[Jonathan]

One of the key challenges I encountered during a recent integration project was ensuring that governance meetings, especially with Workstream Leaders, remained the “smartest place” for integration work. As mentioned in one of the courses, these meetings shouldn’t be about reading reports but about challenging issues, dependencies, and collectively solving problems.
However, I noticed that in our biweekly meetings with WSLs, the discussions sometimes felt dull or unproductive. A major reason for this was the disparity in language proficiency across the team. With participants from different countries, not all of them fluent in English, diving deeply into complex issues became challenging. Ideas were lost in translation, misunderstandings arose, and participants hesitated to contribute due to language barriers or lack of confidence.
This experience made me wonder:
• How could i design governance rhythms and rituals that are inclusive and effective in international environments where not everyone is a native speaker?
• What best practices have you adopted to prepare participants, particularly when language levels are disparate?
• How can meetings be structured to ensure all voices are heard and key issues are addressed without getting lost in communication challenges?

[Author]

Posts