http://www.theiia.org/intAuditor/ask-the-experts/2012/heightening-cultural-awareness/ Blogen-us Tue, 09 Oct 2012 01:32:01 PMTue, 09 Oct 2012 01:32:01 PM http://www.theiia.org/intAuditor/ask-the-experts/2012/heightening-cultural-awareness/2012-10-04Hi. Like Bob, I also work for a manufacturing company with a global footprint. Two key things that help me get cooperation and respect from my international colleagues is to look up the cultural etiquette of the country I am visiting (http://www.ediplomat.com/np/cultural_etiquette/cultural_etiquette.htm) and to try to learn some of the courtesy words and numbers in the native language. When interacting with my colleagues in English, I speak a little slower and annunciate my words more to help make myself understandable. Also, being calm and not acting frantic goes a long way. http://www.theiia.org/intAuditor/ask-the-experts/2012/heightening-cultural-awareness/2012-02-14I tool I've found useful in building understanding on culturally diverse tols is Globesmart. I've found it useful to have the individual team members profile themselves and then share the results with the team and discuss it. I've also found it useful to review the profiles for diffrent countries and have open discussions as to what that means in the day to day matters such as how you should communicate (e.g., email vs phone vs face-to-face), who you should involve in conversations, tone that should be used in messages and the like. Not everyone has access to Globesmart, but there's lot of free information on the internet that can accomplish the same. Another approach I've found useful is having team cultural discussions over lunch. You pick a scenario and asks different team members how they would handle it within their culture and why. This often opens up perspectives in ways that reading about it just can't. Good luck. http://www.theiia.org/intAuditor/ask-the-experts/2012/heightening-cultural-awareness/2012-02-02I believe in being careful of cultural aspects, the way we ask questions in a foreign company. The auditor's rol is delicate and much more if we are auditing people from a different culture.