Different Cultures, Different Opportunities

Have you ever tried eating a dish, maybe dal fry or even fried rice every time each day?

Do you think one can eat the same cuisine every day?

Can the taste buds remain alive while getting accustomed to one type of food?

The obvious answers to the questions above would be a no since it’s humanly impossible to keep on dishing out the same food and will cause boredom, lack of different tastes, and a complete change of chemicals in the brain.

Diversity in working, eating, workplaces, communities and various other human spaces are vital for bringing in new ideas, visions, interactions, building new friendships and others. The benefits of starting work in a diversified place are immense since they influence both the human connection and mental aspect of the human resources domain.

A shared space that consists of intermixing of different cultures, traditions, values and ethics leads to a multi-dimensional view over things. Modern corporate managers and those involved with leadership need to operate under tight schedules and manage different particulars about their firms.

The end goal for managerial and leadership activities is to meet the objectives set by top tier executives and ensure that company’s meet success at the international levels. The way in which managers oversee and marshal their troops towards performing tasks highly influences their outcomes.

Also Read : Leadership Challenges faced by Leaders with Multicultural Teams

Variety in Diversity: Understanding Granular Immersion of Different Cultures in Corporates

Multiculturalism has been the trending topic ever since companies started absorbing recruits from all over the world to bring them on board within their teams. The movement of different cultures and traditions creates a space for more proactive and culturally acceptable practices.

Today, with social media’s presence and delivery of newsletters, blog posts, websites, and other online jargon, nothing is hidden. Therefore, controversies and incidents regarding cultural appropriation are read by hoards of consumers, journalists, and fellow competitors.

This can significantly mar the image of a reputable organisation and drag down its name, making it more poignant for companies that deliver goods to consumers.

Hurting PR and publicity can have severe consequences on businesses. Hence, firms need to replenish their human capital from different cultures that can not only help bolster their working efficiency but also sends a signal across that the firm considers all traditions as equal.

Multiculturalism is a good niche for targeting consumers from different backgrounds for upselling their offerings. It is a technique that is followed by Nike- the elite sports company for encapturing audiences from different cultures and regions.

The IIM leadership programs are well-researched courses that assist enrollees to manage diversified corporate places through good relationships and work ethics.

Also Read : What Do You Gain From Leadership Programs?

Managing a Diverse Working Shared Space: An Aerial View

The diversity in businesses and corporations opens an avenue for the incoming of new ideas, thinking of new and innovative procedures, different viewpoints for the understanding of issues that need to be solved, and a creative space that helps offer out-of-box solutions for dealing with workplace challenges.

Any multicultural organisation is based on parameters such as inclusion, acceptance of varying cultures and treating each worker with respect and dignity for thriving in this competitive space.

The companies need to set up strategies that help in traversing through the cultural obstacles and turn them into growth-related opportunities and a passage for creating a positive team environment.

Working and leading team-related projects requires everyone to stay on track, and results can be achieved when everyone feeds off the energy of one another—a multicultural team environment whose existing members originate from various countries and traditions.

Leveraging practices that ensure that these team members co-exist peacefully and avoid internal fights can be done by holding meetups and winding down during non-working hours to develop long-lasting bonds.

When it comes to managing a multi diverse team along with aligning them towards achieving corporate goals, managers need to ascertain that cultural practices are maintained, and everyone in the team setup respects different cultural ethics.

There’s no proven way to assist corporation personnel from different backgrounds to come forward and work as a unit. Instead, it requires a more nuanced understanding of certain concepts that lead to successful management.

The XLRI project management courses have been curated to offer deeper insights into what this role demands and also explores the methodologies that can help manage diversified staff.

Here are some strategies and practical methods for leading a multicultural workforce:-

Leading a Multicultural Workforce in Corporate Settings

Successful leaders don’t take excess baggage while strutting out on deploying action plans, managing their workers and assigning them different duties; they establish clear and concise goals that comply with existing business practices to come with optimum results.

