Enhance Intercultural Competences: Important Things to Work Effectively in A Multicultural Organization

Intercultural competence is an ability to adapt to basic work, social and cultural dimensions in a new context has been shown to influence performances in oversea tasks (Kraimer et al., 2001; Harrison & Shaffer, 2005). 

Intercultural competence and cultural sensibility is not something that can be learned overnight. With professional psychological tools and executive coaching it is possible to develop and strengthen the potentiality to become a successful international executive on the global scene.

Here are some suggestions for you to improve your intercultural competences: 

The first way is open-minded. If you do not allow yourself to be open to others’ point of view, it is difficult to understand their perspective. No matter what your cultures or beliefs are, you should appreciate others' differences in opinion and behavior (Charlotte, 2018).

The second way to enhance intercultural competences is self-reflection about own cultures and value. Cultural diversity is beneficial because it can provides a lot of knowledge that we can all use to better understand one another. Along with gaining a lot from being immersed in another culture, keep in mind that both you and your collegues from different countries can learn from sharing information about your own culture. You can even conduct conversation to share about different cultural perspectives with your co-workers in the correct kinds of situations. This conversation might be an excellent approach to begin thinking about world issues in a way you have never thought about them before. You might leave the conversation with a viewpoint that is entirely different from the one you in with (Uehlinger, 2021).

Do not afraid to apologize is also the best way to improve your intercultural competences. It is normal for you to unintentionally say or act that makes the other person feel disrespected for their culture or beliefs. At those times, do not be shy to admit your mistake and apologize. Like “thank you”, an apology also carries many important meanings. Through apologizing, a person can show remorse and politeness at the same time. The act of admitting a mistake is not always easy, but if you do it, you can quickly reunite with your colleagues as well as restore your honor and quality who has just made a mistake. If you are willing to admit mistakes, the other person can more easily accept and forgive. This contributes to re establishing relationships, minimizing damage as much as possible. Finally, an apology increases accountability, builds confidence, and avoids unnecessary conflict.