The client
The client is a European insurance and pension services provider with operations across multiple countries. Its IT function spans Ireland, Belgium, and Germany, working closely with a strategic partner team in India. Operating across such diverse geographies, the company recognized that cultural differences were impacting day-to-day project planning, communication, and collaboration.
The challenge
While collaboration with India-based colleagues was central to the company’s strategy, leaders identified recurring challenges in communication, task execution, and team alignment. Employees often lacked awareness of how cultural differences influenced leadership styles, feedback practices, and decision-making. The result was avoidable friction in project delivery and a risk of misalignment on strategic initiatives.
The organization recognized that greater cultural awareness would enable its European teams to work more effectively with their India-based counterparts, driving improvements in project planning, execution, and long-term collaboration.
Why Global Business Culture?
The client engaged Global Business Culture because of our proven track record in supporting European businesses with India-related collaboration. With more than 30 years of experience in cross-cultural integration, Global Business Culture was uniquely positioned to design a program that combined cultural insight with practical strategies tailored to the client’s needs.
The workshops were led by Navkaran Singh, a UK-based intercultural management consultant with over 15 years of experience bridging European and Indian business cultures. His background in managing complex offshoring projects ensured the sessions were both credible and practical.
What we did
We designed a two-phase virtual workshop series to build awareness and apply culturally sensitive practices directly to the client’s projects:
- Phase 1: Cultural Awareness
A two-hour interactive session introduced the concept of culture, explored India’s business practices, and examined how cultural differences affect communication, leadership, and teamwork. Participants reflected on their own challenges and gained frameworks to better interpret and respond to cross-cultural dynamics. - Phase 2: Cultural Application
Conducted after a short interval to allow real-world observation, the second two-hour workshop focused on applying learning to practical challenges. Through case studies and group exercises, participants developed actionable solutions to improve collaboration with their India-based colleagues and establish best practices for ongoing teamwork.
Workshops were limited to 20 participants to maximize engagement and included pre-course questionnaires to tailor content to the specific needs of the teams.
The results
The program delivered immediate and long-term benefits:
- Stronger cultural awareness among European IT teams, enabling them to collaborate more effectively with India-based colleagues.
- Practical solutions for managing communication, feedback, and project alignment across cultural boundaries.
- Improved trust and collaboration, reducing misunderstandings and fostering a more inclusive working environment.
- Actionable best practices embedded into daily project management processes, ensuring sustainable impact beyond the workshops.
