Description
“If you want to go fast–go alone. If you want to go far–go together!” (Ancient African proverb)
Successful cross-cultural communication in a global and digital world is more urgent and important than ever.
But we can’t expect to get there from here because analog doesn’t always transfer directly to digital.
“You cannot shake a fist with a closed mind.” Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India
Open your mind to infinite possibilities with these step-by-step skills to operate effectively in a digital and diverse world.
Bridge the cultural chasm with Digital Diversity and Cross-cultural communication skills.
And, you’re not alone! Let’s go together! Join us now in this course and our growing community of participants who share the challenges of engaging employees and managing talent at a distance, and learn the step-by-step skills that deliver results right away. You have direct access to me!
Ask me anything (AMA) inside this course, and I’ll personally respond within 24-48 hours coaching you on your specific cases and challenges.
Learn to increase engagement, lift participants’ contributions, overcome resistance to digital meetings and build bridges to connect with anyone, anywhere, anytime!
Transform digital teams into flywheels of scalable success.
Here’s what we know:
Digital is the new office architecture.
Diversity is the new currency.
Digital connectivity is speeding up and shrinking the world.
Borders are shifting and cultures are colliding.
And our talent pool reach is global.
All this creates new value configured by diverse teams and captured in new products and services.
You’ll learn to:
Build bridges and develop resilient, transformative relationships.
Engage, lift & motivate team performance.
You’ll connect with people on purpose.
You’ll create meetings that deliver diversity dividends, results & continuous learning.
You’ll level up your team performance to empower, inspire and innovate.
Do the right things and do things right
Lead & Align the team’s most important work.
Set up processes: rituals, delegation, matrices, communications, agendas, & productivity templates.
Be strategic & use charters, make decisions & agreements, hold team members accountable, & practice deep work.
Get connected and become fluent in cross-cultural communications.
Who this course is for:
- Project managers & leaders, Diversity and Inclusion managers, HR & trainers, global businesses, corporations, organizations, emergency and disaster relief teams, international development project teams, multi-cultural communities, community service personnel including police services.
- Tech or Design Teams, & Managers, Auditors, Bankers, Finance, ESG Compliance, Security, technology teams and HR Learning.
- Knowledge Workers, Remote teams, Virtual teams, business professionals and online or digital entrepreneurs expanding beyond borders and connecting to a global marketplace.
- Bloggers and communicators connecting across generations and with messages aimed at stakeholders worldwide.
- Project managers and team leaders, virtual team members
- Teleworkers and teleconference teams, distributed teams.
- Community services including police and security services.
- Community and Association managers, Non-governmental Organization experts, International Development experts, International students, global businesses, corporations, organizations, emergency and disaster relief teams, international development project teams, multi-cultural communities,
Section 4: Attitudes, Values and Communication Tools
22. Attitudes, Listening Skills, and Communications Congruence
22. Attitudes, Listening Skills, and Communications Congruence
So what are the most important and useful attitudes we can have when we’re guiding a global, multicultural, cross-cultural, multilingual and cross generational team?
Well, here are some attitudes that are really important.
We all have to embrace being positive and open, be respectful and curious about other cultures, and take the time to learn about what people care about what motivates them so that we can catch them doing things right and also give feedback just in the moment when it is time to hold people accountable.
Our own organizations also have to embrace the idea that diversity is what feeds the opportunity for greater innovation in our organization, and that those organizations have to back us up and ensure that our actions are they are supporting this message that ideas are welcome.
How do we demonstrate these attitudes?
- Well, there’s one way that is unique and can separate you from everyone else in the organization as a real leader and an influencer.
And it’s this one thing that makes the biggest difference.
- It’s to be an active listener and that is always listening intentionally to discover and uncover what motivates people, what they care about, what’s most important to them, and then therefore what’s in it for them?
- What is the benefit for them to give up some of their self-interest for that enlightened self-interest? So listen, with a passion for understanding, how can you develop this person’s talent, bring them in as a member of the team, get rid of your assumptions, bite your tongue and recognize that those assumptions can make and assess out of all of us.
