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If you work in high-tech or pharma and collaborate with co-workers, customers, suppliers or partners located in other countries, there’s an increasing likelihood that your company will offer you some form of training to help you master cross-cultural or virtual work challenges.

Beyond those two fields, however, it’s hit-and-miss, according to top cultural trainers. Without the insights of cross-cultural training, many American managers - who often lack international travel or global business experience - face a heightened risk of project failure.

The return on investment in training global workers isn’t always evident to senior management, many of whom have never played a globally collaborative role in the organization. “What I have learned is that it’s extremely difficult to [initiate] formal training,” says Natasha Crundwell, President of People Going Global, a Washington-D.C. cultural consulting firm. “In many cases executives may not see the need for structured training.”

Yet, companies that hire third-party trainers typically approve group classes that last just one half day up to two days at most. Is some training better than none at all? Absolutely - I went through Berlitz training shortly before assuming a cross-cultural editorial management role in the fall of 2005. I came out of it with a better understanding of Indian culture, which improved my ability to absorb other information later. However, I felt eight hours was just scratching the surface.

“I would love two days of building and bonding and making it work but we’re not given that,” concedes Lu Ellen Schafer, president of Global Savvy in Palo Alto, Calif. She says the key takeaway, after eight hours, is this: “Most important is to get over the hump of not being able to communicate across cross-cultural or distance barriers. Once you get over that barrier than you can figure things out with international colleagues. ”

The training sessions are typically jam-packed with interactive discussions, study guides, videos, and thick training manuals. “We look at whole thing from contrast and compare perspective,” explains Crundwell. “By the end of eight hours we come up with a global communication protocol. It’s just how to become a more aware communicator in a global workplace.”

Even if senior executives don’t see the ROI, the executives engaged in cross-culturally collaborative roles certainly value the information, says Crundwell. “There’s a lot of awareness that they need this skill and there’s an awareness that if they want to stay competitive that they have to work with cross-cultural peers.”

Considering what’s at stake for workers engaged in globally-collaborative roles, the wisest course of action is to start with one of these courses and then dive into the additional reading list to deepen your skills as needed.