Working in international teams:
It makes perfect sense to me – but does it to them?
This article was first published in ‘Developing HR Strategy’,
March 2005, Issue 1

“We are an evolved species and we are designed for face-to-face communications. It’s the only form of interaction that is instinctive; all the other media are learned.”
Nigel Nicholson, professor of organisational behaviour at London Business School, Management Today, October 2002

We live in a time of rapid change, and preparing for the future has become a serious occupation throughout the business world. Global competition is fierce and in some cases we have to manage more than mere change – we have to transform how we work and do business. In this environment, a new type of multinational team is emerging that needs to be more diverse, fluid and flexible. The present nature of global work means that teams may be spread across time, geography, culture and context.

This article will describe some aspects of cross-cultural working, and offer a few guidelines on how to establish a good framework for collaborative teamwork.

Cross-border working

“I think there’s something positive to say about being upended, about having all your assumptions and beliefs questioned, about finding yourself a stranger in a strange land. The situation creates a great deal of self-knowledge. You learn a lot not only about another culture, but also about your own culture and about yourself.”
Warren Bennis

If we want to be good drivers, we take lessons. If we want to be good skiers we go to ski school. – and if we want to be good golf players we approach a golf pro. Then we practise, analyse - and practise again. In every sport, unconscious ease, and apparent absence of effort, is the result of long and arduous preparation and training. So why do people assume they can become effective international leaders and managers without any help or support – especially when they are offered a leader role in a multinational team, or an overseas assignment?

In conversations with traditional ex-pats with extensive experience of working in different cultures, it is clear they also found their early overseas assignments difficult and complex. These ex-pats usually follow specific (though unconscious) guidelines, which they have intuitively developed as a result of trial and error and accumulated experience over a number of years. They may not always know why they are doing certain things, and perhaps cannot articulate the modus operandi. But over time, they have developed processes and behaviour that work for them - and helped establish successful and profitable cross-border relationships.

Another group are those who already “know everything” – and believe it is all about “common sense”. They generally cause breakdowns in communications, create stress and havoc – and waste valuable time and resources along the way. In a skiing context, this will the person you see hurtling down the slope, out of control, and a mortal danger to fellow skiers. A business example is the American senior executive we worked with some years ago. He claimed he was sent to Sweden with minimal knowledge of the Swedish culture and the little he knew came from a “guidebook he picked up at the airport”. He became extremely frustrated at the Swedish way of doing business and started to criticise and blame his Swedish team, leading to a major breakdown in communication and severe stress for everyone involved.

Many global organisations insist on viewing cross-border management skills as an “optional extra” rather than a core competence. What were once the normal two or three-day pre-assignment programmes have in many cases been reduced to one day. A number of executives from the “common sense” school often turn down offers of training or coaching altogether. Today’s demanding, highly competitive business environment demands - and expects -fast results. Cultural awareness training, language tuition and cross-cultural coaching get pushed further down the priority list, especially if the employer sends out a message that “it’s optional”.

But complacency leads to danger. What appears to be a cross-cultural obstacle can be a source of competitive advantage. Only companies who pay more than lip service to being a “global player” will reap the rewards of globalisation – and ensure that their international executives are well prepared for their new roles. To operate in a global marketplace, it is essential for executives to understand the cultural implications of their decisions. Without awareness of the behaviour that leads to cross-cultural success or failure, it is difficult to reproduce successful behaviour patterns and actions quickly and consistently. And to move on to the next stage: being “consciously competent”, developing best practice in explicit form, and passing on the knowledge to others. Furthermore, there is a difference between knowing a concept and its details, and being able to put those concepts into appropriate action.

Many executives are increasingly being asked to take charge of major restructuring and redundancy programmes in other business cultures. A German executive about take up a new team-leader role in Denmark asked us: “How do I go about sacking 50 people within a couple of weeks of my arrival when I don’t even know anything about their culture and basic values?” The vast majority of our clients tell us that once abroad, they are expected to manage on their own: follow-up coaching, for example, is not usually provided.

Leadership and trust

“Trust is like the air we breathe. When it’s present, nobody really notices. But when it’s absent, everybody notices.”
Warren Buffet, investment guru, Financial Times 2003

In a global environment there is increased danger of mixed messages, confusion and stress. Managing people you cannot see and talk to face-to-face on a regular basis is difficult. Even the best managers are often defeated by the complexity of their task. Leaders have to work even harder to ensure that everyone is engaged. There are common core competencies for any team leader, but leading a pan-European, international, or global team is complex and challenging. The diversity and different approaches exacerbate many of the problems – especially if participants represent a wide range of nationalities – and the team is working to tight deadlines.

The lack of trust is often cited as a problem when talking to global team leaders. Recent research by McKinsey (McKinsey Quarterly No2, 2001), says that 65% of respondents in a top team database claimed: “Trust was real issue for their teams. This usually stems from a poor dialogue and an inability to capitalise on diverse viewpoints, thus reducing the team’s ability to work creatively and adapt to changes in the market”.

What appear to be simple words – teamwork, agreed, urgent, trust, important, deadline - can take on a number of meanings in an international context. Misunderstandings, disagreements and suspicions can be magnified out of all proportion. Consequently, familiar terms and concepts may need to be redefined. As a partner of a professional services firm involved in cross-border merger said: “We use the same words - but we don’t mean the same thing.”

These might seem like trivial issues to an outsider, but they can be hugely important, and determine whether the teams achieve their objectives or not. Research into the effectiveness of top global teams by the Hay Group (Top Teams, 2001) shows that “on outstanding teams, the leader gave far clearer direction than on average or poor-performing teams. …….Of all the factors influencing team climate, clarity is the one that really distinguish great teams from average ones”.

