Managing a Multicultural Team Effectively

With growing globalization, all managers are more or less confronted with diversity in their teams, whether it is a question of origin, religion, or simply lifestyle and way of thinking. How to manage these teams on a daily basis? It is first and foremost a work on yourself that will lead you, as a manager, to manage a team made up of people from different backgrounds and beliefs. Here are 4 essential points that will allow you to develop your intercultural capacity.


1-Adapt your language
To communicate well, it is important to speak the same language. Indeed, the language barrier can lead to misunderstandings, sometimes even tensions in your team. Also, to better integrate the foreign members of your team, do not hesitate to learn a few common phrases in their language. This could simply be basic words like Hello, Thank you or Goodbye. This willingness to communicate will allow you to break the ice and build trust. By putting yourself in the position of a learner, you will better understand the difficulties or "gaps" in language and will be able to adapt your speech to ultimately better convey your expectations.


2-Understand Customs and Practices
Always to learn to live better together, a good manager must be interested in the practices and customs of the members of his team. For example, Eid is an important holiday for Muslims, a family holiday much like Christmas for Europeans. You will therefore more easily understand the availability of each person depending on the time of year. This will allow you to adapt your schedule and manage as best as possible to avoid setbacks. The goal is to go beyond preconceived ideas and stereotypes to better understand each other's interests and thus reconcile everyone's personal and professional constraints.

3-Be flexible
A good diversity manager will have every interest in developing his flexibility and open-mindedness if he wants to effectively manage his team. Admit that you may encounter a high degree of uncertainty in your professional relationships. Do not impose a management style conforming to the dominant culture and adapt to the different elements of your team. The more effort you put in, the better you will be rewarded in return.

4-Draw on your past experiences
Some past experiences can help you better manage diversity. This applies to your own experience and whatever position you hold in the team. We learn from our mistakes but also from those of others. Do not hesitate to use your experience and feelings; it can only help you progress.

To develop one's cultural management capacity, it is therefore necessary to begin by developing and improving one's communication skills towards others. Whether it is verbal communication through language, or non-verbal communication in understanding our differences and accepting them, one must learn to understand the other and to adapt. This applies in both directions….


Philippe Montant CEO ExeKutive.biz