A famous quote by MS Dhoni, one of the most influential sportspersons, highlights one of the critical qualities of leaders- “I believe in giving in more than 100% on the field, and I don’t worry about the result, if there’s a great commitment on the field, that’s a victory for me.” 

Commitment fuelled by passion and diversity in the organisational flow of things can lead to creating advantageous positions for managers in their companies.

Here’s how managers and leaders need to lead and motivate their multicultural employees:-

Also Read : How Good Leadership and Management Lead Businesses to Success

Overcoming Language and Cultural Barriers that Exist in Firms

A culturally diverse and immersed company will have several employees with thick accents, and even though they might interact in English, there might be challenges in comprehension, understanding and other aspects.

Leaders need to intervene and sort out any language barriers that employees, C-suite executives and other working professionals might be facing while doing interactions.

It’s essential that managers come up with a practical solution that might look like having a unified language across the entire organisation for interaction.

Doing so will enable the culturally diverse team members to share ideas and their knowledge with locals and gather new perspectives.

Moreover, on the flip side, leaders can conduct weekly or monthly bonding sessions that aim at teaching different sentences, everyday phrases and other basics of languages so that oncoming diverse employees don’t feel out of place and stay connected.

Also, another practical way for mitigating any language barriers is to conduct a poll and choose the one wherein employees feel more comfortable talking with and persist with the same so that no one feels left out.

Business and project managers can set up informal gatherings after work where both local and culturally diverse employees can learn about different traditions. It’s an ideal way to learn and understand about new cultural practices, values, ethics and rules.

Delegation of tasks as per cultural customs and norms can prove to be another successful method for managing a multicultural corporation.

Keeping in mind that each person of different cultures has their own set out working schedules, vacation rules, and list of holidays can come in handy while involving this personnel at decision-making stages.

Also Read : What Effective Leadership Can Do To Your Organization

Consider Deploying Separate Cultural Communication Styles

With different and a multitude of cultures come their own communication styles and expressions. Consider an example wherein a group of Australians might gel well by having friendly banter and taking a mickey out of their daily tasks. For another culture, such as those coming from Arab countries, might like to keep it to themselves.

Managers at the helm of looking after such teams need to research and study how different traditions interact, wind down, and communicate. Apart from direct communication, the non-verbal cues need to be understood, such as facial expressions, gestures and body language.

Diversity is also existent in the manner how different cultures talk with their seniors, and hence leaders need to utilise them while distributing tasks or sharing information with colleagues and team members.

There are particular layers to non-verbal communication and are used in their own context and styles; these include- high-context, low-context and multi-active culture practices.

High-context culture cues usually work for indirect communication. The dialogues are limited and are spoken one at a time. In the situations when conflict arises, people that follow high context culture can solve issues immediately as they continue with their work.

Some of the countries that follow high-context cultural norms include- Japan, Greece and numerous other Arab associations.

The cultures associated with low context are heavily reliant on presenting open-ended communication with other people. When conflicts and other disagreements happen at workplaces, these people don’t necessarily have to resolve them straight away to continue their work.

Countries that follow low-context cultural norms include Germany, United States and Scandinavian nations.

Lastly, multi-active cultures include a hybrid communication that focuses on showcasing a mix of verbal and non-verbal cues. Conflicts arising in the workplace can be solved on the spot or after the event has taken place.

Spanish, Italian and Latin American countries follow multi-active cultures.

As seen from the paragraphs above, managers need to be mindful of different social norms and practices while talking to their German colleagues and those from Peru, as they can have contrasting cultures and societal non-verbal communication.

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Planning Projects, Assignments and Meetings Around Different Time-Zones

With the remote work from home approaches taking steam in the last year and a half, businesses are operating and working across different time zones.

Supervising a multicultural team virtually can be a challenging and an uphill task if the manager or leader isn’t physically in the same place and time zone.

Therefore, managers need to be aware of different time zones and organise their work accordingly to avoid any lapses. Also, while setting deadlines in mind, managers need to assign work within their time zones and achieve results.

The IIM Kozhikode professional certificate program in general management is a hands-on course that teaches about the robust methods for recharging the workforce and improving productivity at workplaces.

