming the Global Professional is about raising your awareness of the different ways in which diverse peoples of our world operate within their cultures, so that you will be able to interpret behaviour as it was intended, even though it may feel foreign, or even rude, to you when you see it through your own cultural filter.
A common example may help you understand: in South Africa there are some people who will show respect by dropping their eyes and reducing eye contact. For other South Africans, reducing eye contact is seen as a sign of being devious, dishonest, or showing a sense of shame. Without any form of cultural fluency, a person trying to demonstrate his respect for another by dropping his eyes could be interpreted by the other as appearing to be dishonest he will not trust him. Communication between these two will be severely hampered, as they don’t understand one another’s intentions.

Benefits

Cultural Fluency helps delegates understand the basic assumptions that are experienced in cultures across the world, and are evident in the diversity of South Africans. It communicates a message of gaining insight and understanding to help everyone reach a more effective level of communication. The material is communicated in a light-hearted, engaging and non-threatening manner that builds understanding without confronting people with painful lessons from the past.

Logistics

The talk is 1/2 a day long, but can be adapted to fit programmes with different timing requirements.
Training interventions for this session are created depending on the specific requirements of each client.