Question

1. Discuss ways in which cultural differences among team members “get in the way” of effective teamwork. As a team leader, how would you deal with this problem?

Answer 1

The ways in which cultural differences among team members “get in the way” of effective teamwork through-

- Stereotype – Managers tend to have a pre-conceived notion about a particular cultural group. This perception about the cultural group tend to make the managers to take inappropriate decisions and actions.

- Miscommunication- Different cultures have different forms of communication. Managers communicate stringently in his/her style with no regards for the cultural differences thus creating communication gap.

- Participation of reticent team members- Team members who is not adept in speaking the common language might be reticent in team meetings. Expecting such reticent team members to speak during meetings is a wrong move by the manager.

- Conflicts among team members- Team members might have come from different cultural backgrounds thus creating conflicts among them.

- Managers’ biased approach- Managers tend to favor employees who have similar themselves in terms of background, culture, attitude, etc.

Ways to overcome the above challenges

- Understanding culture- this is the prime step the managers need to take in a multi-cultural organization. It is important that they understand the different cultures to handle them effectively.

- Remove stereotypes - The managers should ensure to remove stereotypes and perceptions about particular cultural groups to avoid any misconceptions. The manager should be broad-minded.

- Ice-breakers- Team members’ conflicts can be resolved by having team fun or team outing to break the ice and know each other better.

- Monitoring team dynamics- is important to curb interpersonal conflicts in the initial stages itself. Constant monitoring of the team dynamics would enable the manager to remove the conflicts. For example, projects might stall because of team’s interpersonal conflicts hence managers need to step-in at this stage and resolve the conflict.

- Allow time for team members- Team members who feel inferior than others such as reticent team members who are not fluent in common language should be provided adequate preparation time to equip and prepare themselves in such situations.

Thus, it is pertinent to say that cultural differences should be handled carefully to resolve the conflicts and have efficient teams.

Note- If you like the answer, please provide an up-vote as it would be quite encouraging for me. Thank you.