Week 9 Practice 1-2 (1)

1.

Department of General Education
Disciplines
Professional English
Topic: Collaboration in a multicultural environment
(Communicating effectively, managing conflict )
Week 9. Practice 1-2
Term 1, 2024-2025

2.

Objectives:
• to understand differences in
communication styles across
cultures
• to learn phrases which help to
manage conversations more
effectively
• to understand why conflict
happens
• to learn ways to avoid potential
conflicts

3.

Warm up
• Geert Hofstede: “Culture is more
often a source of conflict than of
synergy. Cultural differences are a
nuisance at best and often a
disaster».
• Do you agree with this saying?
• How do you think cultural differences can
affect international business?
• What positive and negative impacts can
they have on business/work?

4.

Activity 1. Read the descriptions of three different
communication styles and match each style to one of
the diagrams.
A Speakers give their opinions briefly with just a little
information – this is seen as more modest and less dominant.
There is lots of silence to allow people time to think. People
are not direct when giving an opinion. Not so much time is taken
to clarify what was said. Professionals are expected to
understand the first time.
B People can give opinions in a very emotional way. They may move
around many subjects and talk so much that the only way to stop
them is to interrupt them, and this is acceptable. People speak
as others are speaking. If you don’t interrupt, you never get a
chance to speak. Little time is allowed for clarification.
C In discussions people speak for a long time when giving an
Which style
opinion and can be powerful and direct.
It is
is closest
seen toas
style
in your
professional to be analytical, to give allthethe
facts
and culture?
to have
do you thinkYou
is wait
the
a strong opinion. Interruption is perceivedWhich
as impolite.
most effective?
until it is your turn to speak.

5.

Activity 2. Listen to three colleagues
exchanging opinions over lunch. Answer the
questions.
1. Which proposal is discussed?
2. Summarize the opinions of the three
colleagues to the proposal.
Jari:____________________
Mary:___________________
Sue:____________________
https://www.istockphoto.com/illustrations/pe
e

6.

Activity 3. Listen
again.
1. What questions does Jari ask to help the
conversation flow?
2. Which two handover questions does Marie use?
3. Sue does not want to appear direct or
arrogant. Which phrases does she use to
communicate her opinions less forcefully?
https://www.istockphoto.com/illustrations/peopl
e

7.

Activity 4. Discussion
“For me anyhow, conflict is when something gets
me angry, and I don’t really know what to do.
Conflict always involves emotions”
1. How far do you agree with the statement above?
2. What do you think are the typical causes of
conflict at work? In pairs, make a list of
potential sources of conflict.
https://www.istockphoto.com/illustrations/peopl
e

8.

Activity 5.
Listen to Dani describing his
experience of working with international leaders
in situations which have involved conflict.
1. In what specific situation does Dani see a lot
of conflict?
2. In what way do managers replicate the mistakes
of top managers in the way they communicate
with their teams?
3. Dani gives an example of a two-day meeting.
What was the issue the management were trying
to resolve?
4. What did the management offer? What did the
staff really want?
5. What is the reason for managers not
communicating better with staff?
6. What is the reason for managers not involving

9.

avoiding potential conflict. It works by first
anticipating
possible
conflicts,
then
identifying the different points of view of the
people involved, and finally recommending a
solution
which
can
prevent
conflict
from
A-I-R
Situation
happening.
Anticipate
Jane and Sam might have
• Jane has just joined
possible
problems working together.
conflicts
They may disagree about the
the project team and
best way to solve project
has to work with Sam
problems
over the next few
Identify
The working styles are very
potential
different. Jane is very
weeks. They have very
sources of
detailed and likes to take
different working
conflict
decisions carefully, whereas
Sam likes to think quickly
styles but must work
and work independently
closely together to
The project leader should
solve some big project Recommend
a way to
have a meeting with both of
problems in the near
avoid
them to discuss differences
conflict
in their working styles and
future.
encourage them to agree and

10.

Activity 6.Work in pairs or small groups.
Discuss how the three-step A-I-R method could be
applied to the following three situations.
Present your ideas.
Situation 1. Alison, an assistant in an accounts
department, has to inform Janek, a senior sales
manager, by email of overdue payments, which
Janek then has to follow up directly with
customers. Janek’s first step is to email
customers to remind them of the unpaid invoice,
but he does not normally copy Alison in on these
emails. Alison asks Janek by email to copy these
emails to her so she is informed of what is
happening.