We are looking for patterns that make us similar, not make us different, and at the same time respect their different perspectives, because that’s the space in which we can create greater value.
Be listening always for not just what is said, but be listening for the motivation behind what is being said.
- Listen, for what hasn’t been spoken, the other side of the listening coin is in our speaking and we want to be able to communicate as effectively as we listen.
- And that means that our message has to be congruent with the words we use, the tone of voice we employ and our body language.
What percentage of your message is communicated by the words alone?
- You might say 70, 80, 90 percent of your message is communicated by your words.
- In fact, studies done by UCLA Moravians study seven percent of your messages conveyed by your words.
How do we communicate our messages?
- Then 55 percent of your message is actually communicated by your body language and 38 by your tone of voice. Now, what’s important about this is that if you’re using words that you’re not convinced of yourself, those words will sound as if you lack confidence.
And so your tone of voice might be hesitant, whereas the words seem solid, your body language might be closed rather than open and engaging.
And when we send a mixed signal, people will reject the words and believe your body language and your voice.
When we send a mixed signal, people won’t believe us at all.
It will erode their confidence in our competence.
And that’s why congruence is so important to us in leadership.
What does it mean to you?
It means listen to the words you use.
- And have you backed it up with a sufficient amount of conviction or enthusiasm in your tone of voice?
- Is your body language intimidating or is it welcoming?
- Is it open or is it close to ideas?
That’s up to you to bring your message and make it congruent.
23. Cultural Values Checklist - Nine questions
We also want to check the values and here’s an activity that we could do before you convene a team meeting, answer some of the following questions, talk to your members about their own answers as well.
It’s up to us to design how we communicate and how the team will operate together.
And this is best done as a collaborative effort.
So here’s a set of nine questions that you can distribute and share in your own meeting.
How will we design and conduct our meetings?
- Well, why wouldn’t you ask that?
- Do you want people to come in on time?
- Do you want people to show up ahead of time?
- Why would you want them to come to a meeting ahead of time so that you can establish rapport?
- Well, isn’t that just a nice to have?
We’re too busy getting our job done to take time out for talk.
We know that rapport building can increase productivity of any meeting by as much as 15 percent, and that can mean simply five minutes of having a conversation that’s non task related.
So No.
- One, how will we design and conduct our meetings?
Number two, how will we make decisions together?
- Is it autocratic?
- Are you the sole decision maker?
- Will it be by consensus or will it be participative?
There are many different ways that you can.
Number three, how will we maximize the learning opportunities for our team members?
Remember, if you’re dealing across generations, there are some of your members who are hungry to learn all of the time.
And yet there are others who are reluctant or intimidated by technology, by the quick pace of change. So how can we learn together, maximize the learning and provide learning opportunities that are unique to the individual styles?
Part of that can be decided in the meeting where you have an opportunity to discuss what are your learning styles?
How can we do debrief or after action learning sessions?
Number four, how will we give feedback to each other?
- Is it just in time?
- Will it be once annually?
It depends on the age of some of the members of your team.
Remember, if you’ve got baby boomers and the silent generation as part of your team, no news is good news to them.
They don’t want feedback, whereas your millennials might be saying, how am I doing?
- How am I doing?
Constantly searching for feedback and validation.
Well, you and your team, it would be better to know that you’re annoying the baby boomers with too much feedback and you’re frustrating the Gen Xers, Gen Y and Millennials by not giving them enough.
- How will we give feedback to each other?
Fifth question, what responsibility do the team leader and other team members have for the well-being of our peers?
Now, this question has to do with that issue of trust, trust in and among our peers and colleagues.
- Do we consider that we are all on the same team?
- Do we care?
- Are we committed and motivated to support one another?
Question six.
How will we evaluate our performance together?
- What are the performance criteria?
- What are the key performance indicators?
Select them.
Choose them.
