COMM 215 All Assignments COMM 215 All Assignments | Page 22

- Teamwork for these teams will involved an increased level of communication and will require them to collaborate frequently on projects. Due to the different cultures and backgrounds for each individual, they all will offer a lot of creative ideas. - There is the possibility for member’s with differing opinions to clash. There is a study by Roy Chua, an organizational behavior professor at Harvard, shows that “multicultural teams bring many benefits to an organization—provided the workplace is harmonious”. (Vaccaro, 2014) - Team members will likely have different ethnicities; some prefer direct communication while others may communicate indirectly. This would cause some team members to ignore the indirect communication and miss important information. (Duggan, 2014) - Another important aspect is time management. Different cultures can view time management differently. People coming from high-context cultures will have loose deadlines and focus on indirect messaging. People from low-context cultures will typically follow a tight schedule and be more direct when they are communicating. - Employees or team members that have that understanding will more likely accept the cultural differences and be more willing to collaborate with one another. - Having effective teamwork and communication on a multicultural team is hard work. Managers focusing on helping the team members become aware of the cultural differences will help ease friction in the team and create a harmonious environment. Primary Subject 3: Advantages and Disadvantages of a Multicultural Workforce o Advantages § Fosters creativity and innovation § Promotes positive work environment § Increased problem solving § Broader coverage § Company image o Disadvantages § Can affect employees ability to communicate and work on a team productively