During the month of May, the INESC TEC community was able to participate in two training actions dedicated to “Intercultural Communication” and “International Negotiation”. Promoted by the Institute’s International Relations Service, the Intercultural May initiative aimed to support employees in developing skills for intercultural communication.
“As an institution with an international profile, which welcomes employees from more than 30 countries, and features multiple projects with foreign partners, we consider it essential to invest in actions that promote intercultural literacy in the organisation, as it is increasingly crucial to succeed in international negotiation contexts and to attract and retain foreign talent”, stated Andreia Passos. According to the head of the International Relations Service (SRI), if, on the one hand, there is “a community interest in the area of multiculturalism, on the other, there is also a certain lack of knowledge and tools that allow our community to better navigate multicultural environments”.
In this sense, SRI promoted two training actions on “Intercultural Communication” and “International Negotiation”. The first session, by Neil Mason, trainer in the areas of Leadership and Interculturality, aimed at topics like intercultural intelligence, culture, and intercultural agility, with the objective of stimulating the curiosity and interest of the participants, as well as their understanding of the cultural dimension in the different aspects of each one’s professional life.
The second, promoted by Sandrina Antunes, a professor at the University of Minho, targeted employees who usually deal with international negotiations. “In this session, we focused on the analysis of the cultural dimension and how decisive it can be in the success or failure of a negotiation process that involves partners from cultures somehow different from ours”, mentioned Andreia Passos.
As part of the “Intercultural May” initiative, SRI also announced the completion of a Portuguese Language Course for Foreigners. As the head of the service explains, this training stems from the interest shown by foreign employees in learning the language of their host country. “Moreover, we are studying the possibility of promoting informal Portuguese sessions so that those interested, and who do not fit the language level taught in the course, may also have the opportunity to practice”, explained Andreia Passos.
News, current topics, curiosities and so much more about INESC TEC and its community!
