Multicultural Teaming Workshop Russia Area

Transcript:Multicultural Teaming Workshop Russia Area:
Multicultural Teaming Workshop Russia Area Conference Nov 16-20, 2015 M Multicultural Team Purpose To help SEND missionaries in Russia plan to use their teams’ cultural diversity to the greatest advantage in fulfilling the ministry to which God has called them. Individual: each individual will commit to at least one action step to not just survive but thrive in their multicultural team context. Team: each team will commit to a few next steps to overcome the unique challenges of multicultural teaming. Overview Day 1 – The Realities of Multicultural Teaming in SEND Day 2 – Digging Deeper into Cultural Diversity Day 3 – Responding to Cultural Diversity Day 4 – Planning for Progress as a Multicultural Team The Communication Challenge Low Context: Good communciation is precise, simple, clear. Messages are expressed and understood at face value. High Context: Good communication is sophisticated, nuanced and layered. Messages are both spoken and read between the lines. Messages are often implied but not plainly expressed." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLTvAOijPKs Multicultural teams must learn to communicate in low-context ways because the multicultural environment confuses the cues that are necessary for high-context communication. For the indirect (high context) communicators: aim for a more direct style. Even though it might feel awkward and rude to you, remember that the direct communicator cannot pick up on the subtle clues that seem obvious to you. For the direct (low context) communicators: try to be more indirect and a “softer” communicator. Avoid directly disagreeing with co-workers, and voice disagreements in more subtle ways. Be less confrontational and use words like “maybe” and “perhaps” more often. Realities of Multi-cultural Teaming in SEND Day 1 Russia Area By citizenship Introduce Yourself (1 minute each) Share with the group how you would define yourself culturally -- not just your citizenship, but other factors that have influenced who you are culturally (e.g. previous citizenship, parents’ nationality, significant exposure to other cultures, specific cultural context within your home country, etc. Citizenship of SEND Members (2014) US – 377 Canada – 70 Philippines – 33 Germany – 19 Hong Kong – 11 Guatemala - 7 Australia – 7 Switzerland – 5 Taiwan – 3 Poland - 2 Sending Offices / Mission Partnerships SEND Canada Office SEND East Asia Sending Office – Hong Kong SEND Philippine Sending Office SEND US Office Vereinigte Deutsche Missionshilfe e.V (VDM) - Germany Deutsche Missions Gemeinschaft (DMG) – Germany Sweizerische Missions-Gemeinschaft (SMG) – Switzerland Bund