Empathy and value-free observation

Two important strategies to deal with cultural situations are empathy and value-free observation. Use the arrows on the left and right side of the slideshow below to navigate through this presentation.

<

Develop your own strategies

In this exercise we have outlined 12 strategies for communicating effectively across cultures:

Clarify frequently
Use active listening
Summarise frequently
Aim for dialogue, not debate
Be structured and clear
Be open and friendly
Invite feedback, do not just expect it
Use questions effectively and often
Keep positive
Adjust the difficulty of your language to suit your counterpart
Make sure that your verbal and non-verbal communication agrees
Know yourself to know others

Read each of these following strategies and techniques for communicating effectively across cultures. In this exercise, write down some specific behaviour that describes how you can put each strategy or technique into practice. This exercise is to help you strategise and plan your cultural journey. It will help you with taking actions and practice adapting your behaviour towards other cultures. You will then be able to adapt accordingly to what is appropriate in other cultures.

This exercise is meant to make you reflect; there are no right or wrong answers and there is no minimum score required to pass.

Click on 'Take the Survey' to start this exercise.

This work is licensed under a This work has been created by The DIGIPASS Consortium and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 international license..