Intro_To_Collaborating on Polish_German_Teams_Webinar slides-Part II

CROSS-CULTURAL TRAINING: INTRODUCTION TO COLLABORATING ACROSS CULTURES (FOCUS ON POLISH-GERMAN CONTEXT)- PART II

BUSINESS SKILLS- business communication trainings in English

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS: - This webinar is recorded live and will be made available to all

participants for reviewing- All participants are encouraged to use handouts designed for self-

reflection and work place application after the session- All questions are welcome and can be e-mailed to [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

CROSS-CULTURAL TRAINING: INTERODUCTION TO COLLABORATING ACROSS CULTURES (FOCUS ON POLISH-GERMAN CONTEXT)- PART II


PART I: Basic cultural concepts and historically conditioned Polish normsPART II: Selected challanges in cross-cultural collaboration (Ger-Pol context)PART III:Strategizing around cross-cultural differences-guidelines to

attaining cross-cultural competence

Agenda for PART II: Selected challanges in cross-cultural collaboration (Polish-German context):


1. Review of key concepts from PART I2. Stereotypes vs.Generalizations vs. Cultural filters3. Selected differences in national cultural dimensions and their impact on

chosen business activities e.g.teamwork, meetings,feedback. 4. Preview of PART III: Strategizing around cross-cultural differences


1.Review of key concepts from PART I


“Ninety per cent of CEOs believe that if cross-cultural communication were to improve, profit, revenue and market share would all improve as well. Yet many are not doing enough to address the challenge” - Competing across

borders, The Economist Intelligence Unit, 2013

BUT WHAT IS CULTURE?

Two tadpoles are swimming in a pond. Suddenly one turns into a frog and leaves the

pond. Upon the frog’s return to the water, the tadpole sees the frog and asks:

“Where did you go?”

“I went to a dry place, ” answers the frog.

“What is ‘dry’?” asks the tadpole.

“Dry is where there is no water,” says the frog.

“And what is ‘water’?” asks the tadpole.

“You don’t know what ‘water’ is?” the frog says in disbelief.

“It’s all around you! Can’t you see it?”


Observable/above the surface vs.below the surface manifestationsof culture


„Culture is a collective transgenerational

programming of the mind that distinguishesthe members of one human group from another.”*

* http://geerthofstede.nl/culture.aspx


Multiple layers of culture that shapeour individual personality


Historically conditioned key Polish norms/values and below the surfacemanifestations of culture:

Family as top value Love of independence and freedom National pride People/relationship rather than task orientation-the importance of networks (also

hidden netoworks) Indirect communication (face saving) Dychotomy between high indivdualism coupled with respect for hierarchy Flexibility, creativity Vitality & Solidarity ( „Schicksalsgemeinschaft” behavior)


2. Stereotypes vs. Generalizations vs. Cultural filters


Germans about Poles: ”Poles always disrespect rules and procedures!”Poles about Germans: ”All Germans are rules sticlers, even if the rules are absurd!”

Vs.

Germans about Poles:”Poles tend to stretch rules if they think it is likely to bring benefits.”Poles about Germans: ”Germans prefer to follow the rules to ensure standardization.”


Emotionally loadedprejudices thatdictate us how to unfairlyinterpretsomeone’s behavior.Lead to oversimpli-fication and misin-terpretation.

Emotionally neutraland general guidesthat help usanticipate culturalbehaviors and makecross-cultural com-parisons conduciveto collaborationacross cultures.


A Lens - did you know it had this many layersinside? Just think of the layers of our Personal Values Lenses…


We are all shaped bymultiple layers of cultural influences. We are complex individuals and see worldthrough our very ownparticular set of culturalfilters/lenses.


To avoid misperceptionsthat inevitably result in cultural frictions makesure you are fully awareof and in charge of howyour own cultural filtersimpact your perception of and collaboration with others


Over to You:

Take a moment to think of some situations where you used stereotypesand/or cultural filters and how it affected your perception of the given person/group of people? Use your webinar handouts to take notes for future reference.


3. Selected differences in national cultural dimensionsand their impact on chosen business activities

(Polish-German context)


Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions(source:http://geert-hofstede.com/dimensions.html)


Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner Cultural DimensionsSource: http://research-methodology.net/trompenaars-and-hampden-turner-cultural-dimensions/


Sample cultural misperception:

„ All Poles are so over-emotional” „Germans are always so stiff and emotionally disattached.”


Remember? We are all subject to culture uniqueprogramming of the mind handed down from generation to generation,

that manifests itself in observable behaviors that are drivenby our group system of values.


Over to You:

Take a moment to think of some business related situations where some of the cultural dimensions we focused on today, had manifestedthemselves/clashed with your national norms. What business contexts do theytend to commonly occur in?

Use your webinar handouts to take notes for future reference.


Impact on selected areas of business collaboration:

Meetings-Poles e.g. :reluctance to follow the agenda, many digressions, no open exchange of opinions, at times emotional approach, overlapping speakers

Feedback-Poles e.g.:unable to take/give constructive criticism (need for face saiving),indirect communication,

Teamwork-Poles e.g.: people/relationships and not task oriented, strongly individualist, follow schedules loosely

How to navigate cross-cultural differences to improve collaboration on internationalteams?

Teamwork is after all the fuel thatallows common people to attain uncommon results.


Join us for PART III of this webinar series to learn how to strategize around them!


4. Preview of PART III: Strategizing around cross-cultural differences!


Learn how to develop general attitude and skills and then ...


...learn how to acquire specific cultural knowledge about self and othersin order to help you intergrate and collaborate succesfully.


Thank you and look forward to meeting you for PART III of thisIntroduction to collaborating across cultures!

Feel free to e-mail your questions to [email protected]


Intro_To_Collaborating on Polish_German_Teams_Webinar slides-Part II

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