Intercultural Training
Prepare mentally for situations in advance.
Being prepared in a foreign culture
German companies regularly send highly skilled persons to the United States to work for a couple of years. But do those people really understand American culture well enough to achieve the company´s goals and avoid making costly mistakes? Not always. Yes, our cultures are very similar, but at the same time they differ greatly – often quite subtly.
I offer in-depth training on American culture so that when you arrive, you will have a solid idea of how Americans think and go about their daily business. It is critical to understand the Dos and Don´ts in the U.S., but it is even more critical to understand why things happen and prepare mentally for situations in advance.
The Scenario
You´ve been assigned to work in The States for two years and lead a team of Americans.
Are you ready to hit the ground running and be an effectual team leader without making cultural mistakes? Can you just assume that most things will be the same and therefore have no worries? The answer is, that depends on how prepared you are. For example, how will you motivate your team? Is praise relevant in the U.S.? Can you discipline Americans the same way? Are making presentations and offering new ideas in meetings done in the same way? Will your team openly challenge & correct you when you are wrong, as is done in Germany? The answers to these questions and much more is what you´ll learn in this seminar.
Germany and the United States are in fact very similar. Having lived in Japan for 4 years I can confirm that Western nations do in fact share many cultural similarities. However, that by no means suggests that you can lead a foreign team in the same way you lead your German team. The most erroneous mindsets to have when going abroad are: 1. Believing that you can just “learn what you need to know” once you arrive by being clever and observant. 2. Not giving ample attention to the subtle differences that exist between the two cultures. 3. Not really believing in the first place that there are great differences between Germany and the U.S., thus downplaying the “cultural gap”. 4. Not caring about it. You believe work is work, and there´s no time for “touchy-feely” culture stuff. Besides, the “rules of play” have been set by Headquarters anyway.
The Details
Goal
My goal with this seminar is to adequately prepare you with the knowledge and tools to enable you to maximize your time abroad while at the same time make fewer cultural mistakes.
Location
All trainings are conducted at your company, throughout Germany.
Duration
Seminars for 1 person generally take at least one entire day unless additional specific needs are requested. Should your spouse accompany you, I recommend a second day (or half-day) in order to cover the culture of Daily Life in America.
What is covered?
The seminar focuses on how to maximize your writing, public speaking, communicating 1:1 or to a team, avoiding & resolving conflict, selling ideas, offering criticism and praise, expectations, planning, motivating your team, small talk, numerous private life matters, regional information and much more.
Who is it for?
In most cases, it is aimed at “German” team leaders or managers who have been assigned to work in the U.S. for a period of time. It is also for Americans who have recently arrived in Germany and need advice on how to make the most of their time here and what to avoid.
What You Will Learn
Theory
You will briefly learn about culture from an academic perspective, such as how the Cultural Onion affects you, how to measure and compare cultures relatively and more.
Insights on how Americans think (and act)
Both in the workplace and in private life. This is the backbone of the seminar because this knowledge allows you to be independent once there. Knowing how the “average” American thinks allows you to be able to predict actions and reactions, which is invaluable information to have when leading a team. The focus will largely be on the differences in thinking between Americans and Germans.
The Dos and Don´ts.
While it is in fact more useful to learn the thinking behind the behavior, no cultural training is complete without learning the most critical Dos & Don´ts.
Regional orientation.
You will learn that Michigan (in the Midwest) does things a bit differently at times than say, California. And then there´s Texas. The U.S. is a big place and just like Germany, it has regional differences. Having actually lived in the West Cost, Midwest and East Cost, I can attest to these differences.
Note: This training is not meant to be your relocation service. You will most certainly need a relocation agent to help see you through the bureaucratic side of things like obtaining a work visa, as well as finding housing, setting up a bank account etc.
References
Geschick und Flexibilität
Steve Haring gelang es ausgezeichnet, die Teilnehmer in Diskussionen zu diesen Themen einzubinden. Herr Haring führte mit besonderem Geschick und Flexibilität Einzeltrainings mit leitenden Mitarbeitern durch.
Hilfreiches INTERKULTURELLES Training
Sehr informativ und hatte hilfreiche Tipps zur Hand.
Top Trainer – sehr hilfreiches KULTURELLES Training
Sehr hilfreich und ansprechend umgesetztes Lernmaterial.
Outstanding INTERCULTURAL TRAINING SEMINAR!
Outstanding training.
Super Referent! – und ein tolles INTERKULTURELLES Training
Fachlich, authentisch überzeugend! Sehr erfahren und ein tolles Training über die Unterschieden zwischen den USA und Deutschland.
Very useful
Steve’s intercultural training was very useful to me.
Lebendiger und abwechslungsreicher Unterricht
Herr Haring gestaltete den Unterricht interessant, lebendig und abwechslungsreich. Er verstand es sehr gut, die Teilnehmer zur aktiven Mitarbeit zu motivieren. Sein ausgeprägtes Fachwissen im Bereich Wirtschaft und Banken bereicherte den Unterricht sehr.
Englisch lernen im Handumdrehen!
Englisch lernen im Handumdrehen – mit Steve ist dies möglich und macht auch noch Spaß. Er ist flexibel, engagiert und aufmerksam und vermittelt sein Wissen in einer lockeren und angenehmen Art und Weise.
