Masterclass for Developing Cultural Intelligence (CQ)

Multiple Perspectives, Critical Thinking and Intercultural Competence for Government Agencies
(2015 – ongoing)

Challenge

Multiple Perspective Taking, Critical Thinking Skills and Intercultural Competence are required when managing and working in culturally diverse government agencies, servicing the multicultural society, or connecting with foreign government agencies across the world. Highly skilled professionals working in these agencies are often more comfortable looking inwards to fulfil the requirements of the organisation without taking into account the specific requirements of  the multicultural society and the culturally diverse, international environment they operate in.

Interventions:

1. Participants register to three-day training workshop
2. Participants  assess their CQ and Intercultural Competence level to deal with the culturally diverse situation: strength and potential pitfalls explored. Participants receive confidential personal feedback report with recommendations for improvement.
3. Face-to-Face three-day training workshop:
   this intense, interactive  course aims to create cultural awareness, build on cultural know how and develop the cultural competence:
   – increase cultural know-how, cultural behaviour and styles
   – develop CQ: multiple perspective taking and apply critical thinking skills
   – assess cultural orientation, intercultural communication styles and preferred work behaviour
   – explore challenges and experiences
   – action planning around individual  cultural competence
   – develop work and communication practices to close the cultural gaps
4. Participants complete Training Feedback Analysis and reports are shared with organisation and contact persons.

Results:
Feedback is that the Developing CQ, Multiple Perspectives, Critical Thinking and Intercultural Competence Training Course outcomes can be immediately applied in daily work situations. Participants actively try to change attitudes, behaviour, communicative styles and explore culturally appropriate work practices to better integrate requirements in a culturally diverse setting. Participants display abilities to take multiple perspectives, apply critical skills and demonstrate enhanced cultural competence.

After both participants and the agencies rated the pilot training as highly satisfactory, this three-day interactive training workshop is facilitated for a diverse range of government agencies twice yearly.