Multicultural Team – Foreign Boss

Since many call center teams span the globe, this article might provide useful information on managing  your multicultural teams.

This paper explains problems faced by the team which is managed by a foreign boss. In global teams, it is natural to have a manager from another geographic location. Due to this there could be both positive and negative effects on the team.

Work culture in different geographic locations will be different. This is also dependent on individual company culture. Average age of the employees could be different in each country. In West Europe, you could find higher average age. They will have wisdom to take good decisions. In Asia and East Europe the average age could be very less and they need not be good decision makers. They will want to do things at a fast pace and a boss from West Europe could slow things down which will unsettle the team from for example from India. There are cases in which age was not an issue.

In one instance a Boss from West Europe in-spite of him being close to retirement age, could inspire and motivate the quite a young crowd in India with his efficiency and speed in which tasks were done, decisions made etc. In another case, not so old boss from West Europe had completely slowed down the project even when the team was enthusiastic and team lost motivation in a very short time. But keep in mind that these characteristics cannot be generalized.

This is a major stumbling block for both the team and the Manager. Psychological make up of the boss and the team will be completely different. For instance a boss from West Europe could assume that the same management style back home will work elsewhere. As stated above, if the average experience is higher in West Europe, then team will not need much guidance and direction. But the same cannot be expected for a relatively inexperienced team. Every individual will have their management style.

But should be willing to modify according to the needs of the team. For the boss from West Europe this could mean more hands on approach in the day to day activities of the project which he/she may not be used to. If manager is not able to provide the required guidance on a day to day basis then the team will be lost and can become very inefficient and lose motivation in long run. On the other hand if the team is well experienced then foreign boss could bring a different perspective by enhancing the responsibility of the team.

The manager/boss should be able to adjust to the team requirements. Some teams might require detailed task allocation and follow up and some teams may not require. There could be dead locks and nothing will get done if boss assumes no task allocation is required and team thinks otherwise. I have across such instances. By the time team and boss realizes, precious time would have been lost and end in project delays. Some teams expects the boss to do adequate follow up. If this is not done the team can assume that the tasks are not important and serious enough to be completed on time. Teams really miss the sense of urgency.

It will be difficult for the foreign boss to understand what motivates the team. It will be difficult for the team to understand what the boss wants. There are some foreign bosses who think giving salary itself is a reason enough for motivation. But that need not be the case always. For example good role and responsibility might motivate an employee or frequent interaction by the boss with the employee might inspire, a word of appreciation etc. It is important for both the team and the manager to understand each other’s work culture. Irrespective of the country from where a particular person is from, everyone wants to know that he/she is important in the project.

Boss has to understand how sense of importance could be created for each team member. In west Europe, the situation could be that getting salary and having secure job will be reason enough for motivation, but in Asian countries this is not the case in current situation.

This could become a big barrier for communication. Even though English is the official communication language in many cases, there could be lot of miscommunication due to lack of understanding. A foreign boss might use a word which was literally translated from their mother tongue, but actual meaning inferred by the team could be quite opposite. English language itself has variations in each country based on native language. I will take sometime for the boss and the team to find the rhythm.

A foreign boss without prior experience in handling teams from different culture will need guidance and support to understand the differences in team working and motivational aspects. The team will also need to adjust itself to the new boss. There is a need for frequent team interactions and personal interactions with individual team members. Boss and the team should be willing to learn from each other.

Leave Comment

Name (required)

E-mail (required)

URI

Your Comment