Managing multicultural teams essay

It is known that the efficiency of work of the team is affected by many factors: professionalism of its members, their psychological compatibility with each other, the optimal delegation of roles, as well as cultural composition. There is no doubt that the multinational groups have a special character, and it is rather hard to build and manage their work. Even if the team is made of professionals who can work together for the overall result, national and ethnic differences will be manifested in the values, attitudes, styles, standards of work.

In order to avoid serious problems in multinational teams it is necessary to focus on the following components of effective work:

• to take the maximum from individual differences within the team (personal qualities, education, skills, experience, age and gender, cultural and national characteristics);
• to build relationships within the team, looking for a synergistic effect;
• to create favorable environment for each team member, so he feel comfortable and could work effectively.

To form a team of different nationalities, it is necessary:

• first, to know the language and culture of each member;
• secondly, to get specific recommendations on national peculiarities of business conduct, behavior, decision making of employees;
• third, to develop and implement a system of adaptive measures aimed at teaching the staff to work together.

Ethnic diversities in approaches and standards of work, as well as values, attitudes and habits, can cause confusion among the staff and prevent effective work of multinational team. Often, these difficulties take place not only in communication, but also in motivation and rewarding employees of different cultures. That is why managers, involved in the management of multicultural teams, must work hard to direct the development team to work with a clear division of roles and responsibilities. He must work out the rules of social interaction between team members, must ensure that the work of the team is based on trust and understanding between members. Managers must monitor the work of the team and the relationships between team members, conflicts in it, etc.

Effective management of large international companies depends on the competency and talents of managers. Modern managers must have key competencies and skills to professionally fulfill their roles and functions in a global context. However, is it enough to be a competent manager in order to successfully achieve the goals of the company and lead a multicultural team? According to many experts, such manager must be a leader. For example, Collins notes that the successful functioning of the company depends largely on its mangement, but the leader of his team (J. Collins, 2001).

In the study of issues of effective leadership in a multicultural team, important role play new leadership theories, where special interest have studies that extend the vision of a modern leader – a leader in the global context. That is, it is possible to speak about fundamentally new model of leadership in a multicultural team. The global context, in which work modern managers of international companies, put high demands on effective leadership for the successful achievement of the objectives of the company. In our view, manager of a multicultural team must, first of all, identify commonalities between the cultures, shared values ​​and interests, as this will facilitate the process of intercultural communication, which is extremely important process of effective management. Then it is necessary to understand cross-cultural differences, to find common ground and build trust. This requires the ability to listen, ability to give and to respect others.

The leader and manager in a multinational company should be free of cultural “barriers” and nationality prejudices. He must accept the interests of representatives of different cultures. The leader of the international level should motivate employees to achieve results by creating an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect, combine their personal interests with the common goal, while promoting their self-development and taking into account their cultural characteristics.

Management of a multicultural team depends on two fundamentally important factors: awareness of cross-cultural differences and the relationship between the leader and his followers – employees. The first factor – the cultural component – has a great influence on the processes of management, team collaboration, motivation of staff and other key management processes in an international company. In addition, there are various strategies of cross-cultural interaction.

Manager of international company is the key figure, which leadership skills and behavior largely determine the effectiveness of management of multicultural team in the multinational company and the success of its operation as a whole. Therefore, the model of effective management in a multicultural team requires a certain type of interaction between the leader and team members. Relationship with team members should be based on trust and mutual respect, that is the basis for effective work and helps to form employees’ loyalty to the organization. These qualities are equally important in Europe, USA, China, Russia or any other country. Such team relations, built on trust and mutual respect, form such modern concept of management as “Management by values” and, therefore, should be a modern imperative of doing business in multicultural companies.

Effective management of diversity in organizations includes:

1. Mission and Values. It is necessary to clearly define mission and core values ​​of the organization to all employees. Values should reflect the personal and business needs of all employees. Values ​​should be set standards of behavior that are important for the success of the organization. The principles of diversity management should be the basis of these standards. Mission and values ​​set the overall direction of all activities of the organization, not just management of diversity. If all this is not done, there is a danger that diversity will lead to conflicts.
2. Objectivity and fairness of procedures. All the basic procedures and rules, including those relating to recruitment, selection, training and certification of employees should be regularly monitored for compliance with fairness and justice.
3. Skilled and honest staff. Employees must know the principles of diversity management and comply with them. Employees should understand the importance of these principles and know how to implement them in practice. Managers should actively develop their skills and help their subordinates to develop. They must use every opportunity to gain new knowledge and improve skills, should seek feedback on their work and respond to it, and should create an environment in which subordinates feel valued.
4. Active flexibility. This refers not only to flexibility in work organization, but also in policies, procedures, benefits.
5. An individual approach. This is a general principle that permeates all the activities of organizations focused on diversity. It is significant that many American organizations have evolved from the traditional group approach to individual attention.
6. Culture that encourages delegation of authority. Organizational culture encompasses the basic principles that use members of the organization to guide all their actions. Organization focused on diversity must create a culture that is consistent with management of diversity and complement it.  Organization should understand the importance of culture and how culture affects the work of individuals. It should be ensured a situation in which all employees know how the organization works, what its values ​​and what behavior the organization expects from its employees.

The most important aspects of diversity management are:

• Cross-cultural awareness (familiarity with the traditions, customs, national characteristics and their manifestation in everyday life and business)
• Language training
• Methods for achieving cultural empathy and sensitivity to different cultures
• Cross-cultural analysis
• Development of skills that are necessary in cross-cultural communication.

This aims to build effective interactions between members of different cultures and subcultures, focused on understanding and developing practical attitude to cross-cultural differences in social and cultural environment in the workplace.

At last it should be said about the diagnosis of cross-cultural competence of the employees, which will indicate the levels of formation of cross-cultural competence, different degrees of knowledge, understanding and respect for social and cultural norms and behavior scenarios. It also must help to determine the levels of development of each component cross-cultural competence – cultural awareness and cultural identity.