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Below are some suggestions on how to develop international relationships. They have been written by members of the International Relations Sub-Committee, who have had experience and success in develop relationships internationally.
My routine work involves the following:
- Responding to requests from overseas people to re-sell my company's products.
- Regular enquiries from people abroad who want training in test use.
- Enquiries from people overseas who want to register to use my company's products.
- Attending overseas client events and conferences.
Any and all of the above builds a network of contacts around the world over time. Foreign language capability, or even an indication of willingness to try, helps considerably. Once established, regular communication is required to foster and sustain a long term relationship. In other words there needs to be a genuine reason to stay in touch.
My overseas networking is opportunistic and usually reactive. My efforts at proactive relationship creating in the business sphere have been less successful than my reactive ones.
Colin Selby
Establishing and sustaining contacts with international peers provides an extremely important reference point and sense of perspective for psychologists. The same issues are addressed in different ways in different countries because of cultural and legislative differences - but there are also global issues that affect us all. I have a long-term professional relationship with an American psychologist and we exchange ideas on organisations, culture and trends in the profession. We communicate by email and meet face to face where possible, and I have found this very helpful. Personal relationships are the basis for improved international understanding so I fully support the international exchange initiative.
Richard Plenty
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