Working in International Teams - Coursework Example

Working in International Teams International business has become complex for over the years where managers are required to coordinate workers from different parts of the world. The trend has contributed to the rise of international business teams, which are essentially meant to perform tasks related to marketing, finance, research and development and more. Therefore, managers use the theories of team-building put across by people such as Tuckman and Beckin to effectively manage a diverse workforce for good decision-making. International teams are very important because they create a pool of decisions, which has been credited to bring good results. Since people in these groups argue from different perspectives, they are likely to improve the decision-making process and at the same time deliver viable and good results (Brooks, Weatherson and Wilkinson 2004, p. 56). The process of successful team-building will be discussed in the paper. The theories related to cultures and teamwork will also be explained further drawing examples from the theories that are already in practice. The paper discusses the importance and purpose of cultural diversity in team-building, as well as, working in the international teams. However, theorists in business management have ascertained that the international teams are prone to frictions brought about by poor communication and low levels of motivation (Guirdam 2011, p. 132). High-performing and successful international teams are achieved through cooperation between the members and the leaders of the teams. Although, they turn out to be complex and involving, the team members are advised to apply the necessary team-building skills right from the start so as to avoid complications during the decision making process (Alder 2002, p. 543). Meridith Belbin is one of the theorists who provide mechanisms on how to build international teams in order to achieve high levels of business performance. He ascertains that if self-management is used, teams will utilize the different skills of the members, which could be left out. On another hand, the team-building process is very critical especially when business meetings are held via the videoconferences. In such scenarios, the members of the team ought to apply the communication and organizational skills in order to solve the complex problems (Yeatts and Hyten 1998, p. 70). Working in Teams As stated earlier, multi-cultural teams are increasingly adopted across the world by business related to banking, construction, insurance, medicine and more. Every business wants to reap the benefits emanating from the international teams. Teamwork is very important in small, medium-sized and large businesses (Rickman 2011, p. 47). Recent studies have shown that when high-performing employees work in groups, they are more likely to complete tasks in time and thus driving the company forward. However, teamwork calls for dedication of workers in solving problems irrespective of their values, beliefs and cultures (Cameron 2002, p. 376). Theories and the contemporary business managers have ascertained that working in teams is beneficial to companies in human resource management, marketing and finance. In teams, there is pooling of diverse business skills, which enables fast decision-making. Secondly, the teams can bail out those businesses experiencing problems related to human resource or supply of goods (Johnson 2009, p. 190). This is possible because members from many parts of the world can share information that is useful in solving an existing problem in any business. International teams allow the members to have a diverse experience thus strengthening the international relations. Team work is also known to bring life in the company where employees not only improve the productivity, but also, improve their social skills. Groups that are workable provide motivation to the members and this result to high performance in the overall business tasks (Alder 2002, p. 545). Belbin is one of the theorists who advocate for multi-cultural teams rather than relying on the groups comprising of members of similar cultures and profiles. The transnational teams are important because they improve managerial development, organizational learning and integration, high levels of creativity and innovation, as well as, fast decision-making. International teams can be made by members from America, Europe, Asia, Africa and more. People from different cultural backgrounds argues from different perspectives, for example, the French raises bright ideas, the Swedish are good at obtaining the necessary resources and the Germans structures the tasks very well (Jones and Oyung 2005, p. 173). The international teams are effective in marketing, product launch and advertisement the initial public offerings through the road shows and foreign trips (Adair, Hideg and Spence 2013, p. 78). For example, when Apple Inc. decides to introduce a new product in the global market, it employs diverse workforce to research about the market in dissimilar parts of the world. In other words, the transnational teams enable companies to reach out to the diverse consumers in all parts of the world. Team-Building Multi-cultural teams do not occur naturally according the theorists in business management. Team-building is not only needed in the international teams, but also, in the uniform teams comprising employees sharing a common culture. Right from the start, the team members ought to apply their skills in order to ensure the smooth flow of the implementation of projects (Lewis 2007, p. 90). For example, in the construction sector, the members of the team are supposed to work from the day of inception till completion of a project, which could be a building or the roads. It, therefore, means that team members should bring in ideas, issues of concern, problem for them to be consistent and effective in running the project. High-performing