- How often will you be checking in with each other?
- Will it be formal?
- Will it be informal?
- Will it be a casual conversation or will it be a written report?
Maybe it can be a survey.
There are many different ways, but how will you evaluate the performance together?
Question seven.
How will conflicts be resolved?
Undoubtedly, conflicts emerge in the best of times, but when we’re dealing particularly with multicultural, cross-cultural and cross generational teams, you can anticipate conflicts.
- How will you resolve them together?
- Will it be mediated or will you bring in a decision maker, a referee?
Question number eight, how will work be coordinated?
- Is it through command and control or will it be through our liaison with our peers?
And finally, question nine.
Will this change with the different phases of the work?
We know that when we are running sprints, we are doing fast paced tests in the market with a minimum viable product.
When you actually go into prototyping and production of the main products and services for your clients.
- Will any of these factors change?
24. Develop and Deploy your Communications Charter
24. Develop and Deploy your Communications Charter
Now, part of an outcome from that conversation can be what we call the communications charter.
Now, it’s a specific tool that can bring alignment and commitment together, building that trust within your team by agreeing on a common approach to your working practices.
So for every answer to the question that you’ve just reviewed, you could set up a charter.
Let’s say the item might be team meetings.
- As an example, you’ll have four columns in your charter, the item listed as team meetings.
- What is the advantage of team meetings?
That’s your second column.
Well, face to face, maybe we can do it by a virtual webcam so we can capture body language as well as tone of voice and the words and messages.
What are the disadvantages of team meetings?
Well, it’s very time consuming.
Maybe we won’t be as open, maybe will want to impress people and we’ll withhold some information.
Sometimes quieter members might not speak up as much and conflicts can arise.
- And then what kind of content would be presented and considered suitable at those team meetings?
Certainly being able to coordinate and facilitate the conversation.
- How do you communicate the decisions?
- Will that be done at these meetings?
- Will you use it as a planning opportunity and a way of expressing various points of view, challenging one another and coming to the best decisions?
So use your communications charter as a document that supports the answers that you’ve just given to the questions we’ve reviewed.
Your cultural values checklist activity will then feed into the document around how you will comment and align your communications channels and then you can design a communications charter.
The communications charter, for example, can list a series of items such as team meetings.
- As we’ve discussed your scheduled one on one meetings, telephone conversations, how you’ll use actual formal letters, how will emails be used?
- Are text messages allowed?
- Will noticeboards be set up?
And other means of communicating with your team.
So list the items, all of those items that you will be using.
Those are all the channels for communication.
You’ll identify when it might be appropriate to use each one of these channels, when it would be inappropriate to use the channel.
- And what kind of content would this channel be most suitable for?
An email, for example, would be suitable for rapid and multiple distribution, whereas text could be used only under urgent or emergency situations.
Your team meetings might be designed for planning and decision making, whereas one on one meetings would be designed for providing feedback, telephone conversations for bringing people up to date and written letters.
That’s for documenting your process.
So that’s the communications charter.
It is a way for everyone to understand what is the media that will be used, why it’s used and how it will be used.
25. Communications Matrix
25. Communications Matrix
Then you can design a communications matrix.
This document is a tool that brings everyone into alignment on a common approach to communicating consistently and predictably with different types of groups, the different audiences you’ll be communicating across all of your stakeholders.
We did a stakeholder map earlier in the process.
This is when the stakeholder map will come into play.
It may also help you as you think about how you’re going to communicate with your various stakeholders from various countries with different cultural values.
This matrix will have six columns.
- The columns will be labeled from whom?
- It’s directed to who?
- What is the topic or issue?
- What is the channel you’ll be using to communicate?
- What level of priority is it and what is the frequency likely for that particular message?
Let’s do an example.
- Where you have a team lead will be sending a message.
- It’s from whom? The team leader.
- It’s going to whom? All of the staff.
- What would be the topic? It could be a situation report.
