On December 15th, 2023, students of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv, V. N. Karazin National University of Kharkiv and Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv participated in online webinar „Do’s and Don’ts of cross-cultural communication” organised within the Project 4EU+ for Ukraine financed by the National Agency for Academic Exchange of the Republic of Poland.

Instructor: dr Aleksandra Jaskólska
Language of instruction: English

Communicating across cultures together with the enhancement of cultural competencies (cross-cultural knowledge, cultural self-awareness) and knowledge about different culture are essential tools for the success of cross-cultural, multinational cooperation.

Aims:
• increasing self-awareness of individual cultural preferences
• communication skills enhancement
• supporting one-team-acting in multinational environment.

Part one – Introduction to communicating across cultures (approx. 20 minutes)
• Why cultures differ so much?
• Why stereotypes can be a life saver?
• Sensibility to detect and manage culture related factors

Part two – Diversity in the team – why is it important and how to use it? (approx. 90 minutes)
• How to categorize cultures to make our life easier ?
• Dimensions of Cultural orientation grid:
– Sense of power and responsibility – control, harmony, humility
– Concepts of territory and boundaries – sharing vs protecting boundaries
– Approaches to time management – lack vs abundance of time, mono vs polychromatic cultures, past vs present vs future
– Communication patterns – high vs low context cultures, indirect vs direct, formal vs informal communication
– Definitions of identity and purpose – individualism vs collectivism, action vs being
– Ways of thinking – analytical vs systemic, deductive vs inductive
– Organizational arrangements – hierarchy or equality, universalism or particularism, competition or cooperation, stability or change
• Case studies – are key in this section

Part three – Summary (approx. 25 minutes)
• Cultural relativity – how it influence perception of cultural differences
• Practical tips
• Top cross-cultural researchers

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