Appropriate and acceptable topics of conversation are not the same around the world. Neither are business practices and customs. What is perfectly OK for an Asian, may feel inappropriate for an American, and vice versa. Knowledge and an open mind can mitigate many problems arising from cultural differences between you and your colleagues, or even between you and your customers, claims the leadingeffectively.com website.
Cultural differences
Scheduling is often a problematic issue, because different cultures treat time differently. People used to a strict timetable may be upset when other people let a meeting run over the schedule. On the other hand, people living in a culture with a more relaxed attitude to time consider it to be perfectly OK if they are late for a meeting because they had an important call.
The first step in creationing an effective environment for cooperation among members of a multicultural team, is forming a united workplace culture. A cohesive and constructive atmosphere is vital for effective work in the team – everyone has to be truly involved. The manager should ask everyone for input on the best way h to manage such their diverse team. All members then will feel like their voices have been heard and the risk of tensions will diminish.
Also it may be a good idea for the manager to ask even more question, since he needs to gain a solid understanding of what culture differences he may be facing. Some team members may be initially perceived as lazy or rude, but this could be because of an underlining cultural norm that should be explored and understood. Through investigation of specific cultural norms many useful insights can be revealed.
Teammates need to know each other’s customs
When teammates understand each other better, they can avoid mentioning sensitive topics and may choose to deploy a different style of work, which will be more suitable and therefore more effective. Some cultures are more focused on relationship building and therefore may be inclined to approach a problem in a more subtle way. People of one culture are more reserved, people of another one are more straightforward… and the team should know what to expect.
What experience do you have with aligning different cultures?
-jk-