This week’s topic: Effective & Productive Global, Cross Cultural Meetings

by Evelyn Eury @SageStrategist

Pitfalls of Global, Cross Cultural Meetings

Global meeting planning across cultures has many of the same pitfalls as traditional meeting organizing but is complicated by the cultural nuances of different offices, local customs and professional yet, culturally biased viewpoints. The savvy cross cultural meeting planner understands the cultural challenges and plans for them accordingly. In an August 2011 Gigaom.com article, Gary Swart pinpoints the first problem of planning and urges global leadership to make good decisions based upon analysis. He introduces a truth most managers already know: “managers spend between 30 and 80 percent of their time in meetings and more than 50 percent of them consider many meetings to be a ‘waste of time.’” (Swartz, August 28 2011) He asserts that effective meetings are rendered possible when planners first ensure that the event is vital to hold, carefully create an itinerary to be followed and that outputs should be evaluated post-haste in order to rate successfulness.

Challenges of Cross Cultural Virtual Meetings

Remote international meetings across cultures require all of these considerations but also necessitate cutting edge technology that allows real-time communication, the sharing of documents and data virtually, and ideally video to increase one’s ability to read other meeting participants non-verbal queues. Virtual meetings with international offices can also produce other hiccups: such as language barriers, divergence in availability due to working hours, varied holiday and leave schedules, and cultural nuance that impacts meeting participants level of comfort in speaking with other employees. New global, virtual meeting research shows that the number one barrier to global meetings across cultures are time-zones. Next comes lack of consistent moderation and cultural misunderstanding due to the inability of reading non-verbal cues.  In this case, meeting dates and time must be carefully selected in order to increase attendance, allow for translators where necessary and leadership must be aware of cultural variance in order to make all parties relaxed in communication style.

Questions for #GlobalMindsetChat, Thursday 9am PT / 12pm ET

Q1.  Should companies rely on internal translators to aid in meeting discussions? #GlobalMindsetChat

Q2.  Do you think it is more effective to work with a third party Translation Services vendor?  Any recommendations? #GlobalMindsetChat

Q3.  Do you think leadership should devise international office Holiday Schedules based solely on cultural sensitivity or also consider business needs? #GlobalMindsetChat

Q4. How does your company deal with time zone differences when scheduling meetings? #GlobalMindsetChat

Q5.  How important is cultural nuance when communicating remotely? Is it more or less important than true face-to-face meetings? #GlobalMindsetChat

Q6. If you fail to have cultural experts on staff that can speak to local sensitivities, how would you obtain intelligence to deal with this challenge? #GlobalMindsetChat

What is #GlobalMindsetChat?

Recent studies show that Global Mindset is the key competence leaders urgently look to develop in their workforce today.

Every week, Melissa Lamson hosts the varied and unique #GlobalMindsetChat on Twitter. The only one of its kind, #GlobalMindsetChat provides pertinent information on cross cultural, intercultural, and diversity topics that impact global business and the economy today.

How to join a twitterchat: www.tweetchat.com

I’ve spent the week talking about cultural immersion in organizations and how to integrate employees to an organization’s overall culture and way of operating. I was also privileged to listen to how companies can best automate the on-boarding process and the challenges they have to find the right solution, incorporate employee orientation, and develop overall individualized learning programs. Once finding the right solution, the first step is getting buy-in from leadership to purchase it. The second is getting buy-in from those used to the old way of doing things to change their habits and learn new skills. In a sense, a culture change.

The ROI for automating the on-boarding process is if questions or mandates around policies, logistics, legal, and equipment issues are dealt with beforehand or simultaneously to an employee’s start with a company – online or through a savvy software program – then those long drawn out employee orientation sessions can be instead used to excite, inspire and truly welcome the new hire. Don’t forget, 60% of new hires make a decision whether or not to leave the company within the first 6 months. And Gen Y-ers expect to have 5-7 major career changes, where baby boomers 2-3. It’s imperative we keep top talent engaged.

My part in the employee on-boarding conversation held in Costa Mesa and San Jose, California – hosted by Silkroad (a software company catering to automating the on-boarding process) was to suggest that “cultural immersion” was the solution to getting new hires quickly involved, bought-in, and enthused about the new company. If organizations spend more time on acclimating people, explaining how things truly work, and helping the employee to network and see their own career path within the company, studies show that retention rates and general performance increases.

This Thursday’s #GlobalMindsetChat will address the question of employee cultural immersion and the benefits to automating the on-boarding process overall.