Moreover, maintaining productivity across different time zones requires an online paradigm that allows for real-time surveillance of a project/assignment.

Managing people across different time zones in itself is a challenge, along with ensuring that these multicultural understand and perform the organisation’s capabilities is another facet of modern leadership.

A leader’s true guile and ability can be unearthed from how well they manage a cross-cultural team with their own separate time zones to come out with results as expected by organisations.

What makes working across different time zones even harder is that one team might be working it’s usual 9-5 while for other countries, it could be well past their operating hours.

Therefore, managers and leaders need to step in and devise scheduling plans that work around the clock, prioritising tasks that need to be done urgently, heading meetings and making sure that each employee contributes towards the end result.

Along with scheduling plans, top-level managers and leaders need to draft deadlines that meet the stipulated time frames. Delivery of goods, services and other offerings must be done as per the decided periods since it leads to growth options for companies and helps in incurring revenue and profits.

Leveraging time management apps can do a world of good for managers managing teams across different zones.

These apps will assist managers and organisational leaders in tracking a given project’s progress and deeply examining weekly productivity levels that assess the actual time activity of employees.

Also Read : How to Develop a Robust Project Management Plan

Giving a Space to Diverse Employees to Prepare for Meetings and Speeches

Diversity brings with itself specific challenges that can be a cause for hindrance to growth and success for companies. It’s true that managers and leaders both need feedback and suggestions from their team members to serve firms and come out with workable strategies.

However, this can be a glaring issue for employees from nations raised in a different language as used by the ones in corporations.

Working as a team and learning things on the go are critical parameters for getting used to a company’s atmosphere and to express an individual’s thoughts and inputs.

But those coming from different cultural backgrounds might require some time to gather their thoughts, analyse what is being discussed and form their own viewpoints. Managers need to understand the same and give their diversified employees time to prepare while speaking in a foreign language.

Managers need to ensure that as the multicultural staff gather their thoughts and take some time while making a point, they shouldn’t interrupt or move on to another subject.

Patience holds the key when it requires dealing and working with cultural staff personnel for achieving optimal results. This leads to effective communication and creates excellent team bonding.

The onus of speaking and understanding foreign languages goes both ways since it gives employees from different diverse countries time to put across their thoughts, helping them become valued part of organisations.

Furthermore, local and native employees can get a golden opportunity to learn several foreign languages and widen their vocabulary.

When workers are given time and a platform to assess their thoughts, they can deliver better and moving speeches, knowledgeable insights and present their perspectives in meetings in a terrific manner.

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Being Open and Acceptable to all Cultures and Traditions

In a social media-led age and space, where people are quick to judge and spread negativity and hate about a particular culture or a tradition, it’s hard to get a clear picture of people’s true essence and beliefs.

Social media and other channels cast an impression on us as to how we perceive certain cultures as better than others. However, business managers need to practice impartiality while being open to all different traditions and cultures.

This means that companies should avoid embracing only one culture and absorbing the workforce from different cultures. Firms should strictly avoid promoting only a single culture in their corporations and not creating room for hate and negative publicity.

Consider an example where it’s vital to decorate office spaces as per different cultures during the holiday season. This sends a good message across multicultural teams that their cultures are respected and embrace and celebrate other traditions.

These practices that promote a shared cultural vision can be learnt by honing one’s skill sets and understanding titular facets of management. The online MICA business management programme is amongst selected courses that teach about the intricacies of leading a diverse space and taking them forward to meet organisational objectives.

The effort needs to come from the top-tier managerial and leadership domains since they hold power for promoting and developing an enriching cultural environment.

Leaders and managers need to make sincere efforts and develop strategies that help explore different cultures and understand their characteristics, traits, traditions, and values.

“Culture opens the sense of beauty.”

The above eye-opening quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson sheds light on the need and role of multiculturalism in society. The same idiosyncrasies can be applied in workplace settings to create an open and acceptable environment for different cultures.

