Start a conversation ↗

Description

Working Across Cultures: Decoding, Communicating and Collaborating Remotely

Collaborate with counterparts from other countries without attributing every difficulty to a cultural misunderstanding

  • 2 days — 14 h
  • In-person or virtual
  • Foundation
  • Up to 6 participants

Working with colleagues, clients or suppliers from other countries multiplies the opportunities for misunderstanding: silence taken as agreement, a commitment that never materialises, feedback perceived as blunt or, conversely, as impossible to interpret. These incidents slow projects down and erode trust, often without anyone daring to name them.

Over two days, this programme provides reference points for reading differences in ways of working and adapting how you communicate, decide and follow up on commitments. It avoids lists of national traits: it starts from real workplace situations brought by participants and addresses remote working specifically.

Learning objectives

  • Identify the cultural dimensions that influence professional communication
  • Analyse a collaboration incident by distinguishing cultural causes from organisational causes
  • Adapt written and spoken communication to counterparts from different cultures
  • Lead a remote meeting bringing together participants from several countries
  • Formalise commitments to secure follow-up on international projects

What makes this programme different

The situations examined are brought by participants and analysed collectively
A framework for reading differences is applied without reducing people to their nationality
The programme specifically addresses remote meetings and written exchanges

Programme

1Reference Points for Reading Differences

Observing ways of working rather than stereotypes

  • Attitudes to time
  • hierarchy and rules
  • Explicit and implicit communication
  • Expressing disagreement and the place of conflict
  • Limits of national typologies and the weight of the corporate context

2Day-to-Day Communication

Being understood without diluting the message

  • Adapting register and level of explicitness
  • Business writing and the risk of misinterpretation
  • Using a common language and varying levels of fluency between counterparts
  • Checking understanding and reformulating

3Collaborating Remotely

Holding the team together without physical presence

  • Preparing and leading a remote multicultural meeting
  • Speaking turns
  • round-table contributions and managing silences
  • Time zones and fair treatment of participants
  • Written follow-up of decisions and commitments made

4Incidents and Building Trust

Repairing quickly and setting shared ground rules

  • Step-by-step analysis of a critical incident
  • Expressing disagreement or criticism in an acceptable way
  • Attitudes to commitment and negotiation across contexts
  • Ground rules to define within an international team

Who is it for

Professionals working with international teams or partners · international project managers · export sales professionals · managers of multicultural teams.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites

Dates & locations

36 scheduled dates between November 2026 and December 2027. Seats are confirmed in the order enquiries are received.

November 2026

December 2026

January 2027

February 2027

March 2027

April 2027

May 2027

June 2027

September 2027

October 2027

November 2027

December 2027

None of these dates suit you? We open additional sessions on request, and any programme can be run privately for your team.

Practical details

Before the programme
Online positioning questionnaire. Your development objectives are shared with the trainer, who tailors the practical case studies to your context.
Teaching methods
Theoretical input, workshops and practical case studies. Digital course materials and method sheets provided.
Assessment
Multiple-choice tests and role-play exercises. Assessment of learning at the start and end of the programme, with immediate and 60-day follow-up evaluations.
After the programme
One year of access to the e-learning platform. Self-assessment of the skills acquired and a 30-day follow-up session with your trainer.
How to register
Registration online or on the basis of a quotation.
Lead time
11 working days after confirmation of registration.
Accessibility
Accessible to people of determination. Contact our accessibility coordinator to design a suitable solution: contact@mpf-academy.ae
Start dates
Rolling intake: in addition to the scheduled sessions, this programme can start on request.