International Training
I had an experience last week of running a training course in Greece and I was reminded once more on the varied expectations and behaviours of different nationalities. There was a variety of nationalities in attendance – predominantly Greek but also Bulgarian and Romanian.
The big difference in this kind of audience was the constant conversation going on during the training. You don’t normally get this in the UK and it took me a little while to get used to it. However I soon realised they were actually translating and explaining things to each other, rather than discussing the previous night’s football! Different people work and understand at different rates but this was even more pronounced in an international group where English is not the first language. It becomes really important in such groups to pace them rather than trying to lead.
They were MBA students and so keen to learn but also very tired after an exam and early morning travel. I gave them plenty of breaks but also concentrated the material in a shorter time span than I had planned as I realised what a long day they had already had.
Interesting. I have been doing some work in South Asia in recent months. One thing I noticed was the reluctance of the people attending the course to ask questions.
Even after a presentation they would sit there and wait for the trainer. I found that it was useful to point at one person and ask for their opinion or views.
Latterly, I found one or two people who were primed to ask the first question. Once one person had done so then the flood gates would open.