Managing and leading an international team

The last twenty years have seen enormous changes in the way we work. Advances in information technology and communication have facilitated global expansion. International teams are now a common phenomenon with large organisations often structuring their workforce by function rather than location. The rise of international and virtual teams has undoubtedly delivered many benefits. But it also presents a number of challenges for organisations and the managers tasked with managing these culturally diversified and frequently geographically dispersed teams.

 

The global growth of organisations combined with employee migration has seen a dramatic change in the composition of modern workforces. It is not unusual to find teams made up of members from a number of different countries.

 

Although these team members work for the same organisation they do not necessarily share the same cultural background and do not view the world that surrounds them in the same way. As a result, they think and behave differently to each other.

 

It would be incorrect to suggest that team members from one specific cultural background always behave in the same way. Personality, upbringing, previous experiences and a number of other factors also impact their behaviours.

 

However, research has shown that values and attitudes tend to differ according to one’s cultural background resulting in different work practices and behaviours. Preferences and attitudes to team working, time management, conflict, employee benefits and compensation often have their root in the cultural background of the employee.

 

Academic researchers such as Geert Hofstede and Fons Trompenaars have shown that cultural behaviours vary according to a series of dimensions on which we can place the countries of team members. Key cultural dimensions include:

• Hierarchy vs. egalitarianism
• Group vs. individual
• Relationship vs. task
• Open vs. hidden displays of emotion
• Degree of comfort with uncertainty and risk
• Work/life balance
• Attitudes to time and space
• Attitudes to nature and the environment

 

Understanding that individuals belonging to different cultural groups have different attitudes to these dimensions can help us understand how and why colleagues and team members act or perform differently. For example, a team member from a hierarchical culture such as India tends to be more deferent to their manager and expects approval for each piece of work before moving on to the next stage. Conversely, team members from more egalitarian cultures such as Australia or the USA are usually much more comfortable working autonomously.

 

 

Managers who are responsible for international teams must recognise the impact of culture and improve their cultural sensitivity in order to understand the differing expectations, priorities and behaviours of their team members.

 

Learning about other cultures and becoming culturally curious are a must for any manager looking to work and manage internationally. By minimising the challenges and frustrations that may arise and maximising the positives that a culturally diverse team represents, international teams can deliver a true competitive advantage to any organisation.

 

Managers may need to adapt their usual leadership and management styles when operating internationally. What works on a domestic stage and with mono-cultural teams may not always work as well on an international stage and with culturally diverse teams. Planning, scheduling, trust criteria, delegation, feedback and regularity of contact will be viewed differently according to the culture of the individual.

 

Spending time getting to know team members is also essential in the early stages in order to understand the skills and knowledge each individual can bring to the team and how to get the best out of each of them. When forming an international team, be clear and explicit. Always document ground rules and processes with input from all the team players to avoid ambiguity at a later stage.

 

Developing the manager’s international management skills is highly recommended. Intercultural training and leadership coaching can help managers to develop the knowledge, skills and strategies to manage an international team more effectively. At the same time, the development of the individual team members and how they interact with each other should not be overlooked. Providing opportunities for team members to share knowledge and experiences – whether through informal forums or more formal meetings, team building events or training programmes – will allow the team to build rapport and trust, making it easier to work more effectively as a unit.

 

Open and unambiguous communication is key for any international team to operate effectively. Even in a mono-cultural team, frustrations often occur all too easily when messages are misinterpreted or communication is lacking. Individuals from different cultural backgrounds are used to their own culture’s style of communication. Degrees of directness, formality, use of silence, non-verbal signals and the levels of information shared differ greatly from one culture to another.

 

Edward T. Hall’s high and low context concept, which illustrates how relationships impact communication and the balance between verbal and non-verbal communication, is a useful one to explore how cultures impact on communication styles.

 

 

A high context communicator will have a more indirect, implicit style and will rely more on shared knowledge and experience than a low context communicator. It is easy to predict a low context team member’s frustrations with a colleague who seems unable to get to the point. Asian cultures tend to be much more comfortable with silence than Western cultures in which it is more common to fill silences or sometimes to even talk over the person who is already talking.

 

How does this impact an international team meeting and what can the manager do to ensure that everyone’s opinion is heard? A clear agenda and meeting protocols are essential and the manager needs to have the skills and awareness to interpret individual reactions and to guide the discussion to enable everyone to contribute.

 

Successful international teams need to be comfortable with conflict and ready to resolve any disputes quickly. Cultural groups that place more importance on the group than on the individual are usually less comfortable with conflict as they value harmony and saving face. This is in contrast to those from individualist cultures who focus more on task than relationship and are usually open in expressing any disagreement. They don’t view disputes as personal but simply as something to be resolved in order to get the best results for the project or task.

 

There is a great opportunity to harness the benefits that international teams represent. It is vital, therefore, that organisations recognise the role that culture plays and its impact on the success and failure of the international manager and his/her team. By providing training, coaching and support, the team will flourish and deliver.