How Do You Rate Your Intercultural Skills? Take this Questionnaire!

In a globally connected world, it’s not unusual to have intercultural encounters, while organisations are bound to have an increasingly diverse workforce.

Diversity brings its blessings: flexibility in thinking, a dynamic mix of minds, an atmosphere of learning… but it also brings challenges, like miscommunication or different approaches to structures and ways of perceiving/doing.

If you live or work in an international environment, you probably know what we mean! Negotiating, and flourishing in, this kind of environment requires a high level of intercultural awareness…

How interculturally competent are you?

This handy tool from the Council of Europe, a joint initiative from the Intercultural Cities Programme and the Pestalozzi Programme, is one way to find out! It offers a set of questions to reflect on – alone, with your peers or colleagues, or even within your intercultural relationship.

The questionnaire comes in 19 languages and we encourage you to come back to it regularly. It takes about 20 to 30 minutes minutes to answer, and is based on the three main (and interconnected) components of intercultural competence: attitudes, skills and knowledge.

I’ve done it several times and it’s fascinating to see how my answers evolve over time.

To get the most out of the questions:

  • It might help to think back to situations you’ve been in – perhaps when you were surrounded by people from different regional, linguistic or religious backgrounds or with a different socio-cultural or socio-economic status.
  • Try to recall how you felt, what you knew and what you did in the situation.
  • When you’re done, spend some time reflecting on the steps you could take to help your intercultural development.

 

Use this tool as an opportunity to gain insight. Because it’s through understanding ourselves and our perceptions that we can grow and move forward as individuals and global citizens…

 

[Please note that the updated tool no longer includes a scoring system.]

Did you enjoy the questionnaire? Were you surprised by your answers? We’d love to hear your thoughts!

If you like this article, subscribe to our newsletter and share the questionnaire with your colleagues and friends – because insights like these often lead to inspiration and action!

Photo: OpenClipart-Vectors / Pixabay