CROSS-CULTURAL SIMULATION

Our cross-cultural simulation is a teambuilding event at which your employees can experience cultural differences from different perspectives up close and personal. To facilitate an open and prejudice-free approach we have created two “cultures” including rules of behaviour, gestures and linguistic expressions. Participants can visit the other culture in a game-like environment and experience the challenges that arise from meeting with another culture. From the resulting exchange of experiences, participants learn business-relevant lessons for communicating with each other and with international clients. Last but not least, the participants have the opportunity to critically reflect on their own company’s culture.

Without leaving the conference room, and in less than five hours, participants …

• Experience the impact of encountering a culture that may be entirely new to them
• Feel what it is like to understand neither a foreign language nor the accompanying body language
• Appreciate what it is like to believe you understand a situation yet be ostracised for unknowingly breaking a cultural norm
• Experience relief upon returning home, where everything is familiar

As a result of the simulation, participants …

• Identify the practices, values and attitudes that make it difficult to take full advantage of team diversity
• Are shaken loose from stereotypical ways of thinking, and develop new awareness and appreciation of people from other backgrounds
• Identify and create common ground with their teammates, which contributes to the overall teambuilding effect
• Are more effective when working in international teams, which contributes to better bottom-line results
• Have fun and enjoy a more relaxed and constructive team atmosphere

How it works

The moderator explains the concept and divides the participants into the two different cultures. The participants study and practise their assigned culture. And then it’s time: some participants visit the other culture and try to communicate and operate there. Once they get back to their own culture, they report on their experiences. The simulation then ends and the groups come back together to analyse.