Intercultural Communication Training - 23 May 2019

Find out more about the impact of cultural differences on management styles, team dynamics, communication and exchange experiences about working across cultures.

‘Cultural competence is no longer a nice skill to have; it is an economic necessity.’ (Brake, Terence, Danielle Medina Walker and Thomas Walker, "Doing Business Internationally").

  • Ever struggled with colleagues' styles of communication or 
  • Ever wondered why some people seem to use more formal language, or be more direct than others?

Culture plays a big part in how we communicate, and adjusting to the cultural communication norms means more than learning a foreign language. In Cambridge's diverse and multicultural environment, we constantly communicate with people whose norms differ from ours, whether you are a native English speaker from the United Kingdom, a native English speaker from elsewhere in the world, or have learnt English as a foreign language.

In order to avoid misunderstanding, or worse still, conflict, brought on by variations in communication styles we need to learn to make allowances for the cultural differences in how people communicate. To better understand cross-cultural complexity and increase your awareness of cultural identities, the Department's Language Unit have kindly agreed to run a session on intercultural communication to increase your cultural awareness and give you a better understanding of how culture may affect your everyday communication.

All native and non-native speakers of English are invited to join this talk and workshop with Kasia Lanucha, Intercultural Trainer and Coach, Language Unit at the Engineering Department.

The training will take place on Thursday 23 May 2019 in the JDB Teaching Room (Main Site) from 12 noon to 15.00. Lunch will be provided. Please sign up through Eventbrite.

The aims of the session are:

▪   find out more about the impact of cultural differences on management styles, team dynamics, communication, etc...

▪   help you be an effective communicator across cultures and to learn more about the importance of developing cultural competence

▪   meet and exchange experiences about working across cultures

Audience:

This workshop is for all departmental staff wanting to enhance their skill set at intercultural competence. We all need cross-cultural communication skills to work effectively across countries and cultures, in international teams and in leadership /managerial roles.