Building Global Collaboration Across Cultural Lines for a Creative Visual Effects Company

A creative visual effects company with offices in Toronto, Bogota, Saguenay, and Mumbai is known for delivering high-quality visual effects for world-class filmmakers. The company fosters a work environment that thrives on creativity, passion, expertise, and collaboration. As a global organisation, its teams of artists, supervisors, and managers frequently operate across cultural boundaries.

As the company expanded its global operations, the Mumbai team identified a need to enhance collaboration and performance across cultural lines. While the headquarters in Canada set the operational tone, local managers in India and other offices required tools to navigate and adapt to diverse cultural expectations. Key challenges included:

1. Communication Styles

Varied preferences for directness, tone, and style in communication across regions.

2. Relationship Building

Diverse approaches to trust and rapport, influenced by different cultural norms.

3. Conflict and Feedback

Inconsistent feedback delivery methods and conflict resolution styles created tension.

4. Cultural Awareness

A general lack of awareness about how cultural differences affect daily interactions.

5. Cross-Cultural Team Effectiveness

Differences in leadership, risk tolerance, and collaboration styles limited team cohesion.

• Over 30 years’ experience in global cultural awareness training
• Expertise in managing multicultural teams and cross-border collaboration
• Tailored, practical learning programs grounded in business reality
• Strong client portfolio including ZoomInfo, AXA GOBO, Societe Generale, Aujas Cybersecurity

Global Business Culture delivered a cultural awareness training workshop designed to help participants work effectively in a global environment. The session was designed for the company’s executive and supervisory staff, with an emphasis on comparing and understanding diverse cultural behaviours in the workplace.

Phase 1: Cultural Foundations

• Icebreaker and session objective-setting
• Defining culture and how it’s acquired
• Understanding visible vs invisible elements of culture

Phase 2: Business Impact of Culture

• Influence of culture on leadership, feedback, communication, and change management
• Overview of how culture affects client and team relationships

Phase 3: Comparing Cultures

• Application of cultural dimensions to compare team dynamics across different regions
• Insights into how expectations differ across cultural groups

Phase 4: Real-World Application

• Group case study exercises to identify challenges and propose culturally appropriate solutions
• Best practices shared by the facilitator for working across cultures
• Final Q&A and key takeaways

• Deeper understanding of cultural nuances that impact day-to-day operations.
• Increased awareness of best practices to follow while handling projects for different offices, variations in sense of urgency, risk management, communication patterns etc.
• Reduction in misunderstanding and friction often caused by mindset differences across offices.