WS7 |
OT2004 Session Mind the culture gap! | |
Getting to grips with working and communicating in a diverse cultural environmentMonday March, 13:45 | ||
workshop - 150 minutes | ||
Alia Cooper | ||
Session results | When available, can be found at MindTheCultureGapSessionResults?? | |
Abstract | The IT landscape is changing, with offshore, multi-site and distributed development environments becoming more common, 75% of all IT companies will be doing some in 2003 (Gartner).
Offshore outsourcing, primarily in 'less developed' countries offers a cost saving of 40-60% (Software Productivity Center ltd). Whether you agree with these proposed levels of savings or not, many companies are looking hard at moving some, or all of their IT capability to Offshore facilities. There are, as anyone who has worked in this environment will testify, substantial implications for software development as a 'co-operative game of invention & communication' . Not only do our lines of communication become 'thinner', but we also have to work with people who have a different business culture and language to ourselves. The purpose of this session is to explore how easily our preconceptions and cultural beliefs can become constraints to effective inter-cultural teamwork. You will be asked to challenge your own ideas of what is 'normal' and 'right' and consider them from another perspective. Through interaction and past experience, as a group, we will identify the areas where misunderstandings most commonly arise and discuss how theoretical approaches can be applied to overcome our own limiting belief systems. We all aim to practice 'good communication' , we might need to be prepared to adapt what we think 'good' is. | |
Audience | Anyone who might one day work with colleagues or consultants who work in a different culture to their own. | |
Benefits | - Raise awareness of own cultural expectations as a constraint on effective communication - Raise awareness about own preconceptions of other cultures - Understand how and why inter-cultural team work is difficult - Identify & share ways to make it easier
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Materials | Guiding presentation of concepts for discussion Game for participants to play | |
Alia Cooperindependent |
I am currently working for Schroders Investment Management as a change manager. I manage a Business Process Improvement project in the Marketing Department, working with business people located in the UK, North America and Asia.
I have worked in IT since 1997, primarily as a Business Analyst using OO techniques. More recently I have helped to design a software development process at Tesco, influenced by the principles laid out in the Agile Manifesto.
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Helen SharpThe Open University | Helen Sharp is Professor of Software Engineering at The Open University. She has been investigating the human and social aspects of software practice for over 15 years. She is currently focusing on agile software development and its relationship with user-centred design, globally-distributed teams and cultural influence. | |