Effective global teams agree early on how to reconcile opposite values and opinions. Dealing with difficult and sensitive issues on a reactive, case-by-case basis will not help develop trust; it will effect morale, and slow down the work of the team. Building a successful international team is a journey of many ups-and-downs, surprises, and disappointments. Consequently, it can be helpful to use a cross-cultural facilitator, or coach, to help teams identify initial practical steps and create a “team template”: a mutual understanding of effective working practices.

They all speak English, don’t they?

“The Germans were talking to us in perfectly good English, but it might just as well have been Swahili for all the sense they were making. They didn‘t get us and we certainly never got them.”
Rover employee commenting on the BMW-Rover merger, Management Today, May 2002

We recently worked with a team leader who experienced problems when global restructuring resulted in additional members, all native English speakers, joining the team. Some of the existing European team members were very unhappy about this, and threatened to boycott future meetings. The despondent team members told us they felt like “outsiders - not part of the decision-making process” and the addition of further native English speakers “would make it even worse”. The native English speakers “talked too much - dominated team meetings” and “did not involve everyone in decisions”. And finally we were told: “We don’t trust them any more, and might as well not bother attending any meetings”.

British and American executives who have never learnt a second (or third) language probably do not realise how much less complexity they have to deal with because the “lingua franca” today is their own. “How exactly are we going to talk?” was never discussed. People usually assume that everyone else will automatically accept their preferred communication style and the values that support that style.

Here is a good example: “We wasted a lot of time…the differences between us and the Dutch were especially noticeable during meetings. They saw these as ways of exchanging ideas without formal decisions. The English view was that the meetings were for taking decisions.”

When there is a breakdown in communication and trust, the team will have to go back to basics: establish a framework of ground rules to determine what is acceptable behaviour, and what is not. Team leaders, or facilitators, must be prepared to use their experience, intuition and insight to bring to the surface and confront differences that are causing tension.

Empathy – trying to understand others

“He has a Japanese sense of understanding another person’s feelings. It is different from talking to a Japanese, of course, because he says ‘yes’ and ‘no’ very clearly.”
Japanese Nissan director talking about their Brazilian CEO executive Carlos Ghosn, The Financial Times August 1999

Change, uncertainty and ambiguity disturb the status quo, and people resist, as they like to “be in control” - a luxury most teams do not enjoy. Developing self-awareness, understanding the basic principles of change management and human resistance are important development areas for global team leaders. If leaders lack awareness of both cultural differences and change, it is very difficult to lead their teams through turbulent times.

Most people who work cross-culturally are involved in some kind of change - merger, acquisition, strategic alliance, joint venture, restructuring or outsourcing. Additionally, they have to work with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds with very different ideas on how to communicate, manage and do things.

How are we going to work – developing cultural dexterity

“We are obsessed with time. It is a long-standing part of our national character. Time is money, and we always try to spend it well. We often scoff at the tradition of the siesta in Spain, Italy and Mexico. We smirk at the French practice of closing down in August and at Sweden’s mandated five-week minimum vacation policy. We have never been comfortable with the abstract notion of free time.”
Professor Al Gini, Chicago’s Loyola University, The Financial Times 25 July 2000

In addition to issues of language, participation and conflicts, cultural differences are also expressed in different expectations about how people view time, how the task is structured, and how decisions will be made.

In the US business culture, time is money and time is scarce. Being on time, not wasting time, and doing one thing at a time are also important concepts in most northern European countries. In other parts of the world, time is more flexible, and before getting down to business it is important to spend time getting to know one’s colleagues and partners. Teams need to decide what “on time” means, clarify deadlines, agree on how to take decisions and structure their time.

The team leader often sets the tone: one could encourage a more consensual approach – another might take a more direct line. Leadership style and team selection may also be affected by the fact that some business cultures attach a greater or lesser importance to formal qualifications, training, experience and status.

As a team starts work, team leaders might discover that minor adjustments can make a huge difference. Foreigners working in the Nordic region usually find it difficult to understand the importance of consensus. Consultation with colleagues before a decision is mandatory. In one team, British and American members became frustrated at their Swedish colleagues’ inability to make decisions. They developed “an advance warning system”: Key decisions were flagged up well ahead, giving the Swedes time to consult with colleagues and come prepared. This approach also proved to be very helpful for new members joining the team – irrespective of nationality.

By reflecting on what works well, the team can start to form an explicit “collection of best practice”, and pass that knowledge on. Working across cultures takes extra time and energy, and teams need to plan for this to avoid the added stress of falling behind schedule. Thorough planning of the team’s first meetings, and appropriate help from an external facilitator or coach will pave the way for long-term success.

Looking ahead

“Seeing the world from another person’s point of view is one of the basic lessons of morality in a functioning society.”
Rabinder Singh, the Queen’s Counsel, The Financial Times 24 April 2004

Cross-cultural management competence is just one factor in ensuring a global team’s success. Failure and success are also dependent on economic, political and organisational forces. However, as we move towards increased globalisation, more and more people will have to work with colleagues and partners from other countries and cultures. The growing economic power of China, Spanish rivalling English as the main language in the US, and an influx of new immigrants in Europe mean that we will all have to review our perspective of culture, and how it affects our daily working lives.

Skills that are crucial when working internationally can also be applied closer to home, in the professions and the public sector. Diversity initiatives should not only address issues around legal compliance and policy, but also help individuals, leaders and teams to understand and deal with diverse behaviour and values.

© Vivianne Näslund, 2006