Lynae Marie

Capstone

Lynae Marie

Lynae Marie

Capstone

Enhancing Interactions
in Global Teams

A Communications Perspective

Enhancing Interactions
in Global Teams

A Communications Perspective

Enhancing Interactions
in Global Teams

A Communications Perspective

Introduction

Introduction

Introduction

The research problem I will be addressing is the challenge of understanding and improving the interpersonal interactions and overall effectiveness of small global teams. These small teams are comprised of people from all over the world, utilizing technology to work together remotely.

These teams often require a lot of communication and collaboration to reach their goals and be effective. Several factors can either hinder or enhance team performance, including communication styles and cultural differences.

The role of communication methods and cultural norms in shaping these interactions is an area that needs to be addressed to enhance team cohesiveness and effectiveness.

Core concepts

Core concepts

Interpersonal Interactions in Global Teams

This concept revolves around the challenges and dynamics of interactions within small global teams. It encompasses the use of technology for remote collaboration, the need for effective communication and collaboration, and the factors that impact team performance, including communication styles and cultural differences.

Cultural and Language Barriers

This element focuses on the barriers posed by cultural differences and language disparities in global teams. It explores how these barriers affect team dynamics, productivity, relationships, and overall effectiveness. The concept also highlights the potential for misunderstandings and conflicts arising from these differences.

Sociological and Communication Insights

This framework emphasizes the role of sociological and communication studies in addressing the challenges faced by global teams. It discusses how these fields can provide guidelines, education, and strategies to foster an inclusive environment where diverse team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts. Additionally, it highlights the importance of understanding unspoken cultural norms and the impact of language on word meanings and usage.

Barriers to success

Barriers to success

Language barriers have the potential to contribute to problems that can affect team dynamics and relationships, team productivity and effectiveness, and the organization’s ability to fulfill its role.

Misunderstandings during conversations are one factor, but language differences can affect team communication even before conversations begin. When team members do not feel confident in their language skills, they may experience anxiety about how they will be perceived.

The result is that they are less likely to share their thoughts and ideas with the rest of the team. (Presbitero et al., 2019)

Course connections

Course connections

Course connections

In CMST 3118, Intercultural Communication, I explored the intricacies of identity, language, nonverbal codes, and cultural space in fostering effective cross-cultural interactions. There is a myriad of cultural lenses that ideas filter through before turning into verbal or written communication.

In SOCL 4471, The Sociology of Law, I learned that the experience and perspective one views society through has a great influence over how that person analyzes issues morality and social norms. Social norms are not taught explicitly and can vary widely between cultures. These social norms and values shape our perspectives and what we consider to be appropriate communication.

Thus, the sociological phenomenon of relying on one’s group and perspective to form a moral and interpersonal communication code explains how a particular communication style can be perfectly appropriate for one group, but cause problems in an intercultural setting.

In CMST 3118, Intercultural Communication, I explored the intricacies of identity, language, nonverbal codes, and cultural space in fostering effective cross-cultural interactions. There is a myriad of cultural lenses that ideas filter through before turning into verbal or written communication.

In SOCL 4471, The Sociology of Law, I learned that the experience and perspective one views society through has a great influence over how that person analyzes issues morality and social norms. Social norms are not taught explicitly and can vary widely between cultures. These social norms and values shape our perspectives and what we consider to be appropriate communication.

Thus, the sociological phenomenon of relying on one’s group and perspective to form a moral and interpersonal communication code explains how a particular communication style can be perfectly appropriate for one group, but cause problems in an intercultural setting.

Language and anxiety

Language and anxiety

Communication studies, particularly regarding intercultural communication, can help organizations create guidelines to educate their members and help foster an environment where people from diverse backgrounds feel comfortable sharing their thoughts. When some team members hesitate to participate in discussions, valuable insights are missed.

When working on a global design team, one of my teammates that was an ESL (English as a second language) speaker confided in me the difficulty of speaking up during meetings, due to anxiety over her English skills. Over time she was able to become more comfortable in the group and felt courageous enough to contribute to group discussions, enriching the group and improving our output.

It seems that having positive one-on-one interactions with various members of the group helps encourage teammates to feel safer participating in group discussions. During these one-on-one interactions ESL speakers can speak more openly about their anxieties, ask questions and clear up misunderstandings about particular words or phrases, learn why some words and phrases are not received well, and get reassurance from their teammates that they will not be judged harshly for making grammatical errors.

I’ve noticed that often, ESL speakers can detect problems with a project that native English speakers miss, and they are often able to suggest ways to communicate that are more accessible for a wider range of people.

Unspoken rules

Unspoken rules

Even when a second language is spoken fluently, there are unspoken cultural norms that have a great impact on the perceived meaning of words. Misunderstandings that arise due to cultural differences have been found to have a negative effect on decision-making, interpersonal relationships within the team, and overall effectiveness of teams. (Davidaviciene & Al Majzoub, 2022)

This is something that can be difficult to learn, as these social norms are typically not taught, but expected to be absorbed from interactions with the group.

One example of this was when I needed to explain to both a close friend and a teammate (on two separate occasions) why the use of a particular word had such negative connotations. As ESL speakers, their understanding of the word was that it was much more literal and did not contain any additional stigma. The word itself had a neutral meaning to them but could potentially cause offense and team conflict.

Being able to discuss the unspoken rules for use of the particular term in an accepting, private setting helped them to know how to avoid using it in interactions that were meant to be friendly or professional. This is another example of how sociology and communication create and reinforce the use of specific language patterns.

Conclusion

Conclusion

Conclusion

The groups we belong to affect our thinking, values, decisions, and actions.

Creating teams that are culturally aware can increase understanding and team effectiveness, as well as create an environment where information and novel ideas are encouraged.

With greater understanding the language barrier can become less of an impediment to communication.

This should lead to interpersonal misunderstandings and conflicts being reduced, helping teams spend less time on conflict resolution and more time reaching their goals.