(We use caps not to yell or be obnoxious, but to distinguish questions from answers. Thank you for your understanding.)

Questions include:

Q1 WHAT CHALLENGES EXIST IN THE ON-BOARDING PROCESS, GENERALLY? #GLOBALMINDSETCHAT

Q2 WHAT NEW TECHNIQUES, TOOLS OR PROCEDURES HAVE YOU TRIED OR WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IN EMPLOYEE ONBOARDING? #GLOBALMINDSETCHAT

Q3 HAVE YOU USED AN AUTOMATED PROCESS? WHY? OR, WHY NOT? #GLOBALMINDSETCHAT

Q4 WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF “CULTURAL IMMERSION” AS AN ON-BOARDING STRATEGY? #GLOBALMINDSETCHAT

Q5 WHAT NEEDS TO BE IN PLACE IN ORDER FOR EMPLOYEE CULTURAL IMMERSION TO WORK SUCCESSFULLY? #GLOBALMINDSETCHAT

Q6 WHAT STEPS WOULD YOU RECOMMEND IN AN EMPLOYEE CULTURAL IMMERSION PROCESS? #GLOBALMINDSETCHAT

Q7 OPEN DISCUSSION: WHAT ON-BOARDING ISSUE IS PRESSING FOR YOU? WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET ANSWERS TO? #GLOBALMINDSETCHAT

• Experience living abroad.
• Cultural sensitivity, collaborative skills and a greater focus on emotional competencies.
• The ability to accept that a particular situation my not be like anything they are familiar with.
• The capacity to motivate, influence and enable individuals across cultures to uphold corporate culture and accomplish company goals.

• Travel often and participate face-to-face in meetings with colleagues from the location.
• Practice getting comfortable with ambiguity.
• Be open to new ways of doing things, spend more time listening and less time speaking.
• Commit to Global Leadership Development programs or participate in seminars.
• Understand what’s going on-line and use all forms of technology to communicate with team members located globally.

Many say that we are at a leadership deficit in the business world and not only do we need existing leaders to improve their global skills, we need 1000s more truly developed leaders who can think, act and lead globally. Leadership is becoming more and more important in terms of motivating employees, facilitating new innovations, and driving projects forward. Are your leaders and is your organization prepared?

We’ll talk more in detail next month on how to assess and find the right global leaders.

10 Ways to Establish Cultural Continuity in Your Global Organization

1) Create situations – facilitated meetings, surveys, virtual platforms – where you can hear what employees think, believe and value.

2) Incorporate diverse viewpoints into corporate mission statements, internal marketing campaigns, and overall company values.

3) Create a slogan that’s easy to remember and resonates with employees across departments, business units, regions and even country locations.

4) Empower leaders with messaging that supports cultural cohesiveness, make sure every public speaking opportunity addresses the topic.

5) Employees and managers should utilize mantras and principles which support a unified company approach with their teams.

6) Create common procedures and processes and get buy-in by training individuals to use them. Allow for adaptation to local markets.

7) Understand where the gaps are in organizational efficiency and effectiveness by using the 20/20 Cultural Agility Gauge TM.  

The Cultural Agility Gauge TM

Develop savvy and innovative ways remote employees or those in the field can feel connected to the company as a whole.

9) Ensure the on-boarding process includes a cultural component, explaining the identity of the company and providing training on values and behaviors.

10) Be willing to reflect and critically think about the culture of the organization and make adjustments as necessary.

Contact us for a complimentary strategy session: info@lamsonconsulting.com

There are definitely a few things you need to know about Brazilians if you are moving to this amazing country, mainly if you are going to work with them.

As a Brazilian, I might be a bit biased talking about it. Especially, because it’s very hard to identify traits in the culture in which I am immersed.  But the following words I’ve heard from my manager, too, and he is German. He has been living in Brazil for two years.

Some weeks ago I had to make a presentation about Germany at college and I kindly invited him to join and make a short speech. He was able to describe to the class the differences that he could easily see in the Brazilian way of working and living.

1) Time: The first thing – of course – is about being late. If you have a meeting with Brazilians, don’t be surprised if they arrive around ten minutes late. It is common and they don’t feel embarrassed. But on the other hand they don’t mind if you are a little bit late.

2) Improvisation: If a Brazilian has a presentation to show in a meeting they probably will wait until the last minute to prepare. (We almost never prepare things in advance.) But the good part is that we are very good at unexpected situations, with a great capacity to improvise. That’s the famous “jeitinho brasileiro” (specific Brazilian way). We (almost) always get what we want.

