When it comes to engaging in meaningful conversations or establishing effective communication with people from various cultures, some things might get lost in translation, but a lot more is lost to mistaken assumptions and stereotypical perceptions. In a cultural melting pot like Qatar, where everybody inadvertently works in a diverse multicultural environment, how does one navigate their way?
A specialised answer to that conundrum lies in ‘Intercultural Fluency’. The ability to successfully operate and communicate within different contexts, Intercultural Fluency is increasingly becoming the definitive global skill in today’s interconnected world, says the British Council.
Having sensed immense potential in equipping professionals with what appears to be a new brand of IQ, the Intercultural Quotient, the British Council has rolled out a comprehensive Intercultural Fluency programme which teaches them “the understanding and techniques they need to work, communicate and collaborate more effectively with people from different cultures”.
Dr Frank Fitzpatrick, British Council Country Director, explained to Community why British Council decided to roll out this course, “The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. Our Intercultural Fluency programme is a natural extension to the existing work we do within cultural relations. It draws on our 80 years of expertise in this field and uses the local knowledge and experience we have within our global network of over 100 centres. Based on current academic thinking but with a practical focus, the training enables participants to operate successfully in different and changing cultural contexts.”
The British Council’s practically focused, face-to-face courses are said to be designed to deepen the intercultural awareness, increase the confidence, and strengthen the interpersonal skills of professionals at all levels, leading to a range of individual and business benefits. Fitzpatrick said, “The Gulf is a rich mix of people from diverse cultural backgrounds living and working together and this brings many benefits, but can also present some challenges. Being able to appreciate cultural differences and communicate successfully is crucial to successful business and day-to-day survival.”
Interestingly, the British Council is offering it across their entire global network. “To date we have delivered courses in the Gulf, South East Asia (Singapore, China, India), Sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Ghana) UK and Europe. The feedback has been incredibly positive. Our customers value the practical focus of the training and trust the experience the British Council brings to both the content and the delivery of the courses,” he said.
A welcome break from the theoretical monotony, Intercultural Fluency classes  are interactive and free-flowing, packing in everything from self-evaluation, mindful introspection, a deepened sense of respect for others’ cultures and values, and a close dialogue with fellow classmates that serves as a springboard for one’s ideas and opinions on matters of propriety, poise, and sensitivity, while dealing with the most basic of conversations to the most complex of discussions. Through a variety of interactive activities, participants gain a range of strategies they can immediately apply in the workplace “to become more effective in the ways they collaborate, communicate and build relationships with people from different cultural backgrounds”.
Delivered by locally based, expert trainers, the course is even tailored to the needs of a range of diverse audiences. Amelia Moreno, Intercultural Fluency MENA Lead, who has taught the course to dozens of students thus far, explained to Community about her impressions of the change in the mindsets and attitudes of those who take up this course. “It’s fascinating to watch the participants during the course because we are challenging their beliefs and asking them to share their experiences of culture,” Moreno said.
“The most common mindset shift is understanding the value of behavioural adaptation: why it is important and how it can be implemented. It’s not about changing who you are; it’s about realising the complexities of any given multicultural situation and being able to be flexible enough to ensure your communication and ultimately your objectives are successful.”
The primer, ‘Introduction to Intercultural Fluency’, for instance, is a two-day course that covers two modules from the programme — ‘Building Good Foundations and Rapport Across Cultures’ and ‘Communicating Across Cultures’ — delivered using the British Council’s signature training methodology within an interactive discussion-based environment, using a variety of activities designed to encourage self-reflection and practical use of the course’s key strategies and tools.
While Day 1 explores how culture can affect what happens in multicultural situations, and recommends a range of strategies that helps participants build rapport in culturally diverse environments and workplaces, Day 2 recommends ways of enhancing participants’ communication skills to make them more effective in multicultural and multilingual situations.
The first day, for instance, gets the participants to face their own influences, their own cultural identity make-up, and even prejudices that affect their perceptions. An individual’s cultural identity is examined straightaway in an initial lesson as being made of community, group and family values, beliefs and practices that are important to them, influence their behaviours and preferences, and contribute to their sense of identity and belonging.
“Culture is a group phenomenon which influences each of us. Culture is fluid — it moves and changes. Culture is interactive — we are shaped and reshaped by our interactions with each other,” a note says, adding that cultures are complex and changing.  
The course is targeted as much at corporates as it is at forward-thinking individuals keen on making a more solid or deeper connection with the people around. The British Council says that the training will help businesses to improve the performance of multicultural teams, support local and overseas staff to integrate and adapt to culturally diverse working environments, and compete better in diverse markets and expand into new territories overseas, among other things, and will help professionals to improve their employability and support their career development, develop a greater awareness of cultural similarities and differences, and build rapport in new intercultural situations, and effectively integrate into new culturally diverse environments.
When asked about the challenges and high points of teaching this course to a diverse and varied set of students, Moreno said, “The area of culture is fascinating as we each have our own take on it, our own experiences when things haven’t gone well and also when cultural diversity has added value to our situation. Being able to discuss this, share personal experiences and work together in practising how to manage cultural diversity in the workplace is why I love facilitating this programme. Even when a participant challenges or resists elements of the training, those discussions for me can be the most fruitful and insightful. Working in a region such as the Gulf means that everyone who attends our courses has first-hand experience of the joys and challenges a multicultural workplace can bring.”


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