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• Monday,May 18,2015

  3 Steps to Leading Successful Multicultural Teams1

  

  “Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without.” –William Sloane Coffin Jr.

  The above quote is absolutely true for the business world today. Companies have realized that multicultural teams bring in more perspectives, increased creativity and effective decision making to the table. This translates to a globalized workforce and a large number of professionals living the expat life. However, leading a diverse team comes with its own fair share of challenges and complexities. Cultural misunderstandings and miscommunication can lead to decreased productivity, negative work environment and ineffective teams. In the presence of these factors, managers and business leaders can find it extremely difficult to keep talent engaged, achieve results and grow the business. Often during and after training programmes in Asia, clients share with me their frustrations and obstacles to leading a successful multicultural team. The sentiments expressed are somewhat like this: “I fail to get ideas and initiative from them (local teams in Asia). Whenever I ask them for feedback or thoughts, I am met with silence and blank expressions.” “I clearly told that the deadline for this project is end of this month. Why are they (teams) not able to stick to it? If there is a problem, why didn’t they let me know earlier?” And the list continues. Do you find yourself navigating similar waters from time to time? Here are three steps to motivate and enable teams to embrace cultural differences and succeed together. 1. Understand Direct (Low Context) V/s Indirect (Hi Context) Communication Styles Since communication or the lack of it is the root of many unpleasant situations, the first step is to equip yourself with the know-how of different cultural communication styles. Broadly they can be divided into two categories - Low v/s High Context. People from low-context cultures like Northern America, Germany, Scandinavia, Australia) tend to more direct and explicit. They value logic, clarity, brevity and honesty in the message. The listener does not need to rely on nonverbal cues or ‘read in between the lines’ to understand the conversation. Detailed and highly specific contracts are typical at the end of negotiations. Direct communicators are also not shy of confrontations and expression of critical feedback. On the other hand, high-context cultures (like Japan, China, Middle East, India) rely on the ‘understood’ message, developing trust and relationships, preserving the harmony and taking the collective interests into consideration. A “yes” can’t be taken at the face value. The listener interprets a sentence taking into account tone of voice, facial expressions, context and instincts. Negotiations tend to be lengthy and less importance is given to contracts than the actual relationship between the two parties. Given such vast differences, one can imagine the complexity of communication that can occur if the differences are not understood. High Context communicators can feel that their low context leaders are rude, insulting and insensitive. Whereas, teams from low context cultures may feel that their counterparts are ambiguous, have no opinion, ‘always carry blank expressions’ etc. Understanding and remembering these differences in day to day work matters can help individuals adjust their expectations from each other and avoid misunderstandings. 2. Embrace the concept of Guanxi A leader who is working with Asian clients or employees should try and remember that the most important key to success in Asia (or with Asians) and particularly with the Chinese is “Guanxi” – or relationships and business network. It is the foundation for almost every business interaction here. Before sitting at the negotiation table, one needs to take time to carefully nurture and grow the relationship and trust. Similarly, while leading new teams, take time to know and understand more about your employees, build a rapport and provide a safe environment which will enable high-context employees to communicate more freely with you. 3. Train Staff and Increase Awareness To enable teams to work smoothly with each other, increase their intercultural awareness. Enable them to understand how different people communicate and give feedback. This will stop them from stereotyping anyone. As a manager of an intercultural team, facilitate an environment which promotes exchange of dialogue and opportunities to get to know each other better. At the same time, empower them with tools to overcome cultural dilemmas. This will not only foster better team spirit and enhance motivation and engagement levels. What to do if you are on the other side of the table? If you are a professional from a high context culture working with a team leader from low context culture, then remember these three important points. Do not rely on non-verbal cues or implicit messages to convey your message. Be clear and explicit. Do not hesitate to express your feedback and opinions freely. These are really valued by your seniors. Do not take feedback or criticism personally. People from low-context cultures tend to be more forthright and direct in their approach. They are not trying to be disrespectful. In the end, the success of a multicultural team comes down to trust, understanding and empathy. An ability to encompass all these three elements in our day to day work situations, will make everyone happy. After all, no matter where we come from, we do smile in the same language. Don’t we! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What are your experiences of working in a multicultural team? What are your challenges or success stories? I would love to hear from you in the comments below. (This article was first published in HongKong Echo published by the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Hong Kong. It has been slightly edited here.) Read more