How To Impart Training To Different Employees
Cross-cultural training is very important for a company. It is important so that the employees learn how to respect each other’s cultures.
Video Demos To Spread Cultural Awareness
Every culture has some rules of etiquette which must be followed to see that no offense is caused. Well, but some etiquettes are hard to understand for some people. So, for such people, video demos must be shown to them. For example, this etiquette must be regarding how to greet an international client. Demo videos are quite useful for people who come from different cultures to understand international cultures. Video demos about different cultures show a co-worker if they are defying certain regional norms.
Games Showing Cultures Of Different Employees
There should be serious games, and therefore employees become a part of meaningful societal norms. These games show how people of different cultures tackle the same situation. This way employees can learn to handle a certain situation in the way a certain culture does. Corporate learners get to wade through a challenge based on how a certain culture does it.
Universal Mindset
The most important step to understanding the mindset of various cultures is introspection. This helps you in understanding what you think of other cultures. For example, you must try to understand how to call a manager as per their culture. In some cultures, you can’t address a manager by their first name. But in American culture, you can always address a manager by their first name. During office hours, you must also make sure to talk about cultural norms, attire and gender practices, etc.
When working in an MNC, you must have a global mindset. This can allow you to become a global citizen. You should try to ask other employees about their religious beliefs when they have holidays, etc. You can also build up your knowledge base by reading about other cultures and their complexities. You should also try to know how they conduct business and all.
Design Content So That A Global Audience Can Understand It
It's quite important to understand that a non-native or global audience may be able to speak your language but not able to read it, or vice versa. Therefore, you have to take care of such things. The global audience must be given more and more content in PowerPoint slides so that they can get it. Instead of points in bullets, make sure that there are several sentences instead of each point in such a presentation.
Apart from that, there should be handouts given to the participants before the presentation so that they can understand the latter better. These handouts can also be given in the native language of such an audience. The use of the native language in such a presentation should be encouraged. After the presentation, they can have discussions in their language but then talk to the others in English. Discussion of the content delivered through training must be encouraged among the training audience. You can have lunch after the training so that the international audience can discuss it among themselves.
The trainer must also greet the international audience. Someone should be greeting everyone at the door as they enter the place of presentation. For example, a short introduction may be delivered by the trainer before the presentation.
How To Interact With People Of Different Cultures?
Be Aware Of Your Audience
You should also ask questions from your target audience about whether they can understand English. Whenever there is a discussion, ask questions to your international audience to know how much they have understood. When they speak, you can also get to know whether they can speak English fluently. Make sure that there is a fluent English speaker among you who is also aware of the other language. This person can act as a translator so that the person of the other culture understands you. This way, you can handle language differences between the two cultures.
Before you decide to communicate with your target audience on a Zoom call, there are some initiatives you must make:
- Weather
You must be aware of the weather in the international city and the time of the day. This lets you know whether the other person will be able to attend your call or not. - Customs
You must be aware of the customs used when introducing each other. Some cultures desire that certain titles be used before a person’s name. You must be aware of the local holidays to make sure the international audience will be present on the intended day of the call. - Technology
It can also help if you store the presentation in the cloud. This way, it won't be deleted from local PCs. You should also check whether the text on a certain PC is readable by the international audience. You can try to check whether the text in an LMS is able to be understood by such an audience.
This is how you can have better training for people of different cultures.
