Leading Culturally Diverse Teams: Cultural Differences to Keep in Mind in Order to Lead Diverse Teams More Effectively

In today's globalized work environments, leaders often have to navigate the challenges of managing a culturally diverse workforce.  

With teams composed of employees from different cultural backgrounds, global leaders today face unique issues that will require, among other skills, a great deal of cultural dexterity on their part.

Below you will find some of the challenges of culturally diverse workplaces and how leaders can address these challenges.

The Many Challenges of Culturally Diverse Workplaces

Language Differences

One of the main challenges leaders face in a cross-cultural workplace is communication.

Language barriers, varying communication styles, and different cultural norms around communication can lead to misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

For example, accents are hard to understand, especially when they come across the internet or hard-to-decipher telephone messages. Silence may be misconstrued as acceptance, and “yes” is taken as “I agree with you” when it could simply mean “Yes, I hear you.”

 How can managers and supervisors be certain that crucial parts of their instructions are understood? What if the employee disagrees with them but a cultural orientation dictates it is inappropriate for the employee to say “no” to a supervisor?

 Leaders must be aware of these challenges and adapt their communication style to ensure that messages are not only clear but also culturally appropriate.

Solutions: Leaders must be aware of these cultural differences and adapt their leadership approach accordingly. Also remember that the same way you need to learn about the many value orientations of your employees, the reverse is also true. Provide training opportunities so your international team members can learn what is expected of them when working with a U.S. American audience. This type of training must be part of their onboarding process.

Differences in Value Orientations

When leading culturally diverse teams, managers and supervisors also have to keep in mind the many differences in cultural values and norms. Most cultures have their own set of values, beliefs, and practices that shape how employees think and behave.

U.S. Americans, for example, believe in individualism, egalitarianism, privacy, mobility, and materialism. The problem is that these values are not common to all cultures, which can lead to cultural clashes when not recognized.

For example, some cultures may prioritize hierarchy and deference to authority, while others may emphasize egalitarianism and participatory decision-making.

In such situations, the more egalitarian approach of a U.S. manager when they choose to work alongside their employees so the company can meet a fast-approaching deadline will likely be construed negatively by certain workers.

In fact, Asian employees may see this behavior as an indication that their boss sees them as incompetent and that they will not be able to finish the project in time. The result may be embarrassment, loss of face, loss of respect for the manager, and, potentially, resignation.

Solutions: Leaders must be aware of these cultural differences and adapt their leadership approach accordingly. Also remember that the same way you need to learn about the many value orientations of your employees, the reverse is also true. Provide training opportunities so your international team members can learn what is expected of them when working with a U.S. American audience. This type of training must be part of their onboarding process.

Differences in Conflict Management Styles

Managing conflict and resolving differences is another significant issue that leaders may face in a culturally diverse workplace.

Conflicts may arise due to differences in communication styles, values, and norms, and may be compounded by language barriers and cultural misunderstandings.

It is important to recognize that different cultures have different ideas of how conflict should be handled. In other words, our cultural lenses influence the way we approach conflict.

In the United States, for example, conflict is seen as an opportunity to bring the issue to the forefront. Conflict should be dealt with in an open and direct manner and effective conflict management is achieved with a win-win problem-solving resolution. Conflict issues are above and beyond relationship issues. In other words, if something is “broken,” we need to find a way to fix it.

For many other groups, though, conflict is damaging to the relationship so it should be avoided as much as possible. For these groups, conflict is dysfunctional because it could impact the relationship between the parties. Preserving the relationship and maintaining harmony is the ultimate goal.

Possible Solutions for U.S. Americans. Those leading a global workforce need to be skilled in finding the right way to reach a resolution. U.S. managers, for example, need to

• Be mindful of the need of certain groups to avoid conflict so they can save face and preserve the relationship.
• Learn to give face and let the individual find a gracious way out of the conflict situation.
• Become better at reading implicit nonverbal messages.

Possible Solutions for International Employees. Internationals, on the other hand, need to

• Become more comfortable in expressing their opinions or points of view.
• Recognize the more up-front style of conflict management of U.S. Americans.
• Learn to engage in a more assertive style of conflict resolution, in other words, learn to verbally explain the situation.
• Understand that, for U.S. Americans, silence may be seen as a breakdown in the communication process so, deliberate silence moments should be avoided.

Again, these topics should be part of their onboarding process.

Needless to say, those leading a cross-cultural workplace face a unique set of challenges that require cultural dexterity, adaptability, and sensitivity. Differences in communication styles, cultural values and norms, and conflict management, are among the many issues they will have to address.

By acknowledging and addressing these challenges, leaders can create an inclusive and harmonious work environment where employees from diverse cultural backgrounds can thrive and contribute their unique perspectives and talents.