My proposal

Working in remote teams, using outsourcing, travelling, and exchanging ideas with people in various locations has transformed multiculturalism into an aspect of our everyday life and, at the same time, has made us face challenges we hadn’t encountered previously.
It is not widely recognised, for instance, how strongly the language we use influences our thinking and how we were shaped by the culture in which we grew up and started our careers. How does all this resonate with the organisational culture of our workplace?
After all, diversity makes organisational culture a living, changing organism. Project implementation, taking on roles and behaviours – these are the result of both individual and organisational values and assumptions. The question is how to combine this diversity with the development and evolvement of the organisation and the implementation of intercultural projects? In my opinion, the three key elements are consistency, understanding and trust. And the path to attaining them requires the development of organisational and individual cultural competencies.

This is how I help clients achieve their goals in a culturally, demographically, and geographically diverse environment:

Consulting

My mentoring programmes usually take the form of several sessions or long-term cooperation.
The programmes aim to:

  • Change organisational culture
  • Introduce new values in a culturally diverse environment
  • Support HR experts in building demographically and culturally diverse teams
  • Create internal programmes that develop cultural competencies, as well as educate trainers and internal consultants

I implement my programmes in cooperation with:

  • HR Departments
  • Management Boards
  • Managers
  • External experts

Mediation

Diversity and differences are often a source of misunderstandings and conflicts of interest. Different understandings of organizational culture, partners’ and leaders’ roles, and business models are often based on diverse basic assumptions and models, which can lead to conflict. As a certified mediator, I help my clients to find the best solution, reconcile opposites and continue cooperation based on reached consensus.

Training programmes and workshops

I help Management Boards and teams understand cultural differences, their impact on management processes at the strategic and operational level, as well as on the leadership style and communication.

My workshops include programmes for:

  • Multicultural teams
  • intercultural communication
  • leadership development in culturally diverse teams
  • introducing new values and evolution of behaviour

I conduct both individual (e.g. Expat/Leader Programme) and group sessions (e.g. Diverse Teams).

Sample programme (PDF)

Research

The preliminary research I carry out is aimed at defining the actual level of cultural competence in the organisation, as well as the assumptions and values of employees. Often what is described as key competencies is not reflected in specific behaviours.

Employees aren’t able to adjust their style of communication, while managers, for instance, don’t take into account the perception of hierarchy in communicating changes.

Therefore my analysis aims to define real, everyday management, communication, and work organisation skills (e.g. providing feedback or the role and ability of planning).

In my work, I rely on observations, interviews and analysis of documents.

Sample study description (PDF)