Intercultural communication becomes more important than ever due to the recent rapid development of globalization in the twenty-first century. Intercultural competence is more needed by the ever expanded plural societies in order to bring harmony and create a climate of respect for diversity. Moreover, having great intercultural competence means that individuals need to experience great intercultural sensitivity so that they can think and act according to interculturally appropriate ways. To date, no studies have been found which investigated the intercultural communication between Italy and Indonesia although it is interesting to examine the intercultural communication between these countries that have different cultures and communication style. Therefore, this is a truly unique research that makes a major contribution to research on intercultural communication between Italians and Indonesians. The objectives of this research are to understand how intercultural sensitivity contributes to the intercultural communication process and development, the barriers that may occur, and the approach used to overcome the barriers by the employees of Istituto Italiano di Cultura (IIC) Jakarta as The Italian Cultural Institute. The findings of this research showed that the intercultural communication process at IIC Jakarta is well-developed and positively affected by the high level of intercultural sensitivity among the employees. Both Italians and non-Italians employees have reached Adaptation stage and two of them even have successfully stepped into Integration stage in term of intercultural sensitivity assessed using DMIS. This also helps the employees overcome the barriers, that are nonverbal communication and language, by applying Cultural Synergy approach. Moreover, cultural activities also contribute in enhancing the employees’ intercultural communication skills and competence.

Keywords : intercultural communication, development, barriers, Italy, Indonesia, Istituto Italiano di Cultura, Jakarta