Management of Teams - Significance of a Multicultural Team - Essay Example

Task Management of Teams Introduction The current economy globally requires people from diverse cultural dynamics to work together for it to grow. People should not be confined to working with counterparts from the same culture or same geographical environment. This is because people from different cultures are able to come up with different ideas hence becoming innovative, which results in better output. When a team of workers is compromised with people from diverse cultural settings, there is significant and healthy competition. This allows easy and fast realization of the objectives and goals. It is therefore advisable for companies to consider having workers from different cultural and geographical backgrounds working together. Significance of a Multicultural Team Multicultural team brings together individuals from different professions, gender different thinking styles. When these factors are combined they form a competent team, which realizes its goal within a short time. A team with people from different cultural systems prevents the smooth interaction of people (Diestefano and Mazneviski 45). This is because people come with different ideas on how the group should function. When a team is compromised of people from the same culture, their work may be compromised. This is because people tend to hold deeply on to their cultures, thus forgetting their mission. A team from different cultures ignores the cultures since they are not usually addressed. Difference in culture instills value to the team members as opposed to people working from the same cultures. Culture affects how team members come up with ideas and how the handle difficult situations. Multicultural teams are able to handle complex situations in their work. They have the ability to come up with innovative ideas and dynamic ways of handling a particular problem. It is therefore advantageous to have a team of people from different cultures than to have a team of combined good members. What Is A Good Combination of Team Members? A good combination of team members is one that holds the virtues of their team as a priority in realizing the goals of the team. There is no division between the team members as they consider themselves as one team (Elron, and Vigoda-Gadot 299). This is because division of the team will result in members doing their own things, which may lead to failure of the team. When one member fails it results to the failure of the whole team. Teams should work as a unit to enhance the realization of the group objectives and goals. A good team member has a vision in which they communicate the same message. When individuals have one vision, they are able to move on the same direction. This vision always reminds them on their duties and obligation. It acts as a motivating factor because people are guided by the same vision in realizing the goals of the team. Members of well combined team are aware of their responsibilities and remain accountable of every action during the course of the teams mission (Hong 100). This makes team members to responsible to themselves and to the other colleagues in the team. The members in these teams are usually honest with each other and freely accept to be corrected when they do mistakes. When such members are criticized they take it positively and their responsibilities are crystal clear to them. A good combination of team members is able to work smoothly under pressure because they are ready to help each other in times of problem. As they are ready to help each other I difficult situations, their morale is usually high and they are hard working. The members of a combination of good members are usually flexible as time changes. They are able to adapt and work in different environments and circumstances. For any team to be of a good combination, it should uphold the above virtues of team work, individual and collective responsibility and have well defined roles with clear leadership hierarchy. Potential Additional Hurdles in a Multicultural Team Multicultural groups are faced with a variety of difficulties in their process of achieving their goals. These hurdles may jeopardize the mission of the team if not dealt with in good time. Some members may be having different goals and this usually results in a conflict within the team members (Hong 110). This makes them feel like they are being stopped from achieving what they want. Team conflict may navigate the members away from their set goals as they argue on whose needs should be meet. The other conflict might be brought about by members fighting over the limited resources. This type of conflict is known as group conflict and it may jeopardize the mission of the group. Other members may conflict due to their social identity in the team. This is because others feel they are superior to others in the team. When the members within a team do not have smooth relations, there is a possibility of problematic issues within the group. This is because the members do not trust each other hence they do not work in harmony (Lane 98). Trust is an important virtue for any team to succeed with its activities and the realization of its goals. When a team does not have lacks amongst its individual members, each member works for his/her own interests as opposed to that of the entire team. This will easily result to the failure of the team because members will not be working for the attainment of the overall group objective. Evading responsibility is another difficulty in a multicultural team. People in some cultures believe that some responsibilities can only be done by a certain sex. This belief has led some people in avoiding their responsibilities because they take it to be dignifying. It is because of this reason that some teams are not able realizing their goals in good time. Shifting blame amongst team members in the event of a problem results in poor performance or failure to attain goals of a team (Parker 105). People ought to be responsible for their mistakes and rectify them as soon as possible. A team member should help his friend when he is in problems. Negative attitudes are the other hurdles in multicultural teams. Some members have an off-putting attitude towards others when they are doing their work. This people usually discourage others, which may lower the output of a group. They usually criticize anything their colleagues do hence discouraging them. It is bad habit to comment negatively to workmates because it lowers people’s morale. Team members should encourage each other for them to realize their goals smoothly and perfectly. Conclusion Multicultural team is advantageous because it brings together people from different professions, gender and people with a different perspective of thinking. Multicultural teams are usually innovative as people have a different way of thinking. Good combination of team members is one that upholds virtues in their daily activities. These virtues include taking responsibilities, trust, honesty, and helping colleagues in difficult situations. These teams work as a unit because they want to realize the same goal. Works Cited Diestefano, Joseph and Martha Mazneviski. “Creating Value in Diverse Teams in Global Management.” Organization Dynamics, Vol 2, no 1, pp 45-63. 2000. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. Elron, Eflrat and Erat Vigoda-Gadot. “Influence and Political Processes in Cyberspace. The Case of Global Virtual Teams.” International Journal Of Cross Cultural Management. 2006, 6(3): 295–317. Web 30 Jan. 2012. Hong, Hae-Jung. “Bicultural Competence and Its Impact on Team Effectiveness.” International Journal Of Cross Cultural Management. 2010, 10(1): 93–120. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. Lane, Henry. The Blackwell Handbook of Global Management: A Guide to Managing Complexity. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2004. Print. Parker, Glenn. Team Players and Teamwork: New Strategies for Developing Successful Collaboration. New York: John Wiley and Sons, 2011.Print. Read More