- How will it be communicated? This will be an all hands telephone call. Everybody on the team needs to be on that conference call.
- What level of priority is that? It would be a medium level priority.
- When is it done? It’s done on a quarterly basis.
If the staff wanted to communicate now with the team leader, the topic might also be the situation report. The medium in this case could be an email.
What level of priority it is a medium love.
When is it sent on a monthly basis.
So the staff now, except that they have a responsibility on a monthly basis to send in the data that identifies their contribution to the situation report on a monthly basis that will then be aggregated into the quarterly report and the quarterly communication of the team leader.
You might say that all managers on the project want to communicate with their subthemes. Their topics can be the project. Specifically, the medium might be a virtual meeting, could be voice over Internet protocol.
The priority could be very high and it would be done on a weekly basis.
If you’re the local manager, you want to communicate to all of your stakeholders, the public stakeholders. In this case, what would be the topic is, is the progress on the project.
You might do this via email.
It’s a medium priority.
And you would do this weekly to make sure that all the stakeholders feel as if they are participating, engaged and made aware of anything that is important that could potentially impact them or their projects.
So that is a communication matrix, a very powerful tool that can bring into alignment the approach you’ll be using for communicating consistently and predictably among the decision makers, your peers and the stakeholders.
Section 5: Conflict Communication, Coaching Tools and Strategies
26. Identify the 5 Conflict Communication Styles
26. Identify the 5 Conflict Communication Styles
Under the best of circumstances, when you are leading projects and leading teams who will run into conflict, particularly if you’re leading across generations and across cultures, multilingual teams, you’ll be facing a higher probability of conflict on your teams.
And when we face conflict as leaders and as members of a team, we tend to revert back to our comfort zone or a way of behaving that is comforting in the case of conflict.
Let’s examine this so we can better manage conflict situations.
We’ll be looking at how people deal with conflict on an x y matrix of assertiveness and cooperativeness.
- At the lowest end, we have both unassertive and uncooperative at the highest ends.
- We have high degrees of assertiveness and cooperation, which allows for higher degrees of collaboration and success.
Let’s take a look.
- When you have somebody who is at a very high degree of assertiveness but low cooperation, they tend to fall into the competitive arena.
- They express themselves with ease and seek to satisfy their own interests over their counterparts interests.
- So they’re very self directed and they make all the effort to impose their position because their belief that they are correct.
- When you have somebody on a high degree of cooperation but low level of assertiveness, those people would be labeled accommodating.
- They put their own interests aside to accommodate their counterparts.
- After stating their position in a conflict, they’ll easily make concessions to reach any agreement and their generous, altruistic and service oriented.
For those people who are low assertiveness and low cooperation, they tend to stay in the of conflict avoidance zone.
- They don’t meet their own needs nor their counterparts interests.
- They simply try to protect the relationship and the status quo.
- They avoid and postpone communication when faced with conflict.
- You might know someone who falls right in the middle, someone who is moderately assertive and cooperative.
- Those people are compromising.
- They try to find a solution which partially satisfies all the parties.
- They perceive agreement as the result of mutual concessions.
And then there are those who are on the high assertiveness and high collaboration cooperation scale.
They are collaborators.
- They work together to find a solution that satisfies all interests, and they seek to be innovative, creating solutions and creating value based on what they learn through the communication.
So in this way, we can see that conflict can bring opportunity.
In fact, it is an opportunity for higher degrees of value creation and innovation.
I see conflict as an invitation relate to people at a much deeper level and create greater value in understanding what those creative tensions might be.
27. Reflection and Conflict Resolution
27. Reflection and Conflict Resolution
Let’s think about a time when it was difficult to bring up a concern or an issue with another person, could you and that other person identify what is the bigger purpose?
- What’s the mutual goal?
- How could you go about creating a successful outcome together?
- Can you help each other?
- How can you create conditions in which the other person will feel safe talking to you about their concerns?
- What do you need to create the safety for you to share your concerns with your peers?
