Module 7

Conflict, repair and inclusive teams: when it goes wrong, and how to build a team where it goes right

However careful you are, something will go wrong. A message will be read as rude. A deadline will be missed because of a calendar you did not check. A joke will fall flat, or hurt. A colleague will go quiet and you will not know why. What matters most in cross-cultural work is not never making a mistake but how quickly you notice, how well you repair and what you learn. This module covers what to do when it goes wrong: how to notice a misunderstanding early, how to disagree and give feedback in ways that can be heard across styles, how to apologise and save face, how to repair trust and when to escalate. It then turns to the positive side: building a team in which people of different backgrounds can do their best work, spotting bias and microaggressions, and drawing up a personal plan to keep learning. Everything here applies equally to colleagues of different backgrounds within one country and organisation. All the people are invented.

General education on communicating across cultures, using invented people, companies and places. It is not legal advice and does not describe any nation or group as a whole. Rules on bribery, privilege, confidentiality, data protection and professional conduct differ between countries and change: check the rules that apply to you.