Intercultural Training with Annelie Wambeek
Culture is endlessly fascinating to me. Whether we are talking about National Cultures, or Organisational Culture, or Sub-Cultures - as a sociologist, interaction between cultures has always been a passion of mine. When I first started Annelie Wambeek Consultancy, intercultural training was the first thing I offered.
Of course, everyone has their own way of viewing the world, and I take intellectual humility very seriously. I would never claim to be an expert is anyone's culture - I barely know my own! However, I can give you a vocabulary to talk about cultural differences, and just this simple step can help us make the most of cultural diversity. Instead of your culture being something you need to overcome, or adapt or change, we work together to make sure it's something tangible, and effective.
What is intercultural training?
Intercultural training is an umbrella term for many things. Cultural Intelligence, intercultural competence, cultural awareness, intercultural communication - and the list goes on.
For me intercultural training has many levels, starting with creating a shared vocabulary to discuss cultural differences (or similarities, or preferences).
To be able to discuss cultural differences is the first step - I firmly believe ignoring them causes harm! Of course, we are living in an extremely globalised world, it has become so 'normal' for us to be working in teams (virtual and in person) with people from all over the world.
And that is beautiful, but it can also be challenging, purely because of the diversity of thought in the room (which is a good thing)!
Who could benefit from it?
Now, of course I'm biased, but every team who I have worked with has seen benefits! You don't need to have a 'problem' in your team. Actually the best time to do some intercultural training is before you have an 'incident'.
If you work in a team you will have different cultures. Even if it's not different nationalities, there will be cultural differences!
The research is conclusive- effective intercultural training improves performance, morale and efficiency within a team. Don't take my word for it though - have a read on how intercultural training has adapted to a changing world.
Which methodology do you use?
Good question! I use a mixed of different cultural models, and tools for 'measuring' culture. In all my training sessions we take a critical approach to the methods and we always explore who is making the models. There is a clear lack of non-western tools in the field, and I attempt to shine a light on this.
I like to remind myself that 'all models are wrong, but some are useful'.
I position my work at the intersection between the Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) field and the intercultural field. We will always look at the bigger picture, examine biases, power and privilege.
Are there downsides?
Honestly, yes there can be. If you do a cultural training that focuses on the 'do's and the don'ts' without examining the why - we could actually be perpetuating stereotypes further. I get a lot of questions from people who don't relate to the stereotypes of their national culture and hate the idea of being 'boxed in'. I agree!
We do use national culture, but as someone who has been raised across many cultures, I am painfully aware of how wrong some of the assumptions can be. There is also potential to do harm when we try and 'teach' people what culture means for us - ethnocentrism is real (and natural)!
What next?
Treating DEI (and intercultural competencies) as a tick box exercise is not what I'm interested in. I would never claim to be an expert in your culture - but I am there to provide a safe, facilitated space to be able to look inwards to understand the joys of being in an intercultural team. I offer a variety of levels of intercultural training, from the basics of all getting on the same page regarding vocabulary, to working with mergers and acquisitions. I have different programmes tailored for those leading intercultural teams - and together we can explore what would be best suited for you!
Say hello@anneliewambeek.com and let's chat.
