Cultural diversity
For some time now I have been interested in the issue of cultural differences. In a working environment like ours, with people of different nationalities and in projects where we converge with such different cultures, differences appear very often. So it is essential to know about cultural diversity and how to manage it.
I remember having to lengthen meetings when working with people from Latin America, because of their tendency to talk in greater depth about issues, or how I was surprised that in the United States they spend 10 minutes of the meeting beginning to connect with each other on personal issues. Learning that Senegalese people find it hard to say no or that Japanese people are uncomfortable talking about personal issues has helped me to avoid awkward situations and ensure successful conversations.
Cross-cultural competences
Intercultural competence is a person’s ability to act appropriately and flexibly towards people from other cultures. This skill develops naturally when living or working in multicultural environments, but it can also be worked on.
It is important to differentiate between stereotypes and cultural norms, to know the different cultural norms that we must take into account and to learn how to act so that everyone can feel comfortable, while remaining authentic.
At Volies we work on this dimension of diversity through training workshops and experiential actions, adapting to the specific needs of each organisation and seeking to promote inclusive, respectful and open environments and communities that value cultural differences as learning and a driving force for social change.