Teams In order to achieve high performance, the team members should consider several issues. First, they should understand themselves. It might appear small, but, very critical in the decision-making process. In the beginning, the employees should establish themselves in what Tuckman calls the phase of orientation. For example, in marketing strategies, the members should affirm that they are ready to devote their time in personal selling, advertising or providing customer care services. Secondly, teams should establish the corporate direction or the course to be taken by all members. They should then, organize themselves, that is, by creating positions whereby they would have a core team and the external members (Guirdham 2002, p. 45). The next step involves assigning members the roles. For example, Belbin postulates that any ideal team should comprise of a coordinator, specialist, resource investigator and the implementer. These members perform different tasks that are meant to drive the project or business forward.Then, the team should identify the supporting people and particularly, the external financiers. For example, during a product launch, the team should identify the financing companies whether in the United States, United Kingdom, China or Japan (Yeatts and Hyten 1998, p. 76). Provision of feedback is another important issue in a team as it helps the evaluators to establish the level of performance of the entire team. The group of employees should also find out how their organization perceives them. Another important issue involves identifying the conflicts and their causes. For example, there can be fights or tensions resulting from the poor communication skills. Also, it is vital to identify how well the group has cooperated in solving the problems or completing tasks (Guirdham 2002, p. 46). In other words, there should be the assessment of the accountability of each member of the team. Theories of Team-Building and Theories in Practice Tuckman focuses on how the groups are developed in order to allow smooth decision-making process. He divides the process of group development into four phases. In the first phase, there is forming or orientation of the group members. The high-performing workers try to establish their identity, which could be based on race, social status, age or national origin. At this stage, they try satisfy their individual needs. In order to develop a strong team, the forming should be polite and relevant to the tasks prospected to be completed by the group. In the second phase, the team undergoes storming whereby the members stops to be polite and starts to reveal their real character traits. At this stage, conflicts may occur due to competition among the members (Daft 2010, p. 124). In the norming phase, the group settles with everybody appreciating the diversity of cultures existing in a group. They start to develop some norms on how the group can perform and behave well in the course of the decision-making. This phase is prone to low levels of creativity where members think that togetherness drives the team. Then, there is the performing stage where members perform the tasks assigned to them by their leader, for example, the specialists prepare reports on how the decisions made could affect the business, environment or the economy. Then, the adjourning phase completes the meeting by either postponing or delaying the tasks performed by the group members (Daft 2010, p. 126). Theory in Practice There have been lots of difficulties in the implementation of the theories described in team-building and teamwork. Such problems have been experienced due to the different characteristics of teams. First, teams can be culturally homogenous or culturally heterogeneous. Then, the teamwork can be carried out in two dissimilar contexts, that is, face-to-face and the e-mail, phone, as well as, videoconferences (Thomas 2004, p. 145). Most businesses, today, have tried to use the international teams to perform certain tasks, but, have failed. Usually, the businesses seek to understand the international issues that can help their firms. For example, an international company may employ different workers from different regions around the world in order to get an insight of how consumers behave in the local areas. Despite the complexities encountered in the creation of an international team, the managers appreciate cultural diversity and the interdependence between units (Lestig 2002, p. 121). In the distribution of goods, for example, managers will understand the reasons behind slow operations in the supply of goods to the consumers and thus develop strategies to curb that problem. Problems in the transnational teams occur due to several reasons. First, there can be intergroup biases among the team members. When some members become biased when making decisions, the team might end up in a conflict. Such conflicts arise because no one wants to be “fooled.” The preconceived opinions about an ethnic group might as well lead to conflicts. For example, the Americans have a stereotype about the foreigners. When members become concerned on the facial appearance among themselves, conflicts are likely to emerge. Conflicts or chaos can erupt if some members are unable to sustain ethical behaviours and perceptions about their colleagues who share different cultures (Alder 2002, p. 546). When teams are in tension due to the stated reasons, some members can be forced out from the groups. As a result, the teams can become ineffective in the decision-making process leading to non-completion of certain tasks. Divergence in communication is common in multi-cultural teams. It leads to misunderstanding of the purpose of the team and thus prevents the completion of the tasks meant to drive the business forward (Guirdam 2011, p. 134). In most transnational teams prone to conflicts, the evaluators or managers end up being frustrated since they misrepresent the organization in the public. Harassment