Managing friction and performance.
Training for experienced managers of multicultural teams. Six one-to-one sessions on trust, conflict, decisions, performance, influence and remote teams — plus an applied project on a real friction point in your team.
The BASIS Leadership Programme
- 1Level 1 · FoundationLeading across difference
- 2Level 2 · PractitionerYou are hereManaging friction and performance
- 3Level 3 · StrategicCulture as a leadership asset
Who Level 2 is for: experienced managers of multicultural teams
Experienced managers of mixed teams
You’ve led a team for a few years, and the cultural friction hasn’t gone away.
Heads of department across sites
Your team spans offices, countries or markets, and the gaps between them are growing.
Managers of hybrid and remote teams
Your in-office and remote colleagues are drifting into separate groups.
Managers after a reorganisation
A restructure or merger has brought together people who worked very differently.
Situations managers bring to Level 2
- “Trust between our two sites has broken down, and every issue escalates to me.”
- “Conflict never comes into the open. It just shows up as delays.”
- “We make a decision, and two weeks later it’s being reopened.”
- “Recognition that motivates one person embarrasses another.”
- “Our remote colleagues have become a separate team.”
- “We’re stuck between following the process and adapting it.”
Anything you share about your team stays confidential.
What managers of multicultural teams learn in Level 2
The six training sessions
Trust that holds
- The problem
- People don’t trust each other, and nobody says why.
- What you leave with
- A trust plan for each key relationship. Background reading: The Trust Asymmetry Field Guide
- Try it this week
- Take one task-trust and one relationship-trust action.
Disagreement and conflict
- The problem
- Conflict either explodes or goes underground.
- What you leave with
- A conflict map and a de-escalation script
- Try it this week
- Map one live tension and have the first conversation.
Decisions and buy-in
- The problem
- Decisions get reopened, or people feel steamrolled.
- What you leave with
- A decision rule card and a staged process for big decisions
- Try it this week
- Announce the decision rule before the next team decision.
Performance, motivation and development
- The problem
- Praise that motivates one person embarrasses another, underperformance gets avoided, and good people leave because nobody talks about their future.
- What you leave with
- A motivation profile for each person, an underperformance conversation plan and a career conversation guide
- Try it this week
- Hold one career conversation, or the underperformance conversation you’ve been putting off.
Influencing across and upwards
- The problem
- You need support from people you don’t manage: your boss, peers, other departments.
- What you leave with
- A stakeholder map and an influence plan for one key person
- Try it this week
- Have the first conversation from your influence plan.
Leading at a distance and team wellbeing
- The problem
- Hybrid teams split into in-groups, and overload goes unseen, especially in remote team members.
- What you leave with
- A dispersed team charter (channels, response times, overlap hours) plus a workload and wellbeing check-in
- Try it this week
- Agree channel and response norms, and use the wellbeing check-in in your next one-to-ones.
Your applied project
Pick one real friction point in your team at session 1. Work it through the dilemma canvas across the level: describe the situation, surface the assumptions on each side, generate both/and options, then pick one and test it. Report before, action and result at session 6, with your BTQ Team Pulse results if your team takes part.
Format and price
Between sessions: you can reach Brendan on Microsoft Teams with questions as they come up, so you’re not waiting for the next session when something happens with your team.
Level 2 FAQs: managing multicultural teams
Anything else? Ask on a free discovery call.
Book a discovery callDo I need to complete Level 1 first?
No. Each level stands alone. We agree the right starting point on a free discovery call.
What is the applied project?
At session 1 you choose one real friction point in your team. You work it through the dilemma canvas across the level, and at session 6 you report what changed.
Can we work on a specific conflict in my team?
Yes. Most participants choose a live issue for their applied project. Everything you share about your team stays confidential.
Is this team coaching?
No. The sessions are one-to-one with you. You then use the tools with your team between sessions, and bring back what happened.
How long does Level 2 take?
Six 90-minute sessions over about 10–12 weeks, online, in Barcelona or as an intensive week at your office.
Start with a conversation
A 30-minute discovery call to talk about your team and check Level 2 is the right fit.