- And what are some things that could happen if you don’t sit down and work things through?
- You want to look at what are the benefits and what is the cost of not resolving these conflicts?
28. Techniques to resolve conflicts
28. Techniques to resolve conflicts
Here are some of the techniques you can use that will help you resolve potential conflicts.
- Be sure that you’re removing all of the masks or in essence, no hidden agenda. We have to be frank and honest. There has to be transparency in the discussion. You have to get to the root cause of the problem, identifying what the real issue is versus just applying bandaids to symptoms.
- We have to abandon a notion that there is a winner takes all, which means that there is a loser. Everybody has to have a stake in the game and come away achieving some success, develop several possible solutions, evaluate all the options, and select a final solution that everyone can collaborate on and agree with, communicate in a manner that is certain to be welcomed by those people who are feeling the tension and the conflict and preserve the relationship over the long term.
Make that a key value.
Techniques for resolving conflict
- Remove all masks
- Identify real problems
- Give up a must-win attitude
Techniques for resolving conflict
- Develop several possible solutions
- Evaluate options and select a solution
- Communicate in a manner certain to be received
- Acknowledge and preserve the value in the relationship
29. Diversity Making Connections and a Plan of Action
29. Diversity Making Connections and a Plan of Action
How do we make those connections so that when we face the tension, that we have greater resiliency in our relationships:
- Build those listening skills and the congruent communication skills.
- Encourage suggestions from all team members about how you can improve the diversity and the inclusion of your team members.
- Also, remember that we can influence in lead up across as well as among our direct reports.
- So help leaders as well as our team members understand why diversity is so important and how it creates significant value and innovation for our organization.
- Ensure that diversity is reflected in the project and that everyone is acknowledged build inclusive training programs.
- We know that among multigenerational teams that training can be a valued part of a program to recognize and acknowledge people’s contributions to the team.
- So make training a part of what you’re doing and be sure to include the various team members that are appropriate on those programs to help build up that rapport.
- Be sure to offer support programs, recommend that there’s additional help available that you are available, and that you can assign mentors and coaches as required by the teams.
30. Lancioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team
30. Lancioni's Five Dysfunctions of a Team
Now, further to the conflict that we can encounter in the team, there are also dysfunctions with a team, and this has been written about by the author, Patrick Lindsay, on his book called The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.
Help us to focus on not only what goes wrong, but how can we create those conditions for high performing teams.
- The very first level of dysfunction is a lack of trust, and that’s when members of good teams trust each other. They learn how to build rapport, connect with each other and cover for each other. We take the time to create the environment where people can be honest, open and transparent, where we can challenge one another and be vulnerable.
- The second level of dysfunction can be where we avoid conflict.
Members of great teams trust each other, and they’re not afraid of engaging in passionate debates about issues that are crucial for an organization or for your project.
They might disagree and question each other, but this is their way of striving for excellence, looking for the best answers and debating outcomes to find the very best solutions.
- The third key dysfunction is a lack of commitment that can come from those team members who lack buy in and they don’t feel as if they have ownership around important decisions.
So high performing teams create greater engagement when decisions are being made, even if some of the team members are against the final decision.
And when we are engaged in the debate, there’s greater ownership.
And all of that happens because people feel more confident that their ideas and opinions have been heard, that they have had a forum for discussion, and that they have all together examined all of the potential opportunities and pitfalls.
- Fourth level of dysfunction is the avoidance of accountability.
Teams that are committed to results don’t hesitate to hold each other accountable for the results. They also involve their leaders, their stakeholders and each other in the process.
But that honesty and transparency of being able to speak truth to their peers, there won’t be any blowback or risk to them when they challenge each other is an important part of accountability.
The biggest challenge when building your team is when people hold each other accountable and they overcome some of those fears and risks of facing criticism.
- And the final dysfunction is an inattention to results.
When there’s trust and a lack of fear of conflict, people can put aside their personal interests and focus on the bigger purpose.