is also common among members because of the conflicting interests presented in the groups. Remedies to Problems arising in International Teams The managers and the employees should participate in improving the teams, right from the start until the end of the decision-making and problem-solving processes (Lestig 2002, p. 123). Since there have been an increase in need for hiring employees from different locations of the world, the managers should consider several issues. First, the managers should make decisions differently. Teams are known to work differently across the world. In the United States, teams choose directions quickly and in case of problems they make fast adjustments to keep the projects moving. In Sweden, the teams engage in lengthy discussions so as to arrive at a conclusion. It is different with Japan where decision-making takes place in two phases. First, the informal discussions and secondly, the formal group meeting. With the diversity in the problem-solving processes, the managers, therefore, should incorporate the decisions and then develop a common avenue to be used by all members in a team. The styles of decision-making remain problematic to teams because they culturally constructed (Leitch 2006, p. 189). The managers and the group members can as well enhance teamwork by communicating differently. They should be open when airing their views and reduce biased ideas that inhibit cooperation in the team. Where the teams are conducted through videoconferences, the managers improve their voice quality and incorporate body language rather than talking while sitting rigidly on their desks (Berger 1996, p. 25). Coordination is much important especially when the employees have different views (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner 2004, p. 177). The team allows more involvement of members in the problem-solving processes when there is good communication. In order to improve the communication skills, companies can hire cross-cultural managers and human resource managers to train the employees on how to deal with diverse cultures at personal level (Guirdam 2011, p. 136). When managers lead the members differently, they can improve the ineffective international teams. They should give clear directions and remove all ambiguities that give rise to misunderstanding. As stated earlier, highly-performing teams are usually directed well without any “roadside” instructions. Whether face-to-face or internet meetings, international teams work well when directions are issued by the central coordinators (Leitch 2006, p. 192). However, businesses should understand that members working in the same office can share some materials such as brochures, but, this does not work in the virtual teams. Members and managers of teams should learn how to build trust among them. Sometimes, the participators in a group may fail to perform some task because the manager has insufficient confidence in them (Clutter 2007, p. 98). For example, the specialists in a team discussing how to promote products in a foreign country may feel unworthy when the managers keep on asking for results, now and then. In other words, team members should try to work out differently when it comes to cross-cultural teams. Self-Management and Cross-Cultural Teams When the theories put across to improve the performance of the teams, companies’ teams can employ self-management. Self-management refers to the practice whereby the individuals in a team take the responsibility for monitoring and managing their own behaviours and performance (Uhl-Biem and Graen 1992, p. 143). In this way, the team coordinators may not have difficulties in giving directions or arriving at decisions with his/her members. Note that the teams share common values, which also need to be managed (Adair, Hideg and Spence 2013, p. 81). In the international teams, the members should be assigned tasks in their areas of expertise in order to enhance the group’s performance. Self-management gives the rise of the need to identify the shared values in culturally heterogeneous teams (Uhl-Biem and Graen 1992, p. 145). Identification of these values should take place in the early stages of group development. In this way, the team coordinators can establish mechanisms that are effective to protect the team from conflicts. In summary, team members should focus on the following issues inorder to improve the performance or reconstruct the faulty teams. First, employees should improve their organization skills in order to keep the running projects in motion. Organization skills also enable efficient completion of the planned tasks (Cappelli 2010, p. 130). Secondly, the interpersonal communication skills should be improved as well in order to reduce ambiguities and conflicts in a team. In the cross-cultural teams, the members should accurately perceive the day-to-day activities conducted by the team. Workers should apply their time-management skills in order to reduce delays in performance of the tasks. There should be a sense of accountability among the team members. The group members should enhance their abilities to solve conflicts, which could be achieved through undergoing cross-cultural training (Cappelli 2010, p. 131). References List Adair W L, Hideg I and Spence J R 2013, The Culturally Intelligent Team: The Impact of TeamCultural Intelligence and Cultural Heterogeneity on Team Shared Values, Journal of Cross-Culture Psychology, London, Sage Publication. Adler, N J 2002,International Dimensions of Organisational Behaviour (4th Edition), Canada, South Western, Thomson Learning. 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Uhl-Biem M and Graen G B 1992, Self-Management and Team-Making in Cross-Functional Work Teams: Discovering the Keys to Becoming an Integrated Team, Lincoln, University of Nebraska. Yeatts, D E & Hyten, C 1998, High-performing self-managed work teams: a comparison of theory to practice, Cambridge, Sage. Read More