cross-cultural teambuilding and diversity management
TRANSCRIPT
Definition I
• groupwork = teamwork
• A team is a group which works on a clear defined task. A team can manage a whole project or only part of it. Teams exist for a special task-orientated reason and their existence is limited to the fulfilment of the task.
there are two kinds of groupwork to distinguish:
Definition II
1. formal group (which was founded on organisational composition)
2. informal group (which is formed through personal wishes and sympathy)
Types of Teams
1. Traditional work groups (Natural work groups)
2. Impromptu short-term teams (Swat teams)
3. Special purpose teams (project teams)
4. Cross-functional teams
5. Self-managed teams (“direct team”)
Stages of Group Development
1. Forming -getting to know each other and
testing
2. Storming
-group structure begins to emerge
3. Norming -developing cohesion
4. Performing -working structure
Social Group Structure I
1. Status structure
- a relative and valued position of a member inside the group- mediator in a communication process
M1M2 M3
M4
M5
Y
M4
M3
M2
M1
M5
Chain
M1
M4
M2 M3
M5
Circle
Social Group Structure II
3. Leadership- formed informally lead back on behavioural attributes
2. Role structure - gives information about the behaviour and the expectations of the behaviour
Group Composition I
• the number of team members should depend on the tasks which have to be solved
• Group Size small team (3-5 members) big team (8-12 members)
Group Composition II
• Redl´s law of optimum distance:“homogeneous enough to ensure
stability and heterogeneous enough to ensure vitality” (?????)
• homogeneity & heterogeneity- homogeneity is needed to develop group cohesion- heterogeneity is necessary to produce the potential for change in a group
Group Composition III
• Behavioural attributes:- these refer to the way in which
individuals behave, their personality, attitudes and life- styles (talkative vs. quiet, dominant vs. submissive)
• Descriptive attributes:- Age- Gender- Race and ethnicity- Social class
Definition of Diversity
• “diversity can best be described in terms of differences from the accepted mainstream population” Myers, S.:Team Building For Diverse Work Groups, p.8
WorkforceDiversity
National origin
Gender
Family situation
Race
Sexual orientation
Marital status
Language
Religion
Culture
Age
Physical ability
Socio-economic status
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Aims of Group Composition
• Cohesion through trust, openness and diversity
• the goal is to create a workplace in which individuals are not limited by traditional barriers, stereotypes and restrictions
Cultural diversity...
...can have positive as well as negative impacts on a team.
+ a well managed diverse team augments the potential productivity because many different ideas
and perspectives concerning a special situation play a role
- cultural diversity increases the complexity of the whole process and can therefore lead to difficulties in integrating and evaluating the various perspectives
Disadvantages I
• stereotyping/ prejudices personality conflicts, mistrust
• Differences in language
• Differences in communication
• Differences in management styles
• Differences in norms, behaviour
Disadvantages II
decreased effectiveness
• greater complexity problems in reaching agreements, the decision-making process is influenced in a negative way
• lack of trust, communication inaccuracies stress, tension
Advantages
higher productivity
• sharing technology
• sharing skills and talents
• sharing experiences
• opportunity for cross-cultural understanding
• limited “groupthink”
• varied backgrounds exposure to different viewpoints and alternatives more and better ideas
When does diversity become most valuable?
• When the need for agreement remains low and relatively high need for creativity is required, that means when an organisation wants to launch a new product, create new ideas or develop a new marketing plan from a new perspective, diversity becomes most valuable.
• Diversity can lead to better customer relationship because different market issues are handled from different points of view; customers are seen more individually and can therefore be treated more appropriately.
Team effectiveness
“When well managed, diversity becomes an asset and productive resource for the team. When ignored, diversity causes process problems that diminish the team’s productivity. Since diversity is more frequently ignored than well managed, culturally diverse teams often perform below expectations and below organisational norms.”N.Adler: International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, p. 138
Synergy
“The combined effect of two or more things, processes, etc that exceeds the sum of their individual effects: the synergy achieved by merging two companies“
[Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary]
Synergy
“The synergy approach assumes that we are not all the same – that the various groups within society differ and that each maintains its cultural distinctness. Appreciating a pluralistic, rather than a homogeneous, society underlies the synergy approach. Whereas the most commonly held assumption is that similarities among people are most important, cultural synergy assumes that similarities and differences share equal importance.”N.Adler: International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior, p. 107
Cultural diversity should be seen and treated as a resource!
David Kearns, chairman of Xerox:
“We have to manage diversity right now and much more so in the future. American business will not be able to survive if we do not have a large, diverse workforce, because those are the demographics.”Deresky, H.:Managing Human Resources Around the World, p. 446
If a company wants to develop new markets and merge with other companies, it has to be able to deal with differences and diversity!
Synergy
Managing cultural diversity
Diversity Management is an instrument which describes all measures that lead to the recognition of differences and which makes sure that those differences are getting highly valued.
Those measures should point out that diversity can have a positive impact on the company.
Managing cultural diversity
• Task-related selection
• Recognition of differences
• A vision or superordinate goal
• Equal power
• Mutual respect
• Feedback
Managing cultural diversity
Task-related selection
To maximise team effectiveness, members should be selected to homogeneous in ability levels and heterogeneous in attitudes
Managing cultural diversity
Recognition of differences
Teams cannot begin to communicate without first recognising and then understanding and respecting cross-cultural differences
Managing cultural diversity
A vision or superordinate goal
Members of diverse teams generally have more trouble agreeing on their purpose and task than do members of homogeneous teams
Managing cultural diversity
Equal Power
Team leaders should distribute power according to each member‘s ability, not according to relative cultural superiority
Managing cultural diversity
Mutual Respect
Mutual respect can be improved by selecting members of equal ability and by making prior accomplishments and task-related skills known to all members
Managing cultural diversity
Feedback
Managers should give teams positive feedback - both as individuals and as a team - early in the team‘s life together
Positive external feedback (given by a manager who is not in the team) generally helps the team to viewing itself as a team
Managing cultural diversity
The MBI Model of Managing Cultural Diversity for Personal and Team Effectiveness
Map
Under-stand the
differ-ences
Bridge
Commu-nicate across
the differ-ences
Inte-grate
Manage the differ-ences
Value and utilise the differ-ences
Managing cultural diversity
Map
Under-stand the differ-ences
COF - The Cultural Orientation
Framework
1) Relation to nature
2) Relationships among people
3) Mode of human activity
4) Belief about basic human nature
5) Orientation to time
6) Use of space
Managing cultural diversity
Bridge
Commu-nicate across the differ-ences
3 important skills to effective communication in a cross-cultural setting
1) Prepare
2) Decenter
3) Recenter