7 EFFECTIVE WAYS TO SUCCESSFUL CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
Trust is a crucial characteristic forany high-functioning, effective team. If you have ever worked on a team, youknow you have to trust others to ensure the job is done. You also have to haveteam members who are dedicated and committed to the welfare of the entiregroup. Trust in any situation is difficult to create and even harder tosustain. However, if you have a multicultural team, it is particularlychallenging for several reasons.
A key reason for this is becausecommunication styles vary from one culture to another. While a universalemployee messaging system may help, this is not the end-all solution in mostcases. There are other factors that the cross cultural management team has tokeep in mind. Because of these different beliefs and styles of communication,many multicultural teams are prone to friction. The good news is, there areways to minimize this friction and ensure any team is successful.
Number 1: Get to Know Each Team Member
It is essential that the management of acompany, or even the team leader, takes the time to get to know team members.Learn about their story and journey. Encourage them to use the skills andknowledge they have to help the group. Many multicultural teams haveindividuals with unique skills that are beneficial to everyone when uncovered.Don’t ignore these specialized skills. Doing so may lead to team membersfeeling unappreciated.
Number 2: TakeSteps to Retain a Culturally Diverse Staff
Some global cosmopolitans feel poorlymanaged and misunderstood. As a result, they may not remain loyal to a certainorganization. However, if the management provides opportunities for theindividual to receive recognition for their multicultural skills, or evenrecognize them, they can avoid this outcome. Take some time to give theindividual that lets them feel appreciated and intellectually stimulated.
Number 3: TheCross-Cultural Management Team Needs to Create a Structure for Success
The absolute best way to ensure asuccessful team is to create conditions that set the members up for this. Formulticultural teams, this means ensuring they have a compelling and cleardirection. Members of the team need access to resources and information tocomplete the tasks given efficiently. If a structure isn’t established rightaway, chaos may ensue. Don’t let this happen. When everyone understands thestructure, productivity and success are going to follow.
Number 4: Get toKnow the Team’s Cultural Differences
As mentionedbefore, getting to know the team members is important. However, it is alsoessential to take some time to get to know any other differences present. Thisincludes different languages, as well as “fault lines.” Also, get to know howpossible miscommunication and misconception is. A great way to counteractmiscommunication is by implementing employee self-service software. With this,your team members can easily know what is going on with each person. Thesoftware can manage several aspects of the team, including scheduled time off,questions with the work being done, and more.
Number 5: CreateClear Norms and Maintain Them
When you have a multicultural team, youalso have several different work styles in play. As a result, it is up to theteam leader to establish norms. Once created, everyone needs to stick withthese established standards, regardless of what their personal default is. Itis not a good idea to impose a style, but take into consideration what worksbest for the entire team. Implementing practices from other cultures are oftenuseful.
Number 6: Workto Build Personal Bonds
A great way to ease potentialdisagreements or conflict is to establish personal connections. While deeppersonal friendships may be impossible, there are methods to use that canfoster individual connections and rapport. Take some time to encourage thesepersonal relationships, which is going to help the entire team in the long run.
Number 7:Address Conflict Immediately
Regardless of the team or members,conflict is inevitable. This is even truer with a multicultural team. Iftension does come up, make sure to address it right away. This can help ensurea small, manageable conflict doesn’t turn into something that’s impossible tomanage. Any leader needs to understand various cultural perspectives. When theydo this, they can serve as a cultural bridge to minimize the effects ofconflict.
CreatingSuccessful Cross-Cultural Teams
There arecountless benefits offered by cross-cultural teams in the workplace. Whilemaking these teams “work” may seem like an insurmountable challenge, this isn’tnecessarily the case. There are countless ways to predict and prevent seriousissues. One of the biggest, miscommunication, is simple to manage by using employee self-service software.This technology can help prevent issues between team members and ensure theteam works together for the betterment of the company. In the long run, everyoneis happier and more work is done.