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Organising and Scheduling Cross-Cultural Training Programs

Another practical methodology to counter-cultural differences and help employees gel well with each other is that executive departments can develop training programs aimed at bringing people from different traditions together.

The sole purpose of the training procedures could be to address and solve cultural differences and challenges that might exist at any level. The training would assist in mitigating any challenges that arise due to cultural shortcomings and teach about adopting more open and inclusive cultural practices.

Scheduling these special classes that teach and help other staff members understand different cultures needs to be promoted and preached in all major organisations.

Multiculturalism is an excellent trait that any firm can have for bringing in vastly talented employees on board, and the presence of training programs will only motivate diversified staff members to become a part of a global organisation.

The amalgamation of different cultures with locales can be an excellent breeding ground for introducing new perspectives, points of view, problem-solving techniques and another plethora of activities that can help give a holistic view to operations that undergo any organisation.

There are different areas that culture fostering environments can aim to highlight and shell out the disparities between other traditions. Moreover, managers need to ensure that the historical differences don’t come in between different practices, and it should at no level lead to internal disputes.

Therefore, organisations must draft up these training programs with particular focus areas, and they must be delivered across firms through well-reformed managerial staff personnel.

Here are some of the areas that cultural training programs need to aim at:-

• Proactive measures for minimising cultural barriers
• Practical steps to mitigate stereotyping and prevalent prejudices
• Creating a positive working environment by appreciating one’s skills and others skill sets.
• Improvising and working on building a solid set of social skills
• Becoming a better listener for understanding different viewpoints.
• Changing of attention from those on differences to common principles

Also Read : Why Training and Development of Employees is Essential for an Organisation

Canvassing a Multicultural Corporation Ecosystem: The Way Forward

Just like any natural flora or fauna, biodiversity mutually exists together with its varied water sources, separate breeds of animals, insects, birds and other members of the animal chain. Moreover, there’s a variety of different rocks, grasses, plains, meadows, trees and flowers that constitute any diversified natural habitat.

The complete addition of all these elements presents nature with picturesque locations and offers a mechanical view over things with the completion of all-natural processes.

The umbrella view as shared by any natural ecosystem described above can also be applied in governing and leading a culturally diverse environment.

Consider a situation wherein during lunch breaks you can experience hot dogs of the USA, pita bread and hummus dip of Lebanese countries, the rare redded steak that Australians relish, naan, bread and Indian curry, along with dishing out one ever so presentable and healthy Italian pizza.

Mouth-watering, right? The benefits of adopting multiculturalism in a working place are immense, and it can definitely make up for a rewarding environment.

By practising empathy, taking care of others’ sentiments, offering honest feedback and involving different cultures in group meetings by giving them an open space for communication provides numerous advantages for organisations.

The reasons for teaching a diversified set of employees in workplaces boils down to the following statistics:-

As per a report concluded by McKinsey Research, the presence of diversity in corporations increases the likelihood of thwarting competitors by as high as 35%.

Harvard Business Review, in its 2020 report, also came to the conclusion that diversity in working settings can bolster market growth by 45%.

The inception of racial diversity has shown a direct correlation with boosting revenues. Recent research headed by Cedric Herring found out that the income of low racial companies is 15 times less than that of their higher diversified competitors.

The stats above represent the staggering results that are achieved through promoting and creating a multicultural environment for taking organisations forward. Managing a team of culturally different employees offers both challenges and opportunities for companies.

It all depends upon managers the manner in which they lead and motivate their troops for achieving results and getting work done despite several hurdles. This is possible by the theoretical understandings and practical knowledge that young professionals possess that help them traverse through tricky phases in their careers.

The exclusive set of leadership courses online have been developed to offer deeper insights and concepts that can increase chances of getting success with a diversified and driven group of employees.

Skillsets are the underrated beneficiaries that also assist managers in negotiating daily challenges and coming out as triumphant at the end of the day. The three musketeers of leading a culturally diverse working place revolve around nailing the theoretical, practical arenas that are already taught through several change management programs in India.

