Doing Business As
dba ‘Multicultural’
What does the term “multicultural” mean to you and your team?
Does it mean your coworkers bring a secret family recipes to the company potluck? Does it mean you manage across time zones? Does it mean people speak multiple languages?
When I think of multicultural teams, I think of two types of teams -
The “typical diverse team” comprised of members from different countries - and different cultural norms.
And a “sleeping diverse team” - a team made up of people who may presumably be from a similar culture, but come from a different background and upbringing.
I want to be clear - I believe multicultural teams can be comprised of:
People from the same city, but different neighborhoods
Individuals from different states
Different countries
Different languages
Different grandmas
Different educations
Different life experiences
The list goes on…
With globalization becoming so prevalent in the business world, we take cultural differences for granted. We know globalized business can increase the access to resources, support, and revenue, but we forgo the assumption that people are inherently different - for better or worse.
“Communication challenges create barriers to effective teamwork by reducing information sharing, creating interpersonal conflict, or both” (Brett, Behfar, Kern, pg. 22).
Career Civility understands that teams can be blind to multicultural challenges, until it’s too late.
It is easy to get caught up in the day to day tasks of productivity. It is easy to sweep cultural differences under the rug. But it is hard to critically observe how cultural differences can damage a team — until it’s too late.
Brett, Behfar, and Kern discuss 4 different types of cultural differences that can harm an organization.
Direct versus indirect communication - Hi, western cultures versus eastern cultures. This is huge in negotiation.
Trouble with accents and fluency - The international language of business is English. But when individuals have a hard time speaking clear English, or articulating ideas, the bias created can be that they are less intelligent. False.
Different attitudes towards hierarchy - Newsflash, your title may not hold as much weight in another country as it does in your own country.
Conflicting norms for decision making - Patience is a virtue when doing business internationally
The good news? There is also structure to help resolve and work through cultural differences.
Brett, Behfar, and Kern’s research on multicultural teams was mainly project based, but they found 4 effective solutions.
Adaptation - My favorite
Structural Intervention - Boundaries people!!
Managerial Intervention - Interestingly enough, when managers know the right time to impose structure and intervention, the teams benefit from it greatly.
Exit - It is okay to know when to walk away
All of this academic speak is to say - people are hard to deal with so let’s work to understand the problem and then the best solution.
What examples can you think of in your own workplace that muddy the multicultural waters? How was it handled?
While this topic may seem taboo to talk about, that’s what I’m here for. To listen to the good, the bad, and the ugly of workplace interactions. Jenna@careercivility.com. Thank you.
References -
Brett, J., Behfar, K., & Kern, M. (2006). Managing Multicultural Teams Harvard Business Review. November, Available online: LUSEM Library website http://www. lusem. lu. se/library [Accessed 30 May 2017].
