A cultural awareness training programme for 200 frontline service staff at Portsmouth University (security guards, domestic assistants, porters, caterers and housing officers). The aim of the think-shop© was to unpick the misunderstandings that may arise between people of different cultures. It encouraged staff to reflect on their own cultural values and to think how these values may impact on their interactions with international students and their responses to these students. We used examples that were relevant to their workplace and methods that were informal, interactive and avoided large amounts of reading and writing.

A 2-hour session at Refugee Action’s national volunteer conference aimed at supporting volunteers to be able to communicate more effectively across cultures. Groups were given scenarios, adapted for different Refugee Action volunteering programmes, to discuss. Potential issues, reasons for differences in communication and strategies for working with those differences were elicited.

A cultural briefing for Environment Agency staff to help them to adapt to live and work in a different cultural context to their own. This informal one-on-one session enabled staff to discuss the challenges they faced in working across cultures with a thinkingpeople trainer and supported them to explore why these challenges may have arisen. As a key part of the session delegates were encouraged to consider how they may adapt their own behaviour to build better working relationships.