3) Communication: Another topic, related to this last one, is the inability of a Brazilian to say “yes” or “no”. You will hardly hear these words during a meeting, even if you are waiting for those specific answers. You’ll probably listen to a “maybe”, “let’s see what we can do”, “I’ll check it”, “I’m not sure”, etc… It seems like we are afraid to disappoint someone with negative answers. But we also don’t want to commit and not deliver.

With these cultural differences, you’ll also see the most friendly, agreeable, and charismatic people. We really like to share and help people. You’ll see smiles, people will physically touch you, invite you to dinners, barbecues and happy hours. A business relationship with a Brazilian will go beyond working hours.

In our interest to help global companies understand how to go-to-market successfully, we’ve put together an initial check-list of what to consider:

by Melissa Lamson

1) Mexico is the next big growth market  

Brazil, Russia, India and China are still strong and in some cases still steadily growing. However China has almost become too expensive to be considered a growth market anymore, with Brazil close behind,  and many companies are looking for other unexplored markets. Perhaps, surprisingly, Mexico is on the radar screen. The situation has hit rock bottom and politicians have said, “Enough!” Mexico’s currently looking to revise, revamp and make its mark in 2013 in the world of global business.

2) Social responsibility is at the forefront 

It’s rare to find someone who is successful who isn’t giving back these days and social entrepreneurs are rocking the business world. If you run a large multinational or a small consultancy and you’re not considering what and how you’re conducting business and how your “social” footprint as well as “environmental” footprint impacts the world, you won’t relate to this generation’s global workforce nor clientele. Today, people care more about meaning and less about materialism.

3)  Mobile, mobile, mobile!  

If you have a business, you have to make it easily seen on all devices – phones, tablets, and the internet. SmartPhones are the absolute norm globally and everyone is accessing information over them first. If you want to be truly global, double-check if your website, store, services, or info is accessible by phone? If not, you’re going to be left behind!

Let us know what you think at www@lamsonconsulting.com

Establish yourself as a successful Cross Cultural Consultant!
Use your knowledge and degree to start a successful business!
Develop techniques, tools, and a strategy to win business globally!

As a seasoned intercultural and diversity expert, I get a call once a week by those looking for tips and resources to start up a cross cultural and/or diversity consulting and training business. As per their request, I’m now offering a special program that not only gives advice but delivers the specific details for establishing yourself as a thought leader in the field. As a participant in this 2 1/2 day program, you’ll get techniques, tools, and business strategies to further catapult your intercultural and diversity knowledge and theory into a profitable consulting and training business!

I, myself, have a Master’s in Intercultural Relations, specializing in Diversity Training. I’ve been trained and certified by numerous founding theorists in cross cultural psychology, international management, global mindset development, global diversity, and intercultural communication. I’ve worked on projects in over 40 countries with large multinationals to individual entrepreneurs. My clients have included 3M, Commerzbank, Cisco, L’Oreal, Mozilla, MTV, Porsche, and SAP. And I’ve commercially published three books, No Such Thing as Small Talk: 7 Keys to Understanding German Business Culture, Cultural Transformation Tweet, and Why European Companies Fail in the US Market, and How Yours Can Succeed.

I say all that not to brag, but to give you an idea of the kind of exciting career I’ve made (and continue to make) in this amazing field which only becomes more and more important in today’s global business world. And, I couldn’t have done it without a terrific education, amazing mentors, and loyal client partners. Let me help you quickly get your business up and running – and quickly get access to what I have – by sharing the secrets to my success.

Cultural Consulting Elite™ is a program designed specifically for those hungry to ramp up their own consulting practice, to put their business securely on the map, and differentiate themselves in the intercultural, cross cultural, and diversity training and consulting world. Cultural Consulting Elite™ will ensure you’re well on your way to a highly reputable and successful consultancy!

After this two-day program, you will walk away with:

• A powerful value proposition
• A draft website, business card, and logo design (as needed)
• A unique set of offerings that distinguish yourself from others
• Intellectual property, models, and tools you can monetize and use
• Sales meeting methods and techniques to close business
• Proven ways to get leads, find business, and create opportunities
• Ideas for unique blog posts, articles, and newsletters
• Concrete ways to maximize social media to your advantage
• An action plan for 2013

On the third day I will offer a half-day program on book publishing and participants will:

• Understand how the book publishing process works
• Learn how to write a book proposal
• Hear what agents are looking for
• Create an idea for a book title and content
• Begin to develop the table of contents and book introduction

Fees*

Before February 1^st  $950 / 725,-Euro
After February 1^st  $1150 / 875,-Euro
Add half-day on book publishing: $450 / 350,-Euro
*Fees include all materials and lunch both days.