By getting the right set of skill sets, professionals coming through can formulate robust strategies and set on the path of becoming experts in change management and leadership roles.

The working place should exhibit acceptance and inclusion for different cultures and different individuals that come from a wide array of traditions, ethics and values. Displaying key skillets at this level will only help in making organisations go the distance.

Also Read : How HR professionals can promote multiculturalism in the workplace

The Skill-Sets that are Involved While Leading Culturally Diverse Organisations

Leadership is a demanding and central role that helps firms go to the next step in their quest for growth and success. Moreover, the leadership development experts that are entrusted with the part of performing critical tasks for their organisations need to develop competent and feasible strategies that help in driving multicultural competencies.

To display and lead culturally spaced organisations, professionals filling out these roles need to have the proper armour at their disposal.

With the rise of technologies and with it the evolution of workplace procedures, it’s essential for companies to communicate far and beyond with different countries and their talented individuals for bolstering their managerial and leadership reserves.

The global view of the world as seen from culturally driven organisations requires one to have a particular set of competencies to achieve their goals and take a step ahead in bringing talent across different domains.

The XLRI project management courses for senior professionals are vital for experienced executives to hone and upgrade the following skills to accommodate changes in their workplace settings.

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Leadership and Managerial Skill-Sets that are a Must in Culturally-Driven Corporations

A company is defined not by its end products and goods but by the value it delivers across the supply chain. Customers in 2021 are likely to purchase a firm’s offerings that consider different cultures and accommodate other traditions.

Therefore, companies that rely on resources provided to them by their ethnic and traditional staff need to have a capable leader at their helm that can lead their troops.

To their advantage, there are several skill sets that lead to efficient and robust strategies in such culturally tied organisations; some of these include the following:-

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Ability to Influence Others

Influence is a crucial criterion for motivating others and leading them towards success. A person’s influence on their surroundings can define the outcome of businesses and whether they will be thriving in the long term or not.

Leaders can become effective at exercising influence through listening and fostering others by openly interacting and communicating their ideas and thinking patterns.

Also Read : How to Influence Others When in a Leadership Role?

Advocating ideas and effective practices to negotiate mutually successful outcomes can be performed when employees and their managers work together towards the same vision.

Influencing others can be challenging for leaders since they have to deal with troughing past cultural and ethnic barriers.

Therefore, communication is the key since it can act as a powerful tool for managers to delegate work and also micro-manage their team members in an effective manner.

Great influencers are vital for taking companies to a newer level. In order to develop competent and successful employees, managers need to encourage dialogue and improve measures for building through and through cultural intelligence.

Influence rubs off on others and makes the leaders and managers as role models in the eyes of their followers, employees and co-workers. Exhibiting the right kind of influence can have a significant impact on how multiculturalism is promoted and used to a company’s advantage.

The ability to influence others needs to be built via performing a close study of employees and observing the areas they need help with, and inspiring them with ideas that can benefit organisations in the long run.

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Developing Nurturing and Positive Relationships

Managers need to shed the employee and leader aspect if they want to get the most out of their culturally diverse employees. One way of achieving this can be done by forming friendly and supportive relationships with employees, the company’s associates and other key stakeholders.

Leaders need to recognise their team members’ accomplishments and show respect to people, the ideas they think of, and the different perspectives they bring in organisational work cultures.

Strong leaders maintain relationships by positively resolving interpersonal disagreements and conflicts by solving them at nascent stages to avoid ascending them.

Ensuring that everyone is working toward the shared objective can be difficult for a leader who is managing a team across different locations, time zones and cultures. By making calculated corrections along with mitigating risks when needed and celebrating achievements, multicultural leaders can succeed in developing and maintaining positive relationships.

Conflicts often arise in the workplace. In fact, managers typically spend about twenty-five to forty per cent of their time on conflict-related issues that have continued even in this era of remote working.

Cultural differences can exacerbate this, such as communication styles, emotional intelligence, openness, and work formality expectations.

Leaders involved in multicultural organisations need to develop transparency with their fellow employees and advocate truthfulness while carrying out their operations to build long-lasting relationships.

