International people management
Leading people in order to sustain high performance is the main challenge for any manager. Managing people across cultures introduces another level of complexity for the international manager.
The aim of our International people management training courses is to develop an understanding of the challenges of managing across cultures as outlined in our book The Mindful International Manager.
The training is based mainly around role-plays and the participants’ own people management challenges. In each case, we reflect on the impact of personality, culture and situation (the specific task) on people management choices and develop participants’ competence to achieve results while varying their style of leadership and communication .
Read some short case studies of the training which we offer. Case 1: Managing people internationally
A four-day programme on “Managing People Internationally” which we have run for the last five years with a major Swiss client. The programme focuses on team understanding, participative decision-making and developing team members through coaching. A 2 days plus 2 days seminar format is also popular here. Part 1 focuses on team understanding, direction and roles; part 2 on support, feedback and conflict.
Increasingly, we integrate Team Management Profiles into this training course.
Please note that we can also run short intensive individual people management courses for professionals interested in these topics. Click here to read more. Case 2: Managing a virtual team
This seminar is for managers who are leading or are going to lead international teams from a distance. This practical and pragmatic three-day training enables participants to develop key leadership competencies to manage in a virtual environment. The seminar focuses on the following set of success factors identified in The Mindful International Manager.
1. Team understanding
- building relationships by understanding yourself and your team colleagues
2. Direction
- committing to common goals for the whole team
3. Organisation
- establishing and coordinating clear processes for effective teamwork
4. Roles
- clarifying role expectations both internally and externally
5. Developing people
- supporting, coaching and training team members
6. Feedback
- observing performance and creating a culture of open feedback
7. Representing
- acting as the team ambassador, promoting the team and inf l uencing others
8. Conflict
- dealing with personality and cultural clashes
9. Cooperation
- establishing and then maintaining trust in the team
Case 3: Motivating mentoring
The core objective of the session for a major Swiss client was to enable a group of talents to gain insights and practical ideas on how to develop as mentees within their own specific part of their global organisation. This was an opportunity to practise mentoring techniques to gain understanding of the mentor - mentee relationship across cultures. The seminar was also to act as a platform for this key talent group to establish peer-to-peer mentoring networks which will add value to the organisation’s global activities in the longer term.
Please note that we can also run individual courses or coaching sessions for professionals interested in these topics either in York or on-site at the client’s company.
