Successful cross-cultural collaboration starts with your intentionality to communicate, interact and build trust by bridging to connect with people, human to human.
Working in international teams does not automatically correlate to high levels of cultural intelligence, which involves developing a global mindset and creating the environment for an equal share of voice in team meetings, encouraging people to contribute their ideas. Cultural awareness is important, but it is not the only factor.
The 4 capabilities of cultural intelligence
Cultural intelligence (CQ) is a set of 4 capabilities which helps individuals and teams understand their motivations, the differences, the strategies they can use to adapt their approach, and how to adjust their communication style and behaviours to be successful in their interactions. These capabilities can be measured and assessed for progress over time:
CQ Drive: Your level of interest, persistence and confidence during multicultural interactions.
CQ Knowledge: Your understanding about how cultures are similar and different.
CQ Strategy: Your awareness and ability to plan for multicultural interactions.
CQ Action: Your ability to adapt when relating and working in multicultural contexts.
Do your teams need support to develop their cultural intelligence?
When do teams need to improve cultural intelligence?
Developing cultural intelligence is particularly important in diverse teams based in multiple locations around the world who need to work together to achieve their mission. The CQ assessment, training and strategies can be used in talent and team development, supporting global virtual teams to collaborate effectively, resolving cultural issues in teams, and forming new teams in project kick off.
Looking for something else? Questions?
9 practical ways to improve your cultural intelligence
- Start with yourself. It is hard to see how culture influences how you show up. Take a cultural intelligence assessment to explore your own cultural values. Recognise others communicate in different ways. Assume positive intent when you experience unexpected behaviours. When you feel activated by the words or actions of other people, pause and ask yourself whether cultural differences are playing a role.
- Build your resilience. Sometimes you may not know what to say or how to adapt our communication in multicultural contexts. It is fine to feel uncomfortable and not always know how to respond. Get curious, explore, ask open-ended questions and listen actively.
- Establish an inclusive environment. Consider team members in various time zones when scheduling meetings and take it in turns for individuals to join early or late. Increase the team awareness of key religious and national holidays, when individuals are not available.
- Create your team communication charter. Make explicit how individuals prefer to communicate and contribute in meetings. Some individuals may not be comfortable to unmute and share, however they are happy to contribute in the chat or breakout rooms. Agree how you will communicate disagreements and make decisions. Explore together to establish expectations and boundaries.
- Support the team to know each other. When you do not regularly meet in person, it is important to build trust through allowing time for unstructured conversation so the team can connect by sharing personal context, wins and challenges.
- Humour does not always cross borders. Humour is often used in the workplace to create warmth and connection, and yet the style of humour does not always translate across cultures and can exclude individuals.
- Non-verbal communication is key. Communication is also how we say things and the level of expressiveness, as well as specific expressions, gestures and postures can be cultural. Observe and learn.
- Be mindful of your language. Especially in multilingual teams, ensure that what you say is clear and simple. Slow the pace and pause regularly. Avoid specific idioms or expressions which may not be understood by all. Explain cultural references, acronyms and jargon.
- Keep curious, keep learning- cultural intelligence is a lifelong journey!
Discover your own Cultural Intelligence:
If you want to learn more about your individual or team’s cultural intelligence capabilities, ask me about Cultural Intelligence assessments and training.
Victoria Rennoldson, communication coach and Cultural Intelligence trainer, is the CEO and founder of Culture Cuppa. She helps global leaders with elevating their communication skills, and multicultural teams to build trust and collaboration with cultural intelligence. Connect on LinkedIn or follow the podcast.
This article originally appeared in Expert Profile Magazine, Summer 2024.
