Workshop Overview
Cross-Cultural Collaboration
The purpose of the workshop is to equip participants with the mindset, skills, and shared understanding to collaborate more effectively across cultures, leveraging diversity to create value.
Workshop Objectives
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Identify cultural and behavioural dynamics that enable or hinder collaboration
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Develop personal and team-level action plans for more effective, value-creating collaboration aligned to strategy
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Build awareness of cultural differences and collaboration styles
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Explore the principles and benefits of Smart Collaboration
Session 1
Harnessing Collaboration Across Cultures
Key Activities & Themes:
Check-In & Icebreaker: Introduction and “Cultural Bingo” activity to foster connection and illustrate cultural diversity.
Concepts & Insights: Storytelling and presentations on the key dimensions of cultural differences to set the context for collaboration.
Smart Collaboration Principles: Research and discussion on why collaboration creates value and where opportunities exist within the team/firm.
7 Dimensions of Collaboration: Participants learn and reflect on the seven behavioural dimensions that influence collaboration.
Experiential Learning: “Line-up” exercise to physically and mentally explore opposing collaboration styles (e.g., approach to risk taking) and their complementary value.
Self-Reflection: Participants begin to reflect on their individual Smart Collaboration profiles and identify personal strengths and development areas.
Outcomes
Participants understand the business case and behavioural foundation of Smart Collaboration.
Participants can articulate their own and others’ collaboration tendencies and how these impact teamwork.
Session 2
How We Work Together
Key Activities & Themes:
Group Profile Reflection: Teams review their collective Smart Collaboration profiles, identifying dominant styles, cultural influences, strengths, and risks.
Strategic Context: Small-group discussions on where more value-creating collaboration is needed, what hinders it, and how to overcome barriers.
Team Building: Plenary sharing of insights, with emphasis on cross-cultural dynamics and implications.
Action Planning: Teams and individuals identify concrete actions to start, stop, continue, and create in order to embed Smart Collaboration in their work.
Outcomes
Teams and individuals have clarity on where and how to collaborate more effectively
Participants commit to specific, actionable next steps aligned with organisational goals.
Our Methodology & Style
This workshop blends evidence-based frameworks, experiential learning, group/individual reflection, and action planning. Key concepts are brought to life using real world examples from the facilitation team and from the participants in the room and the group is guided to ground their insights in live business challenges – helping them to see specific actions they can take to enhance their impact and unlock commercial value.
The following workshop can be customised for different contexts and for custom or open programs
Facilitator
Vera Ou-Young
Vera Ou-Young is an internationally recognised leader in Asian business, with C-suite experience across diverse industries, including energy resources, financial services, health, telecommunications, consumer goods, and property.
Fluent in seven languages and deeply attuned to the economic and cultural dynamics of both regions, Vera excels at navigating complex cross-border business initiatives. She is trusted by businesses, family offices, and governments to guide strategic partnerships, mitigate risks, and drive sustainable growth across Southeast Asia, China, and Australia.
Testimonials for the workshop
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“Collaborating with Vera Ou-Young on the Smart Collaboration Accelerator initiative has been a truly transformative journey for our team. Vera’s deep understanding in cross-cultural collaboration dynamics and her skilful facilitation enabled us to uncover meaningful insights into our working styles and team interactions. Her ability to tailor the tool to our culturally diverse and regionally distributed group made the experience both engaging and highly relevant. Thanks to Vera, we are now better equipped to collaborate effectively.”
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“The session is extremely helpful. It gave me some insights about myself which I was not even aware of. Knowing all these about myself and others, it helps me to strategically plan my communication with others to achieve my objectives”.
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