Dates & Times

Scottsdale, Arizona USA

March 7, 2013 9:30-5:30
March 8, 2013 9:30-5:30
March 9, 2013 9:30-12:30

(Exact location to-be-announced)

Frankfurt, Germany

April 25, 2013 9:30-17:30

April 26, 2013 9:30-17:30

April 27, 2013 9:30-12:30

(Exact location to-be-announced)

To Register*:

Email or call me and we can arrange payment by Paypal or check.

Email: melissa.lamson@lamsonconsulting.com
Phone: +1-650-283-2765
*Full fee must be paid in advance and no refunds after March 1, 2013

As technology, social media and the Internet allow companies to obtain greater global visibility, organizations that want to take advantage of their growing markets are creating new offices at rapid rates.  The reasons for growth may include everything from expansion of a new consumer base to searching for new and great local skills and talent.

Whatever the cause, this demand to expand on a global scale means hiring in locations where these companies have not previously been and incorporating cultures and diversity that did not previously influence the overarching culture of the company.  This new development can create an incredible cultural conundrum posing to new questions: “How do we create an environment that is not only true to the organization, but also encompasses the culture and diversity of the local workforce?  How do we create Cultural Continuity no matter where we go?”

These are the very questions we are aiming to guide organizations to an answer through a new program we are offering called Cultural Continuity ™.

Starting with Lamson Consulting’s tried and true 20/20 Cultural Agility Gauge ™ and ending stakeholder driven implementation, this program will create a customized solution for each organization.  The benefits include:

• Improved communication across all lines of business
• Increased speed of time-to-market
• Increased understanding of local market needs
• Improved company cohesiveness, both internally and externally
• Improved management and leadership abilities

Sound like something you’d like to explore further?  Contact us for an initial consultation, and let us help you assess if the Cultural Continuity Program™ is right for you.

And for a limited time only – we’ll do the initial 20/20 assessment as a complimentary offer – so contact us before March 1st to get it set up!

info@lamsonconsulting.com +1-650-283-2765

Diamonds are all around your feet – you just need to reach down and pick them up!

So it often is with global growth. Often CEO’s don’t know what they don’t know, and opportunities for growth are lost because the risks of growing globally are overstated or the opportunities are understated, or both.

1. Do the market research. Have a special product or service, otherwise customers in other countries will simply buy local. Understand the market need and competition before jumping in.

2. Prioritize your market entry plan. Reach out for ‘lowest hanging fruit’ and pick off those best opportunities first as part of a global growth plan. Early wins are good!

3. Utilize resources you have. Take advantage of export assistance programs and talk to those ‘in the know’ such as Growth Nation who can point you to a variety of resources to reduce risk and increase the probability of success.

4. Place marketing and sales first. Sweat the marketing and sales details first so that when you build the infrastructure such as offices, administration and legal – they won’t have to be redone.

5. Make sure you’re covered legally. Protect your intellectual property, period. Reach out for expert help, and we can help you with the specific resources that will be best for your business and intended markets.

6. Get logistics and financials handled. Pull in the experts to get you prepared for problems that can and will occur. Again we can help with who those best choices will be for your business.

7. Select partners you can count on. Local partners in the countries you’ll be working are critically important to your success. Decide carefully because changing later can be a disaster.

8. Be cross-culturally savvy. All sorts of cross-cultural issue can bite you and your business. Keep cross-cultural issues in mind by testing, researching and pulling in those resources that can judge what you have from a local perspective.

9. Be a global marketer. Beyond starting with marketing and sales in your plan, fully embrace marketing in each country as you implement your country entry plan.

10. Adopt a 24/7 mindset. We’ve run into teams that don’t want to work weekends or after 5pm. If your team isn’t ‘there’, international expansion may not be for you.

International growth offers wonderful rewards and deep challenges. Do the upfront work to be prepared and then execute as flawlessly as you can, using experienced resources who are flexible, creative and have ‘been there, done that’.

Grow globally!

Doug Bruhnke, Growth Nation

About Doug Bruhnke
CEO and Chief Growth Officer of Growth Nation, a global full-service marketing firm creating better leads, stronger brands and higher revenue for clients in technology, manufacturing, healthcare and professional services. Our growth process has created over $1 billion of new revenue.