Intercultural Groups
Diversity Executive’s January/February issue contains an article titled “Negotiating Group Dynamics,” which refers to the power of diverse groups, and the challenges to harnessing that power. While homogeneous groups may work faster, teams made of culturally varied individuals “achieve higher quality and more innovative results.”
Cultural diversity can simultaneously hinder communication, since the “lens of culture” changes the way things are interpreted from one person to another (this happens in culturally homogeneous groups, but to a lesser degree). The frequent use of sports analogies in the US is one case used in the article to describe language barriers, which are culturally rooted, despite widespread use of English.
Furthermore, a piece in SHRM’s Relocation Trend Book for 2009 stresses the selection of candidates for expatriation based on their global mindset. How does one define this term, anyway? This article notes that individuals who have global mindsets “support consensus-building among colleagues from different cultures” and without this, failure is all too easy when working internationally. The ability to vocally and physically adapt one’s language, and to listen carefully, whilst recognizing cultural meaning, are also required to communicate across cultures.
Do you have a global mindset? How do you develop this?
Read Diversity Executive magazine online here. Find the article on page 20.
