MANAGING
DIVERSITY AND VIRTUAL TEAMS

The request

Global organizations are found everywhere around the world and they comprise of people from all over the globe. Managers in these types of organizations have to be capable of dealing with many different cultures. In addition, some of the team members may work remotely. The employees are located in various places, often in other countries. In that sense, we might even refer to them as virtual employees. Teleconferences, telephone conversations and mailings replace the direct contact.

It is important that managers are able to maintain clear, decisive and meticulous communication lines with all these different team members. The manager acts as a bridge between the team members and all their varying cultural backgrounds. This is not a simple task.

Our offer

We offer managers a training program: brief, yet very effective! The manager is asked to give an example of a situation that he faces in his daily work. A few possible ideas are: How do I conduct discussions with the team members? What is the effect of my communication style? How effective are these discussions? How can I achieve my goals more easily? Based on exercises in a conversational situation, the managers find the answers to these questions. Their practice partner is an actor who has been trained specifically in dealing with diversity and unusual situations, such as virtual contact.

The managers who participate in this course have a 'subscription'. This means that after a certain period of time (for example six months) they may take the course once again. They could then bring up for discussion a situation that occurs at that moment at their work.

Participants can decide to take the course alone or with two or three colleagues.

The effect

Managers who have taken this course in the past are very enthusiastic about the limited time they need to invest and its tremendous effect. They perceive the training sessions as very useful and as excellent augmentations to previous courses that they took. Furthermore, they find that the course helps them stay on top of things in their role as managers. In their view, taking a repeat course later on gives them an insight into their own development.

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• What are the effects of my actions?

• How can I be more effective and efficient?