Businesses are undergoing a lot of different changes in recent years and decades. The ways they market is changing, how they manufacture goods is changing, as is how they communicate. However, one of the biggest changes is actually the makeup of employees being employed by most businesses.
Many companies are becoming global entities and have incredibly diverse and multicultural teams. There are many different benefits of a multicultural workforce, and it is the way many companies have been trending in recent years. Unfortunately, managing and organizing multicultural teams and keeping everyone productive and on the same page isn’t always straightforward.
Even hiring them can be difficult. Thankfully, there are applicant tracking systems (or ATS) that can help streamline the whole hiring and applicant tracking process. Click here to find more about software for recruiting and how it can help.
However, organizing them well enough to be productive and work together can still prove challenging. With all of that in mind, this article is going to provide tips to successfully manage your multicultural team and ensure they are as productive as possible.
Work on Language and Other Barriers
One of the most common issues that will arise when trying to organize a multicultural team to be more productive is language. You need to make sure everyone is able to understand what is happening in your company. Thankfully, every employee won’t need to know the same language for this to work. Translation tools and technology have become very good and should help keep everyone on the same page.
Your company could also decide a language to use, and make sure everyone knows a few important words and phrases in the language to get by. Whichever method you decide, try to ensure everyone can understand one another and contribute effectively to your company.
Also, try to get people to interact and work directly with others from different cultures. This can help them understand each other better and become more familiar with another culture. It will be incredibly beneficial not only to the performance and mood of your workers but can also help your bottom line, as well. The better people know and respect each other, the better they will be at working together.
Respect Each Culture and Their Beliefs/Customs
If your company features many different cultures, it is important to respect each and every one of them. This includes being aware of their holidays, their traditions, and being open to participating in them. Be sure to be aware of what is going on throughout the world that could affect the various individuals from different cultures at your workplace.
If a certain culture or group feels as if you are playing favorites or not respecting them, they are unlikely to be very productive. Employees who are happy, feel valued, and get their concerns addressed are certain to be more productive at the workplace. This can be tedious at times, but it will go a long way if you want your multicultural team to be organized and productive.
Don’t Forget About Time Zones
While some multicultural teams will all share the same office, many companies have several offices around the world. Also, more and more companies are employing individuals from around the world to work virtually. This can be great for business but can provide some challenges. One of the biggest is time zones.
While your American offices will generally work from 9 to 5, those hours simply won’t work for many people in Asia, Australia or some parts of Europe. As a result, this needs to be taken care of to ensure everyone can be productive. Be sure everyone in your company knows the deadlines for things in their own time zone.
Also, this may lead you to delegate certain things to certain people around the world, depending on when you need them done. Having actual meetings can prove difficult as one part of the world will inevitably have to participate at a difficult time. Try to keep this as fair as possible to ensure the same group of people isn’t staying up super later for a meeting every single time.
In conclusion, we hope that this blog post has been able to help you organize your multicultural team to be more productive.