They don’t fall into that temptation of going after what’s best for them, but instead they put their egos aside and they’re willing to work on the interests of the entire group.
So by focusing on the collective results and team success, people can give up their own vested interest for the interest and purpose of the entire team.
31. The STOP Technique to Stop Conflict and Redirect For Better Outcomes
31. The STOP Technique to Stop Conflict and Redirect For Better Outcomes
One additional technique you can use is called the stop technique, which has four simple steps when you find yourself in a conflict situation and you want to be able to speak the truth, be honest and transparent with your peers as well as your leaders and project managers.
Stop is the acronym that begins with the S.
- State, the inappropriate behavior and do so effectively focusing on the behavior and not on the person themselves.
- T in stop. Tell the offender how you feel when they are behaving in the certain way.
The impact it has on you that’s the T in stop O is give the offender options.
- The O is for options come prepared not just to complain about what somebody is doing, but with options for what they can do instead, which allows them to change their behavior.
- And the P and stop is what are the positive outcomes, the positive results if they take that behavior on.
32. Dealing with Discrimination
32. Dealing with Discrimination
So what is discrimination?
Well, it’s when you treat people differently, one from another based on age, race, maybe their appearance or ethnicity, their capacity or their gender, whatever their medical problems might be, we have to become acutely aware of discrimination so that we can ensure that we’re not being hampered in terms of our productivity and our capacity to be inclusive in our organizations.
How do we deal with an employee or a team member who is behaving in a discriminatory way?
- You have to document the events present that complain to a manager, a leader or a supervisor, even human resources.
- If you can’t do something about it yourself, then you might need to use the policies that your organization or corporation have available.
- If you don’t receive the appropriate response that you need from human resources, you may have to revert to consulting with a lawyer.
Now, if you’re the manager, ensure that you’re documenting all of the meetings and discussions that are involving this kind of behavior.
- Keep a record of the behavior, what is said and what the responses are around you. Who else is aware that this is going on?
- Document your decisions, especially when there are exceptions or when accommodations are made.
- If an employee brings a discrimination complaint against you, ask for documentation, consult with the team.
That will be your support, including human resources, maybe a legal department, and meet with the
individual, talk about what can be done, what options are available.
- These can be very difficult to handle. Every discrimination case is unique. Obtain the special legal advice that’s required to support you
As an employee:
- Document each event
- Present complaint to your manager
- Speak to Human Resources
- Consult with a lawyer
As a manager:
- Document your decision
- Discrimination complaint:
- Ask for documentation
- Consult with human resources and legal department
- Meet with the employee and outline your decision
33. Coaching and Mentoring
33. Coaching and Mentoring
Something that we have at hand that can support building high performing, multicultural, multilingual and multigenerational teams, and that is coaching, coaching and mentoring, coaching is an important tool that you can have in your tool kit.
Coaching is effective not just for fixing the problems, but also for inspiring high performance, greater collaboration and innovation.
And coaching and mentoring can really support helping those individuals develop their talent as well as provide them with a pathway forward.
As a career objective, coaches provide guidance.
They’re not necessarily teaching or directive.
A coach approaches things in a way that helps someone discover and explore their capacity.
They invite questions rather than providing answers.
And the value of a coach is one who can work across all of these diverse aspects
34. The GROW Coaching Model and ACTIVTY
34. The GROW Coaching Model and ACTIVTY
There’s a very simple coaching model that you can apply called the girl model, and that is to set a goal that is the G of grow and setting a goal is future focused.
That is what is the desired outcome the individual is searching for.
Perhaps they have an ideal of where they’d like to be in the organization or on a project in six months, 18 months or even five years in the future, but set a goal that is future focused and that matches the person’s aspirations.
The R is the reality, current reality in fact.
So you contrast the future state the goal with the current reality.
- What is it?
- Where is the person?
- At what additional resources do they need that will support their success moving forward, either on the project or for their own career?
- What is the process that you will take?
- That would be the oh, what are the options?