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With employees, stakeholders, associates and other key members of the organisation, it’s essential for the managers to develop an environment of growth and positivity. While dealing with multicultural staff personnel, leaders need to practice open-ended communication and listen to their points of view.

Different traditions bring forth their different values, ethics, principles and morals; hence businesses should be aware of these and utilise these activities to promote robust and effective interaction.

Therefore, there might be several challenges, limitations and other issues related to managing employees that are a part of a culturally diverse space. But that being said, there’s a unique opportunity for professionals to lead and manage such culturally diverse organisations and the successes make it ideal for advancing in career roles.

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Building a Right Team of Workers

Leadership and management both require a team of competent, knowledgeable, skilful and efficient workers who can help corporations achieve their objectives.

Since leadership management operates in teams, it gives a great platform to absorb different cultures and its people to come up with innovative ideas for scheming and planning things.

Managers must ensure that employees with different cultural backgrounds don’t feel out of place and should focus on contributing to the team’s cause. One of the practical and established ways to do that is by creating collaborative and interactive models that paved the way for more free-flowing communication.

Today, several fields operate with multicultural employees to tick off their goals, and upcoming managers need to be well-equipped with Its management and monitoring.

Enrolling on hr leadership courses and other domain-specific programs offered by elite universities can help organisations manage their diversified employees successfully.

Making room for cultural integrity and setting up the suitable parameters for making them feel at home can have long-lasting benefits on and organisations ROIs and revenues.

However, there is a catch; managers and leaders both need to possess the knowledge and resources for understanding different perspectives, cultures and ideas and must have a vision in place that is concordant with the company’s list of objectives.

Leaders and managers need to contact research about their working staff personnel that come from different cultures. Understanding different body language, way of work, ability to deal with challenges and a consensus of how different cultures present themselves can help in formulating project teams.

Developing teams as per the diversified employee’s capabilities, their skill sets and knowledge can help a company immensely. This is because diverse personnel can bring innovative ideas and creative thinking, inventing out of the box solutions for solving mundane problems.

Locals and natives are often limited in thinking about problems from their perspectives, and hence getting a different POV from various cultures can assist managers in canvassing robust strategies.

Teamwork makes it easier to perform different tasks at once, therefore increasing the speed and quality of projects.

The immersion of different cultures can often be challenging in terms of looking after their concerns, needs and wants, along with ensuring that there are no cultural and ethnic barriers.

However, on the flip side, multiculturalism in an organisational environment can iron out issues and shed light on areas that need attention.

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Multicultural Management with Descriptive Skills

As already discussed, there are numerous skill sets that management and leadership departments involved in performing tasks need to inculcate for achieving expected results.

Be it the ability to influence others, create and nurture positive work relationships, and develop a team of computer individuals, these all require an amalgamation of diversity mixed with knowledge and rational thinking.

In order to survive the modern competitive world, both leadership and management need to display an efficient work ethic that delivers results.

The skill sets described above will help develop multicultural competencies that can improve the effectiveness of a leader and a manager nearby, producing lasting results for the corporation.

Also Read : Leadership Strategies to Boost Team Productivity

Leading a Multicultural Workforce: A Holistic Approach

Leading a multicultural workforce in the current day and age requires the critical application of practical tools, theoretical models and descriptive skill sets to achieve objectives.

Leadership in itself is a challenging task, But by gathering the right resources and bringing the right team on board Can help organisations grow manifold.

Also Read : Leadership Strategies to Boost Team Productivity

Involving a diversified set of individuals who have proven experience of working in their respective domains cancel as an asset for organisations. Since they bring with themselves richness in terms of cultural ethics, values and traditions, they can offer different perspectives.

Employees too can benefit from their multicultural counterparts since it leads to intermixing of cultures, food interactions and helps in improving one’s way of thinking, understanding and approaching problems.

The IIM Kozhikode professional certificate program in general management renders the vitalities that comprise these domains. Inculcating multicultural staff in organisational frameworks have been shown to be amongst the best ways for leading corporations.

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