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How to Avoid Common Training Pitfalls Across Cultures
Neal Goodman, 06-08-2010
Whether training internationally or interculturally, in-person or virtually, cultural differences can impact a program’s success. Many accomplished instructors have seen their programs go awry due to ignorance.
Some of the most common considerations often overlooked by trainers include:
• Cultural values of hierarchy.
• Individual vs. group orientation.
• Varying levels of comfort with risk taking.
• Linguistic competencies.
• Different standards of excellence, which vary from culture to culture.
• Students’ and instructors’ preferred communication styles.
Consider these examples of common pitfalls.
1. A European company sells a telephone system to a Middle Eastern client and is accused of providing insufficient training on the equipment following calls several weeks later alleging technician incompetence. Yet at the end of the training day, the instructor asked each student if he or she understood everything, and all trainees said yes.
In many Middle Eastern cultures it’s unlikely trainees would be willing to stand out and say no when asked if they understood. It would have been wiser for the instructor to either ask the students to practice and demonstrate what they were taught or break them into small groups and assign the groups to come up with questions.
2. An American instructor provides a computer-based diversity training program in Indonesia and is puzzled to see a pattern of incorrect quiz responses. The instructor has the team manager and the manager’s subordinates in the same class. The course included quizzes where each time an incorrect answer was given, the responder’s computer would buzz. Each time the manager made a mistake, all the subordinates would also choose the wrong answer so as to not embarrass their boss. In this case, a better option would have been to brief the manager before the class and make him a co-facilitator.
3. A successful U.S.-based trainer is disappointed with the class evaluations from a leadership course he delivered in Europe. The trainer is accustomed to getting ratings of all 4s and 5s on a 1 to 5 scale, and these evaluations are well below the trainer’s average. But it is rarer to get a rating of 5 out of 5 in Europe than in the U.S.
4. An American instructor began her diversity course in Korea by asking participants to list the components of diversity. The participants did not respond and looked perplexed. In many Asian cultures, the facilitator, as the expert, would not be expected to ask the participants to provide the answers.
5. A South American trainer in Japan receives poor evaluations. His content was excellent, but he was slouching, and he was unaware of the importance the Japanese place on posture. He was also smiling a lot, which made the Japanese take him less seriously.
6. A Nigerian instructor asked a European student to leave the room for asking a question of the instructor in front of the class. In many parts of Africa and Asia, it may be seen as confrontational for a subordinate to ask a question of a person of authority in front of the subordinate’s peers.
7. An American-based global sales instructor asked the Japanese company president for a five-year projected sales estimate following the president’s introductory remarks to the sales force. The instructor saw an opportunity to link the president’s introduction to the course, but the president said “thank you for the question” and did not answer. The instructor lost credibility with the Japanese participants because of his lack of respect.
Here are a few tips and questions to consider when preparing to lead a multicultural training program.
1. Recognize how your own implicit cultural assumptions impact your performance and effectiveness a trainer. Consider: Should you begin with a formal presentation or with a simulation?
2. Identify specific situations where misunderstandings are likely to occur in the design and delivery of courses across cultures or other working situations. Consider: Do you want participants of different ranks within an organization to take the program together?
3. Assess traits and skills with respect to those needed for success in cross-cultural settings. Consider: Do you think the use of humor adds to or detracts from the effectiveness of training?
4. Practice culturally appropriate learning and instructional styles and business protocols. Consider: Do you call on people directly or have people respond in groups?
5. Adapt existing materials and methods to the participants’ culture. Consider: Are the students more familiar with an inductive or deductive learning style? Are all the examples in the local currency and measurements?
Neal Goodman is president of Global Dynamics Inc. He can be reached at editor@diversity-executive.com.
