Joint (on-line) Session on Foundation of Leadership among Georgia Tech, USA & LNBTI, Sri Lanka

A Joint (on-line) Session on “Foundation of Leadership among Georgia Tech, USA, Oversea Training for Global Scientists & Engineers (Tokyo Tech) & LNBTI – Sri Lanka” will be held on 31st August as a Briefing Session & on 14th September 2021 as a Discussion Session.

Objectives:

• To be able to understand ways of communication-based on different cultures
• To reflect on your group work for better team-building with people with diverse cultures

Participants

• Around 30-35 students from Georgia Tech (GT), Tokyo Tech (TT), Lanka Nippon Biztech Institute (LI) & Chulalongkorn University (CU)

Schedule and Meeting Account

Briefing session:

• Date: Tuesday, the 31st of August 2021
• Time: 5:30-7:30 am Sri Lanka Time

Discussion Session

• Date: Tuesday, the 14th of September 2021
• Time: 5:30-7:30 am Sri Lanka Time

Activities

1. During the introduction session, students will work in discussion groups on Education and career path in the US, Japan, and Thailand using Miro, the on-line whiteboard, followed by a brief overview of the “Culture Map” activity on the final session. 
2. Participants are requested to conduct a “Culture Map Survey” and bring the result to the discussion session
3. During the final session, students will work in discussion groups understanding different ways of proceeding the group work such as 1) communicating, 2) Leading, 3) Deciding, 4) Disagreeing, 5) Scheduling and so forth based on your previous experiences, and result of “Culture Map Survey”. 
4. Specific activities for the final session are as follows: Group Work under Different Cultures

• Discuss in a team: How can your cultural diversity be an advantage to the group
• Individual: Map Personal | Culture on Eight Scales
• Team: Map Personal to Team Members
• Note where they cluster (similarities) and where there might be some differences
• Discuss the following;
  • Do you think these scales are impacting your team’s collaboration?
  • What can you do to be more effective, given these differences (fault lines)?

5. Through discussion with people with diverse background/thoughts, students will reflect on their learning on

• New perspectives about their education/career paths and
• Different ways of communication style as a next action step.

Assignment

Students are requested to submit an essay including the following content:

1. What are some new insights on educational/career paths that you learned from your group members?
2. What are some pros and cons of working in multicultural team?
3. Identify what works and does not work in multi-cultural teams, along with how to handle common dysfunctions within a team