For example, I was invited by a global marketing team to support them with a global product launch. Typical global – local challenge: rolling out a global strategy consistently vs flexibility and ownership from local perspective plus the feeling of not being told what to do. The increased cultural competence of the global team helped them to adequately address their colleagues in the different markets and set the basis for working together rather than against each other. The product launch turned out to be one of the most successful launches of that global company.

For example, a truly complex case I had been involved in concerned communication with 163 countries with a team of 7 people from Asia, North and South America and Europe. They were responsible for the communication with basically the whole world with the exception of the few defined key markets of that company. Based on the scientifically validated model by Geert Hofstede and taking into consideration the internal grouping of the countries, we could allocate these many countries to 7 cultural regions who could each be effectively addressed with one communication strategy. From 163 countries down to 7 regions! Furthermore, the diverse team itself could improve its own internal communication as much as constructively expand their communication styles based on their own various cultural backgrounds.

For example, … a global team leader was about to be assigned a team who he knew would be coming from all continents but wouldn’t know who some of the team members were until the very kick-off meeting. He was the only one full-time on the project. The project was planned to be completed within 9 months. Together with a colleague I accompanied him and the team throughout the project with intercultural competence development, coaching and facilitation. The team leader reported that everybody was “unusally well committed” to the project, though some of the tea members were on it only with 20% of their time. It was also unusual, that all team members stayed on the project until the end, which showed an extraordinary group cohesiveness. The same applied to the project efficiency: “the project went ahead much more quickly than originally anticipated” and was completed in time. The diverse and virtual team continued working together on a follow-up project.

For example, … the fact that multicultural teams perform better by being more creative and more innovative has been shown in the studies of Nancy J. Adler (2007) and many others. However, it holds only true for teams that are managed well. If the manager does not recognize the diversity of the team, the different values, styles and approaches, it will even perform worse than a monocultural team. Intercultural fluency is therefore a key competence for international managers. Diversity is a given, to manage it - is a choice.

For example, … Business Process Outsourcing: all of a sudden there is a new team abroad of, let’s say, 200 people in a so-called best cost country. The team members are expected to deliver services to your western company. What measures would you take if these were new colleagues at your office? What measures do you take to integrate this virtual team? Often the challenges of cultural translation of services are overlooked and even more often not part of the calculation that seeks cost efficiency. It does not necessarily require a big investment in order to steer a trustful and efficient cooperation. However, the earlier the appropriate measures are taken the less effort is needed.

For example, … have you ever been abroad for work? With the ambition to achieve a goal? Which is actually different from going on vacation … Then for sure, you have found yourself in ambiguous situations that you couldn’t interpret with what you had learned so far. Or, you felt that your values were challenged. Well, that is the moment when you may learn something new about yourself. Which values are most important for you? What have you always thought to be normal, but found to be not normal in another country? When developing intercultural competence, you set out on a path to learn about yourself and who you are, how your identity was shaped by the culture you’ve been brought up in, and which values you might have adapted unconsciously. You may recognize where emotions come into play and how you can accommodate your need for at least some certainty in unknown situations. Since one is for sure: you will face ambiguous situations in a multicultural setting.