Running Head: DEVELOPING AND MANAGING MULTI-CULTURAL TEAMS 1

Developing and Managing Multi-Cultural Teams

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Executive summary

This training handout provides wide information for the managers on developing and managing

multi-cultural teams in the organizations. When managers in an organization are addressing

diversity, the key denominators involve physical disability, age, race, sex, and gender. The

current workforce in any organization is full of different cultures that bring out varied beliefs and

experiences at the workplace. This kind of diversity can be detrimental to the organization if not

well managed. Multicultural team dimensions have shifted to a team focused design, and that

comprise merging different cultures in a sole unit. Different cultures subsist by sharing varied

commonalities which comprise of religion, nationality, job function, and race. In an organization,

managers ought to familiarize themselves with discrimination laws and their effect on managing

multicultural teams. The establishment of these laws was to safeguard workers from unjust

treatment education and employment. Affirmative action necessitates organizations to take steps

to guarantee that particular demographics are reliable with the labor market. Building a

comprehensive culture in a team forms a unified unit that is capable of learning from one another

and working jointly as a team. Managers in an organization have to consider a teams cultural

background without selecting participants by age or ethnicity. There are challenges that engulf

multicultural teams. Some of these challenges involve different levels of tolerance for

uncertainty, confrontation of conflict, and cooperation. Finally, I would recommend that facial

communication should be embraced at all times in the organization.

Dimensions of a multi-cultural team

A multi-cultural team is one that involves a wide range of cultural disparities subsisting among

the workers in an organization (Halverson & Tirmizi, 2008). The multi-cultural team dimensions
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include; communicating, persuading, deciding, evaluating, trusting, scheduling, leading, and

disagreeing.

Communicating when a person is said to be a good communicator, the language is varied in

people of different cultures. According to Edward Hall, cultures can be compared along the

communicating scale to figure out whether they are low or high context. In low context cultures,

communication is defined, clear, and explicit while in high-context cultures communication is

nuanced, complicated, and layered (Halverson & Tirmizi, 2008).

Persuading the manner in which people influence others and the forms of arguments they find

convincing are deeply rooted in their philosophical, educational, and religious suppositions. The

conventional way of comparing nations along this scale is to appraise how they balance holistic

as well as exact thought patterns (Halverson & Tirmizi, 2008). For instance, a western executive

will break down an argument into a series of different elements which is exact thinking, while an

Asian manager will depict how each element fits with all the other which can be termed to be

holistic thinking.

Evaluating every culture believes that disapproval has to be given constructively which is

varied among cultures. Evaluating is frequently confused with communicating although many

nations have varied positions whereby the French are unspoken communicators compared to the

British who appear to be direct in their criticism.

Deciding this multi-cultural dimension measures the level at which a culture is consensus-

minded. People frequently presume that the utmost equal cultures are the most democratic while

the most hierarchical ones will permit the managers to make one-sided decisions (Halverson &

Tirmizi, 2008).
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Leading this dimension measures the level of respect and reverence depicted to authority

figures by placing nations on a spectrum from democratic to hierarchical (Halverson & Tirmizi,

2008). For instance, in Denmark, a child learns that the teacher is a facilitator and the managers

viewpoint is one among others while in Nigeria a child learns to respect to the words of an older

brother and the same is applied to the manager in an organization.

Trusting trust differs if it is either from the heart or the mind. In a duty-based culture, trust is

built cognitively through work. When people work together well and attest themselves

consistent, and respect each others contributions, they trust each other.

Disagreeing diverse cultures have varied ideas regarding how productive confrontation is for

an organization. This dimension measures lenience for open disagreement (Halverson & Tirmizi,

2008).

Scheduling any business in the organization has to follow a given agenda although in some

cultures people strictly adhere to the schedule while other perceive it as a suggestion. This

dimension evaluates how much value is positioned on operating in a planned, linear fashion

versus being supple as well as reactive (Halverson & Tirmizi, 2008).

Discrimination laws and their impact on managing a multi-cultural team

The United States Equal Employment Commission is accountable for enforcing anti-

discrimination laws in the workplace. The commission forbids discrimination of all kinds

involving race, sex, color, or national origin. Discrimination laws refer to state and federal laws

that forbid employers from treating employees in a different way based on certain qualities

unlinked to job performance. Discrimination laws include Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title 1 and

Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and the Age Discrimination in
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Employment Act (Steers, Nardon & Sanchez-Runde, 2016). Employers are less probable to

discriminate when they assume a multicultural work atmosphere. The impact of discrimination

laws in the management of multicultural teams is that their enhanced fairness in the organization

whereby employees are not discriminated based on gender or sex among others. Another impact

is that there are reduced lawsuits in the organization between the organization versus employee

and employer versus employee. Discrimination laws have expectant policies that promote

acceptance of gender disparities (Steers, Nardon & Sanchez-Runde, 2016).

Affirmative action programs and their impact on managing a multi-cultural team

Affirmative action is based on lawful directives requiring federal contractors to determine

employment practices and to develop a labor force which is reflective of the community in which

they work. The design of affirmative action was intended to eliminate bias against the

unrepresented groups in employment and education (Connerley & Pedersen, 2005). Affirmative

action needs organizations to take steps to guarantee that particular demographics are consistent

with the labor market. Affirmative action was visualized as a remedy that would end once there

was a leveled play field for every American citizen. Strategies employed by affirmative action

involve enlarging the group of job or admission applicants through recruitment that reaches

outside of conventional channels like posting of job notices in places where women, as well as

minorities, are more probable to see them. Regarding employment, affirmative action programs

have impacted to augment on the job training prospects that are linked to occupational mobility

in organizations (Connerley & Pedersen, 2005).

