The British Council announced that it is launching a new programme for corporates and individuals, called the Intercultural Fluency Training, this October. The Intercultural Fluency training is specifically designed to give participants the knowledge, tools and techniques required to work, communicate and collaborate effectively in multicultural contexts.
‘The ability to communicate effectively across cultures is fast becoming a definitive global skill. In response to employers increasing calls for better soft skills, we realised that there was a window and seized the opportunity to create a product with a refreshingly new approach,” said Amelia Moreno, the British Council’s lead trainer in Intercultural Fluency. She added, ‘Many other courses that aim to teach expats, migrants or new employees how to integrate and effective work in multicultural teams are often too broad or too specific. Our approach has been really successful so far because it mixes the latest academic research in this area, with practical tips that any employee can apply in any cultural setting.’
‘In addition to this, our courses are highly interactive, with a mix of participatory techniques and self-assessment tools which help people to develop nuanced interpretations of culture and better understand their colleagues’ behaviours, values and preferences.’ A suite of six different courses are available, which range from ‘beginning your intercultural journey’ to ‘leading across cultures’. Courses can be bought as flexible one-day packages or tailored to specific in-house requirements, in order to meet the needs of participants of all levels.
Frank Fitzpatrick, Country Director for the British Council in Qatar noted that ‘The British Council has been working in the field of cultural relations for 80 years. The training courses have been developed in collaboration with our expert staff around the world and we believe it has the potential to positively transform the working environment for corporations that take it, particularly in such multicultural environments like the Gulf. Immediate benefits some of our current clients have seen include improved customer service and internal communications, better productivity in multicultural teams, better staff integration, and enhanced workplace harmony and staff retention.’
‘The key thing for us’ says Amelia Moreno, who has been delivering the course to corporates across the Gulf for a year already, ‘is to witness our participants building stronger, better business relationships as a result of the course.’ To date, the training has been delivered to over 1300 people in a number of countries around the world. Our participants include employees of organisations such as Shell, Vodafone, Qatar Airways, Hilton Hotel and the British High Commission amongst others.
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