- How many options can you create that will help create that possibility and provide the resources for the individual to succeed in their goal?
And finally, the W in grow.
- What is the way forward?
There are a series of steps that can be taken that would advance that individual in small steps, bite sized steps, in fact, so that they can experience small successes
35. The MAGNET Coaching Model
35. The MAGNET Coaching Model
An additional coaching model is called the magnet model, and that stands for meaningful and challenging work.
When you’re working with a team, ensure that every team member is valued and their work is recognized as important.
So give every opportunity to make the work meaningful, tied to the larger outcome.
The vision that you and the team have for the project, the AI and magnet is appreciation and advancement.
Ensure that everyone’s activity is acknowledged and appreciated, and furthermore, it moves them towards the outcome.
That advancement is a very important aspect of any successful project.
But remind people that you are succeeding even if there are setbacks that the team is moving forward.
That is the AI for advancing the project.
- M for Meaningful and Challenging work
- A for Appreciation and Advancement
- The G in the magnet model is goal, alignment and achievement. And the goal alignment means that we have to know where we’re going, what is the vision and desired outcome, what is the current reality?
And then all of the steps that move you from your current state to the future state is aligned that activities and resources are being brought into alignment to achieve the ultimate outcome.
- The N is the need to be involved in decision making.
That is, all the diverse members of your team are contributing to that outcome.
- E is equitable total compensation.
Equitable compensation is important that every team member feels as though the value that they are creating for the team is acknowledged at an appropriate level.
- And finally, the T in the magnet model is that team connectivity and communication cross cultural cross generational connectivity through respect, communication and achieving a successful outcome.
36. Tips for Tapping into the Global Talent Pool
36. Tips for Tapping into the Global Talent Pool
How do we go a step further in understanding our global talent pool?
We know that in our global community we are leveraging remote workers at an accelerating rate.
How do you bring those remote workers together to work virtually and still feel like they have a vested interest and are cared about by their team members?
Use your performance evaluation tools and techniques as a way of creating that greater sense of belonging to a unique team and just how important every unique individual is in terms of their contribution and how their perspective creates value for the whole team and build strong cooperation and make that a part of your culture.
That the cross-cultural talent pool is where you have the greatest longevity for creating a successful business.
Here are some additional strategies for attracting and recruiting employees from around the world and tapping into that global talent pool,
- establisher satellite or regional offices staffed by regional people,
- and use consultants to build relationships in specific geographic areas that you want to build up your capacity
- work with colleges and universities to learn more about what is unique about those cultures and perhaps even to recruit people.
- Encourage your employees to refer their families, friends, professionals to join the team,
- hire freelance or remote workers that participate in virtual teams to support the work you’re doing.
Conclusion
High-performing Team:
- Commitment with common performance goals
- Open communication
- Mutual trust and respect
- Effective work procedures
- Building on differences
- Flexibility and Adaptibility
- Ongoing Learning
The keys to a high performing team, you have them all now, the commitment with the common performance goals that you’ve discussed through your communications matrix in your communications charter, that open and transparent kind of communication where we trust one another to speak truth to our peers and truth to power, mutual trust and respect, regardless of our background, our age, our ethnicity, the language and the accents that we use our place of birth.
Mutual trust and respect is the foundational piece for high performing teams.
There has to be a high degree of commitment, a commitment to one another, a commitment to the team, and a commitment to the work that is being done.
The outcome that you are working to achieve, making sure you have effective work procedures and structures in place that support your success, as well as using the differences and the distinctions in your team, the diversity in your team to create greater opportunities for innovation and value creation, ensuring there is a degree of flexibility and adaptability, a kind of accommodation for some of those differences that enable us to achieve even higher degrees of success and ongoing learning, incorporating the continual learning into everything that we do, learning from successes, learning from failures, learning from our ability to overcome the barriers and achieve something exceptional, something that is greater than any individual on the team, so that everybody feels as if their role is irreplaceable and they’ve made a contribution to something important
