Leadership of Cross-Cultural - Virtual Teams

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Cross-cultural teams are teams that function across diverse cultures. For example, organization A has gone global. In order for the organization to remain in business, it has to be in control of its operations abroad as well. In order to do so, the organization has to create teams that are made up of seasoned employees from the home culture as well as new ones from the new culture. Because culture has a strong bearing on the success of a business, it is very important for organization A to learn about the new culture in order to successfully cater to its clientele. For this, the organization cannot function without the cooperation of employees from the new culture. The resulting effect is a cross-cultural team where employees from different culture use different communication styles. Both the seasoned and new employees have to learn about the expectations of the organization based on the regulations. In order for these two groups to work together, they must understand each other's culture and find a way to merge the two as effectively as possible.

What are the challenges posed by cultural diversity among team members? There are many challenges to cross-cultural teams. They include "communication skills, personality strength, and cultural awareness" (Congden et al, 2009, pp107). In order to build trust the communication barrier must be broken down. In order to do so, "individuals must be competent in both nonverbal and verbal behaviors" (Congden et al, 2009, pp107). Unfortunately, the rules of grammar are such that oftentimes, language cannot be translated word for word. As a result, miscommunication may occur, leading to lack of trust among team members and poor team performance. It ...