Why cultural literacy enhances virtual team productivity

Fact: "The Dutch have a dominant direct communication style, which is more likely to be a source of conflict with staff from Asia".

The advancement in the way we communicate has given companies the opportunities to hire workers from borderless communities and such teams who work in different, time, space, language and culture are defined as Virtual teams. Basically, technology has enabled managers to pool the talents and expertise of employees and non-employees by eliminating time and space barriers by utilizing internet technologies, guided by common purposes, roles, and norms. Therefore, for the virtual team to be productive, it has become important that the team acquires knowledge in cultural diversity so that they can have a cross-cultural collaboration to accomplish projects. 

Being culturally literate means, you can co-operate across borders and time zones – in virtual teams. Cultural awareness is one of the most important communication skills required for one to work in a virtual team. Issues like respect and awareness are essential when you are working with people from different backgrounds as every individual understands, interprets, and evaluates issues in different ways. Communication with other cultures and working in a virtual world often leads to misunderstandings which are much more than just overcoming language barriers. Building up a stable and trustful business relationship requires workers to be culturally sensitive. 

Therefore, as a manager, as a criterion for recruitment, I would insist on the potential candidates be able to demonstrate that they can interact with people from other cultures. Some countries, for example, The Netherlands have a dominant direct communication style, which is more likely to be a source of conflict with staff from Asia for example who comes from an indirect culture. 

Some other examples of cultural influence on staffs work style include: 

• U.S. managers like to solicit input, choose a direction quickly, and adjust as the project moves forward. 
• In Sweden, teams make decisions through lengthy consensus-building which eventually leads to rapid implementation. 
• French teams’ debate and confrontation are necessary elements of any decision-making process. 
• Within Japanese companies, decisions tend to be made in informal one-on-one discussions before a formal group meeting.

To have these differences in mind can quickly resolve any workplace-related friction since you meet people from different cultures, what is proper and correct in one culture may be wrong or even offensive in another. It is also important as a manager to note that, no culture is right or wrong, better, or worse. People just happen to different. 

As a manager, my duty is to instill a culture of staff learning to enjoy interacting with people from different countries and nationalities as shared experiences. Working together with people around the globe opens the horizon beyond your own culture and opens tolerance for different mentalities. What we must understand is some cultural norms are universal, for example, we all like to be respected and valued, to be heard, and to be taken seriously. Working within international teams means that everybody must leave their domestic comfort zones. To be productive in virtual teams, each team member must understand the cultural background of each of their teammates. 

However, note how you phrase the questions to a colleague from another cultural background is going to be your first assignment in cultural literacy, because sincerely in some In other cultures it is rude to ask people about their private lives. The difference between a face-to-face team is that it is easier to look at someone in the eyes to build trust, however, in a virtual team it is impossible to read people's facials or even emotions. Therefore, how can a manager overcome the challenges which come with building a virtual team from diverse cultures? A few steps you can take are to break the ice in cross-cultural teams by introducing regular team-building activities. 

Here is one example: Take a virtual coffee break. Set up a meeting where all team members can join via video conference so that they can see each other. Don`t allow anyone to talk about business topics. It`s all about small talk and connection on a personal level. Ask your teammates about a typical coffee/tea break in their country. Who is joining, where do they go to, coffee shop, canteen, meeting room? Let them send over pictures from their offices, from the teams. Encourage your team to exchange ideas, information, and knowledge.

In a nutshell, consider conducting a team coaching session on intercultural awareness in virtual teams to create consciousness and understanding of the impact of cultural differences and how to develop and improve productivity across cultures.

By Moses Atocon.

Content Creator with a Specialization in diversity targeted marketing and is passionate about the study of fusion of the field of culture and A I technology.