Working Across Cultures

Cross-cultural competence tremendously helps to communicate effectively in international teams, to get things done internationally and to lead multinational teams and organizations successfully. Research shows that safety issues and accidents often result from difficulties with language and different cultural backgrounds. Luckily, it is very well possible to become competent in cross-cultural communication and collaboration. Spot On Learning has developed cross-cultural programs that are based on sound theories but focus on practical use of cross-cultural insights.

For organizations with multinational teams, crews, networks and operations

Spot On Learning designs cross-cultural training products & programs for:

• Companies that have many nationalities and people from different cultural backgrounds on board (sometimes literally, because we have quite a few clients in the maritime industry).
• Multinational organizations in services and other industries that meet and collaborate a lot worldwide and/or buy and sell their products & services in a (large) number of international markets.
• Non-profits and NGO's operating abroad and internationally.

Spot On Learning's cross-cultural training products & services...

• Are goal oriented & measurable.
• Are for a large part or fully online. Many programs include workshops, which can be virtual (Zoom, Google Meet or Microsoft Teams) but also on location in or outside the Netherlands/Europe. Interactivity is important in our methods, tools and course elements, online and offline.
• Start with asking questions at entry. We help participants gain insight in their own cultural preferences, experience, skills, attitude and knowledge, which is used throughout our programs to motivate participants and help them get the most out of the training.
• Are theoretically sound and work with cross-cultural experts, like Esther Janssen at Culture-Inc who is an important partner in our cross-cultural work.
• Can be customized in many ways;  individual coaching and consultancy can be offered as an integral part of a cross-cultural program.

Benefits

• Better results in international operations
• More seamless & effective collaboration, less misunderstandings in international teams, supply chains, networks and projects
• Improved risk awareness and a better understanging of how risks can be prevented and managed.
• Improved social wellbeing.

Content & methodology

• In our cross-cultural programs we use case-based lessons to show and help recognize and understand different cultural perspectives. Participants learn and often recognize what challenges they can cause in practice and they learn how to cross bridges to communicate and collaborate effectively across cultures.
• We collect data and turn it into information. Participants receive feedback while going. Also our content makers, support team and expert coaches can cater to individual needs and tweak and optimize learning results.
• Spot On Learning's cross-cultural programs also result in (for a large part anonimized) feedback and reporting to HR professionals and managers. This will help build cross-cultural agility of teams and organizations.

How to find out more about our cross-cultural products and services

• You can test-drive some of our cross-cultural products! If you provide us with some brief information about your business situation and issues, we will send you an invitation to try a selection of our cross-cultural communication products that we think are most relevant for your specific situation. Our cross-cultural competence scan or cross-cultural leadership scan can be a very nice intro.
• You can request for an online demo at all time.
• Contact Eelco Kraefft if you want more information about content and methods of our cross-cultural communication programs.