11.

Activity 6 Cont’d. Work in pairs or small
groups. Discuss how the three-step A-I-R method
could
be
applied
to
the
following
three
situations.
Present
ideas. offering
Situation 2.
Paul isyour
considering
Claudia the opportunity to work in the New York
office on a special project. She’s the best
qualified persona and someone he can rely on
totally to do the job. In addition, the
secondment will enable her to learn about new
parts of the business and allow her to learn
English, which she struggles with at present.
Paul has already spoken to a colleague in New
York who has agreed that Claudia’s profile
sounds perfect for the job. Paul is planning to
send an email to Claudia to inform her of the
job opportunity and invite her to a conference
call with his US colleague to discuss how to
move forward on this.

12.

Activity 6 Cont’d. Work in pairs or small
groups. Discuss how the three-step A-I-R method
could
be
applied
to
the
following
three
situations. Present your ideas.
Situation 3. Jenny Capri, head of sales in a
medium-sized company, has been told to reduce
costs by her board of directors. She decides to
instruct her sales team that all foreign travel
to customers has to be authorized by her
personally over the next six months.
Historically, sales staff have been responsible
for their own travel budget and are free to
decide when they should travel and who they
should visit within a fixed budget agreed at the
beginning of the year.

13.

Activity
7.
Individuals and teams can handle conflict
across cultures in different ways. In the following extracts,
five different people talk about conflict in their working
contexts. Complete each extract with what you think they will
say about how conflict is handled.
1. The company where I work has a pretty male culture –
lots of testosterone around. This means there’s a lot of
aggression around the place and, to be honest, the best
way to handle conflict is to_______________.
2. This organization has one strong value and that is
‘respect’. So, if conflicts do arise, people are pretty
quick to sit down and start talking and listening to
each other. The basic approach is to understand the
other person and try to_________.
3. People tend to avoid conflict so as not to confront or
disrespect people, so what I find working here is the
tendency to_______.
4. I don’t have the time to pend arguing when I know I’m
right. And because it’s a pretty hierarchical
environment, the quickest solution to manage
disagreement is to____________.
5. I quite like conflict. I think it is a way to surface

14.

Activity 8. Listen to what the
actually said. Answer the questions.
five
people
What do you think of the strategies?
How effective are these strategies?
What advice would you give the five people?

15.

Reading.
Managing
Multicultural Teams.
Part 2.

16.

Pre-reading
Kahoot Quiz on the
Vocabulary
(Week 8. Text
“Managing
multicultural teams”.
Part 1)
https://create.kahoot
.it/details/e898a7e81571-42e5-a22b8c70c7462748

17.

Activity 10. Pre-reading. Match the words on the
left with their corresponding definitions on the
right.
friction
confront
stalemate
a road show
intervene
free rider
deliberate
a series of promotional
events
a situation in which progress
is impossible
conflict or tension
done consciously and
intentionally
face up to and deal with a
problem or difficult
situation
intercede
a person who benefits from
something without expending

18.

Activity 11. While-reading. Which of the four
strategies for dealing with challenges in
multicultural teams is described?
1. This strategy is most effective when there are
obvious subgroups within the team.
2. This strategy is most effective when the team
has reached a stalemate.
3. This strategy is most effective when team
members
acknowledge
and
address
cultural
differences directly.
4. This strategy is used when emotions are too
heightened, and no other strategies have worked.
5. This strategy requires the manager to make
decisions independently, without any input from
the team.
6. This strategy requires the least amount of
managerial time compared to other strategies.
Structura
l
intervent
Manageria
ion
l
intervent
Adaptatio
ion
n
Exit
Manageria
l
intervent
Adaptatio
ion
n
Structura
l

19.

Activity 12. Post-reading.
1 Work in groups of 4.
2 Choose a specific strategy discussed in the
text and prepare two questions for discussion.
3 Take turns asking your prepared questions to
each other within your group.

20.

Hometask
• Learn the vocabulary of the text
• Write a paragraph reflecting on the strategies
of working in multicultural teams. Consider the
following questions in your reflection:
• Which strategy do you think you would be most
comfortable using as a team leader? Why?
• What have you learned from the text that you
can apply to your own experiences working in
teams?