Building an inclusive culture within the team

In an organization, inclusive multicultural teams are characterized by transparent decision

making, open communication, and creativity. Creating an inclusive team is significant to

building an industrious work environment of respect and trust (Daft, 2008). Building an inclusive

culture in a team involves developing a brief apparition statement linked to teamwork and

enclosure of the directed department. Therefore, the inclusion is connected to particular

behavioral anticipations that are probable to produce openness, inclusion, and trust (Connerley &

Pedersen, 2005). Communication is crucial and should be done regularly to the workers. The

inclusive culture becomes essential to an organization by enhancing productivity, advancing

problem-solving, enhancing communication, and fostering retention.

Challenges of managing a multi-cultural team

The demand for multinational organizations in multicultural teams requires good management

from leaders to manage the different cultures. Leaders have to succeed to have their teams

dedicated and aspired to attain a common goal since cultural disparities could be a trap to an

organization if not well nurtured. Some of the challenges of managing multicultural teams

involve;

Linguistic issues this has been the key challenge for many organizations, especially in

international teams. Multiple languages and fluency issues make it intricate to understand each

other. Although these difficulties can be managed, the exact issue is the toll they have on the

team members. When team members struggle to be understood, this can lower their self-esteem

as well as confidence specifically if a big group of workers is all from one national group (Daft,

2008).
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Communication diverse cultures deal with the openness of communicating in varied ways. For

instance, people from the west are well known for their openness, unlike Asians who prefer

indirect communication whereby they find openness to be rude. Therefore, a manager has to

consider this when dealing with a global team. A manager from Asia will require pushing his or

her cultural norms so that he can deal with the issues of the international teams (Halverson &

Tirmizi, 2008).

Management of structural disparities the manner in which an organization is managed varies

particularly on the norms relating to authority and hierarchy that vary immensely from culture to

culture. When a member of a team wants to pass some information to the manager, the right way

is engulfed with cultural ties that bind them hence creating problems (Halverson & Tirmizi,

2008).

Decision making the process of making decisions is varied from culture to culture. The

expectation of having team members transforming their way of making decisions overnight is a

mistake. Managers ought to adapt to the decision making methodologies used in all cross-

cultures so that the team members do not feel oppressed (Daft, 2008). Managers have to

understand and adapt to cultural transformations so that they can figure out how to take them to

their advantage.

Recommendations for improving communications within a multi-cultural team

To improve communications with a multicultural team, I would recommend that face to face

communication with team members is crucial. This allows managers in an organization to read

team members body-language, build relationships, and assess levels of understanding (Halverson

& Tirmizi, 2008). I would also recommend that building of trust on every action in the
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organization is important. Managers have to be responsible for their actions and ensure that they

deliver on time when they promise since if not observed it destroys trust as well as credibility

(Terry, 2011). I would also recommend that team member and their managers have to be open

minded, practice active listening, keep a person touch, have knowledge of some members

cultural backgrounds, and watch their non-verbal communication.

Modeling and leading diversity acceptance and change

Diversity denotes creating an environment whereby all people feel valued, respected, and has

similar prospects like others. It involves empowering others by making an organization efficient

through capitalization of all the strengths of every worker. Embracing diversity is the initial item

for creating teams. Leading diversity in an organization is a daily occurrence (Terry, 2011). This

is because, on daily peoples interactions, they likely lead others from different nations and

locations. Leading diversity makes leaders evolve and adapt with each others experience so that

they can deliver to the expectations of the organization (Halverson & Tirmizi, 2008). Leaders

have to develop the sense of acceptance for them to lead diverse teams. Accepting people for

their contribution has to be an initial thing a leader should do. When leaders possess this

principle, they do not consider an employees culture or background.

Conclusion

In conclusion, in this research topic, I learned that effective teamwork needs team members to

realize the entire team as a unit with common goals and norms without considering an

individuals cultural background. The more team members identify and engage with each other,

the more they probably believe that they share common values and goals hence making them

work jointly as a team. Another concept is that multicultural challenges can only be dealt with if
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team members and managers adapt to each others norms and the necessary structural

intervention adopted by managers. Finally, I have learned that the best strategy in dealing with

multicultural issues is reliant on the specific situations of the issue facing the team.
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References

Daft, R. L. (2008). Management. Mason, OH, USA: Thomson Southwestern.

Halverson, C. B., & Tirmizi, S. A. (2008). Effective multicultural teams: Theory and practice.

Dordrecht: Springer.

Terry, J. (2011). Managing a Multicultural Workforce. 1st ed. Human Resource Development.

Steers, R., Nardon, L., & Sanchez-Runde, C. (2016). Management across cultures (1st ed.).

Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.

Connerley, M. L., & Pedersen, P. B. (2005). Leadership in a Diverse and Multicultural

Environment: Developing Awareness, Knowledge, and Skills. Thousand Oaks: SAGE

Publications.