Bridging the Cultural Business Gap: How to Manage a Global Team

Remote teams are the norm for most companies today. And increasingly, teams are now comprised of individuals working remotely from their home countries.

Technology makes it easier to manage an international team. However, technology can’t prepare most people for the cultural differences that arise when working with someone from a different country.

It’s easy to try to overlook or avoid cultural differences. But businesses that run global workforces will find that unaddressed cultural differences can lead to a lot of confusion and frustration.

5 Common Cultural Business Differences

Within any country, certain values and beliefs develop. These values shape how people behave. The problem is, most people can’t recognize or relate to the cultural norms of their co-workers in other countries.

When you are part of a globally distributed team, it’s important to have a global mindset. Here are three common cultural business differences most international companies deal with:

• Different communication styles

The way you communicate is largely influenced by the culture you were raised in. Communication styles vary greatly among different cultures.

In some cultures, people tend to be loud, very direct, and will even interrupt during a conversation. Other cultures tend to be more indirect and soft-spoken.

For instance, Western cultures often value openness and expect that everyone will provide a lot of direct feedback. However, in Asian cultures, this can be seen as disrespectful.

And many cultures like to adhere to a management hierarchy and will be unwilling to do anything that would seem to contradict their supervisor. For that reason, it can be hard to get honest feedback in meetings.

• Expectations about agreements and deadlines

A common roadblock that can occur on a global team is when one person thinks their co-worker has agreed to do something, yet the work never gets done. This presents obvious challenges when you are trying to finish a project on a certain timeline.

This can be caused by a couple different things. First, your co-worker may have said yes but they may not have actually agreed to do the work. In cultures like India, people will often agree to do things only because they don’t feel like they can say no.

Also, there are many cultural differences on how closely to adhere to deadlines. Western cultures tend to take deadlines very seriously but other cultures take a more flexible approach.

• Relationship-based vs. rule-based

Western cultures tend to be very task-oriented. They like to make decisions quickly and get things accomplished. They make hiring decisions quickly and if someone doesn’t work out, they can replace that person and move onto someone else.

Western cultures often tend to focus on rules over building relationships. The rules are often laid out very clearly and employees are expected to adhere to them. However, Eastern cultures are usually more focused on relationships.

It’s important to understand the difference because this affects people’s motivation and communication styles. Relationship-based cultures operate out of respect for relationships, not out of deference to certain rules and protocols.

How to Manage Cultural Differences

Global teams can’t afford to ignore cultural differences because they affect business outcomes. Managing cultural differences begins with awareness. Employees need to understand how culture affects the behavior and values of other people.

But while awareness is the first step, simply acknowledging cultural differences isn’t enough. You have to learn how to proactively manage them. Here are a few things to keep in mind when communicating with international team members:

• Be cognizant of cultural differences without falling into stereotypes.
• Keep your communication concise and to the point.
• Try to avoid using local slang or jargon.
• Keep religious differences in mind. This is especially important when you are scheduling meetings.

Adapting to an international team may require employees to learn new skills. Formal training on cultural differences can go a long way toward helping employees learn how to relate to global team members.

Of course, communication is not the only hurdle to overcome with international hiring. There are many legal issues that U.S. employers may not be familiar with. Failing to comply with international labor laws can lead to serious financial consequences.

This is why Clearfront HR offers affordable HR outsourcing. You find the candidates and we help you hire them without needing to set up a foreign business entity. Contact us to learn more about our services.