This image of the Life Cycle Model depicts some of its main elements. It shows the five stages that typically occur in the life cycle of an international project, and it illustrates how intercultural competence is at the core of the whole process. To hear Stuart talk about the five stages listen to the audio clip:

 

Each of the five project stages has five associated activities (not shown in the visual) – key tasks to help people manage that stage of the project more effectively. The activities suggest what intercultural strategies you might want to prioritise for that particular project stage.

 

Associated with the activities, there are more detailed intercultural competencies: these highlight the personal skills and attributes needed to be successful in working across cultures.

 

The learning process signals the need for attention to learning – individual, team and organisational – which underpins the development of competence and effectiveness

 

The spiral form of the visual model represents the potential improvement in performance achieved through continuous learning, development of competence and more effective implementation of activities.