10 Ways to Manage a Global Team Successfully

More and more businesses are relying on a geographically diverse workforce to flourish in today’s global economy. They assemble and manage a global team that combines the greatest global functional experience with in-depth, local knowledge of the most promising markets. Consequently, they benefit from international diversity by bringing together people from many cultures with a wide range of work experiences and viewpoints on strategic and organizational issues. All of this helps multinational corporations compete in today’s global economic market.

When everyone is locally working and everyone shares the same office space, it is hard enough to form a successful work group. However, when team members come from various nations and functional backgrounds and operate in separate places, communication can quickly degrade, misunderstandings can arise, and collaboration may quickly devolve into distrust. Remote employees and coworkers from various backgrounds have grown increasingly common in the recent years and has only surged since the pandemic began.

This implies that managers need to manage a global team and be in charge of leading teams of people with a variety of professional as well as cultural backgrounds, locations, and work ethics. Managing a global workforce effectively needs exceptional leadership and communication abilities, as well as a keen understanding of cultural differences. Effectively communicating, motivating, and celebrating your team requires time, understanding, and effort. Great things happen when you welcome diversity and empower people throughout your global workforce.

Understanding and adopting the professional work techniques of different cultures is a necessity in order to build and manage a global team. But that is a challenging task to take on.

Global teams are nothing new, but the obstacles of working with a widely spread geographical team are constantly changing and increasing. Here are 10 suggestions that can help in bridging the gaps that come with working on a team that is geographically and culturally diverse.

1. Increase communication

Regular and frequent communication is a salient step to manage a global team. Regularly scheduled online team meetings are a way to stay connected and clearly communicate information across to all team members. Meetings also provide valuable opportunity for team members to exchange information in real time, keep employees informed about organizational developments, track progress, clarify doubts, identify areas that are experiencing issues and more.

It is also important to recognize the variation in time zones. Set up a process or a system that allows for people in different time zones to get on the same page. This will also help avoid feelings of disconnection among team members. For eg. You can schedule your emails to be received when your team member starts work or you can fix a time in the day or week for a video call that includes the whole team. When it comes to maximizing team’s productivity and cooperation, choosing the right communication channels and establishing a routine and a culture is critical.

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