"Weaving strength from differences"
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An Intercultural Approach to Multicultural Team Development 1. The organization and the specific department/team have an organizational history or “culture” which determines many of the current attitudes, assumptions, expectations and behaviors of team members. This history can not be ignored but, rather, must be understood from the perspective of each team member, validated, and then dealt with. The work of any multicultural team must be examined in the context of the larger corporation and social fabric of the employees' families and communities. 2. Each member of a team has his/her own style of expressing ideas, disagreement, cooperation, and leadership. These styles are based on personality, family and religious background, national culture, functional expertise or professional experience, corporate culture, etc. Team members are more effective if they understand the intentions of other team members, and if perceptions are commonly shared and able to be discussed. When team members feel understood and valued, and work goals are mutually defined, team members are better able to align their personal behavior to accomplish group task. 3. Each multicultural team needs to create its own culture which is explicitly and implicitly shared by all members. Processes for decision making and problem solving are particularly crucial to group productivity. Processes the group uses should allow and encourage each team member to contribute his/her expertise to group problem solving in a way that other team members can recognize, understand, and utilize. Intercultural Theory Behind Multicultural Team Effectiveness 1. Culture, or the way a person is brought up, very much influences his/her assumptions, expectations and behavior regarding good business, strong teamwork, the effective handling of disagreement, etc. 2. This “common sense” is often buried so deep in the unconscious assumptions of employees that they themselves are unaware of it and unable to express it. It is like the water in which a fish is swimming: so natural that it goes unnoticed. 3. When people are able to understand their own “common sense”, or expectations and assumptions, they are better able to modify their own behavior to accomplish their personal and professional objectives while maintaining their identities. They are able to choose who they are rather than just be who they were brought up to be. 4. If personal and cultural differences are ignored or smoothed over (“we are one big, happy family here”, or “focusing on the similarities is more important than discussing the differences”) team members may feel their identities threatened or compromised, and hidden agendas may begin to sabotage team work. 5. The diversity of experience, expertise and perspective on any given team enhances the creative potential and problem-solving ability of the team. 6. This same diversity often causes misunderstanding, negative evaluation of team member competencies or intentions, waste of time and energy, frustration, and inadequate or inappropriate decision making. 7. People frequently relate to people similar to themselves (in gender, color, functional expertise, age, etc.) in ways different than they relate to people who are different from themselves (an African-American male may talk to a black colleague differently than he would talk to his German-American boss). The key is not merely to compare cultures or races, but to address the intercultural dynamic. Definitions Culture Patterns of behavior and sets of expectations demonstrated by those who share commonalties of, for example, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, race, ethnicity, religion, and profession. Globalization A process of developing coherence between local, regional and global approaches to achieving results and managing relationships. Effective Multicultural Team Teams of people from different cultures all holding a basic belief that if they learn from and cooperate with each other, the outcome of their work together will be maximized. Members feel valued for their technical expertise and personhood; individual strengths and weaknesses are recognized. Such groups pay attention to the appropriate alignment of process to task. Process Consultation The observation, facilitation, interpretation and analysis of such processes as decision making, problem solving, conflict resolution, and leadership, for example. This is done in order to expedite task accomplishment, build relationships and develop an effective communication style among those involved. Nipporica Associates' Multicultural Team Development Services 1. Custom programs tailored to the needs and realities of each organization and team. We will meet with your people, interview them, and observe your team in action; then we'll design an approach to build on your team's strengths and enhance its productivity. 2. Minimal "down time" as your team addresses real business issues. A major component of our intervention will be “process consulting": analyzing with you the way in which your teams make decisions and solve problems. 3. Approaches based on extensive research and decades of experience in the management of multinational businesses and global business teams, particularly involving Japan. Use of several of our copyrighted tools such as the Cultural Pinwheel, as style assessment and discussion instrument, and Redundancia: A Second Language Speaking Simulation. 4. A multicultural problem-solving and decision-making simulation game developed by Nipporica and entitled, Ecotonos. It allows participants to experience the excitement and the frustration of problem-solving and decision-making in minority-majority situations, joint venture situations, and diverse cultural situations. Participants reflect on their process of communication and problem-solving, as well as on their personal communication skills and attitudes towards difference. They learn to observe and diagram the process of communication and decision making. 5. Several copyrighted team and team member self-assessment tools, designed to provide your staff independent effectiveness as consultants to their own multicultural team development. Team members can reflect on, discuss and agree to norms for their behavior in meetings and ongoing correspondence with other team members. 6. Training for your staff in intercultural/multicultural process consulting skills, as well as in intercultural communication skills for business effectiveness. |
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