Managing and working with multicultural teams requires an understanding of cultural diversity to create an effective team. Critically discuss the issues
Introduction:
Multiculturalism is an accepted fact of life in today’s day and age and one cannot go about any social project without at least taking any note of it. Some societies have adapted better than others to multicultural formats and obviously there are others which still find trouble to adapt. Charity work is the ideal tool to bring together a multicultural approach to work which may be the result of looking at things with a different perspective throughout.
One has to make sure that all cultural differences are worked out before working together on a project. For example certain religions require certain times when they have to reflect or think about certain issues which are not in the timescale of Western Europeans or westerners. This may create a sort of conflict between those who wish to get a job done quickly and others who take a more measured approach to proceedings.
The building of a multi cultural team is not only an essential component of a project but the understanding of issues is the main core of all this. First of all one has to bring on board the various ways and mannerisms which permeate the structure of the team and which could have an effect on its final performance. This is clearly an issue which needs to be addressed immediately before work starts and is crucially important if the project is going to succeed eventually.
The selection of team individuals should be based on lengthy interviews where the cultural differences may be properly assessed and realistically ascertained to ensure that these may blend and fit in properly with all the proceedings that may be going on in the future.
Organizations can be slightly top heavy and resistant to change especially if they are large ones where bureaucracy and the status quo dominates. In several cases you can have a large organization such as a bank where the top management tends to oversee proceedings in a strict manner and conservative credentials often lend themselves to absolute resistance to change in all quarters.
Understanding multiculturalism is important in this respect as when an agency or a company comes to assess its work plan, some issues may seem to remain unaddressed
Conversely, some managers may be open to change as a better way of attracting new clients and offering new services which will eventually prove to be lucrative. However most large organizations today rely on top heavy management and are not dynamic at all in the sense that they rule from top down and there is no way that certain decisions can be influenced by people in the middle or at the bottom. This is also the case in point in an educational setup where resistance to change may prove quite obstructive.
Resistance to transformational change
Change is an important aspect in any organization as if this does not happen, then the organization will definitely not move forward. However it is true that most organizations face challenges, largely from within when faced with transformational change. One typical case could be the employment of a free thinking executive who comes up with various new ideas and methods to change company policy but meets strong resistance from his bosses. This could result in a stopgap where implementation is left far behind and much needed change will not happen. The same could happen in elementary education where a teacher with new ideas and methods can find himself/herself stifled due to restrictive work practices and resistance to change by superiors. This obviously leads to a situation where the status quo prevails.
One can only look at recent examples of where change and new ideas can be beneficial to an organization. Take Apple with their innovative range of products such as tablets and iPhones which have taken the world by storm in every respect. If Steve Jobs had not been a dynamic entrepreneur in every respect and not constantly evolved with a culture of change, the company would probably have failed. Professional development as such is also a crucial part of things and if this is stifled then there can be no success in managing change. [Again, what does professional development have to do with any of this? You need to better organize your ideas.]
The transformative leader
Transformative leaders in organizations are few and far between as more often than not; these are stifled and are not allowed to flourish with their substantial ideas. A leader who takes over a new role cannot just sit tight and observe the status quo but must also do his/her utmost to transform that organization. This can be done in a variety of ways which range from simplifying the payroll system to testing new educational theories and introducing varied lesson plans especially at an early age in education. Transformational change cannot only be one sided though as there has to be a level of co-operation in what is implemented due to the fact that confrontation will certainly not bring about change but will stifle it still more. This could be the case when change has to be brought about from within but is stifled from without. Transformational change can also be achieved within small organizations if the right approach is carried out. Entrepreneurship is a case in point where those who have an innovative flair can found their own companies and flourish considerably. Transformational change can also be brought about by new and innovative systems such as social media and change is a constant which is obviously apparent in such organizations, this is also true in a primary education setup.
Overcoming resistance to transformational change through multiculturalism
Change is an important factor in any organization and resistance to it can lead to eventual failure if not disaster. The ability to absorb transformational change remains of crucial importance and if this is resisted, the consequences could be quite grave. First of all an organization should be lean and mean to survive and should also ensure that its pool of talent is trained in the best possible manner. Professional development remains extremely important in every aspect and this has to be taken note of when faced with situations of grave concern. In today’s fast developing world where the media is king and where unnecessary exposure can lead to inevitable tainting of reputation, the importance of managing change remains paramount.
Challenges to transformational change remain many but the one which causes the most obstacles is the linking to the status quo. Often, top managers and other organizational chiefs in education come from privileged or conservative background, which does not enable them to see the clear picture in this respect. Other organizational challenges include top heavy organizations where systems are ingrained and are difficult to change especially if they have been tried and tested for several years. The importance of transformational change and the breaking of resistance to it cannot really be overstated at this stage. One has to understand that not managing change is extremely unhealthy to any organization and can also result in loss of staff morale and a brain drain with the best people leaving the organization in search of better pastures.
Thriving can be described as the ability to live within a given set of circumstances which can make life much more difficult or easier. When one thrives in an office environment for example, one is learning to expand his/her horizons into deeper waters regardless of the consequences which one must face in this regard. Doty explains the definition of thriving in her book as something which occurs when a given set of circumstances is created and the person involved in them makes the most out of that situation.
The key ingredients of thriving would be the ability to make the most out of a given set of circumstances and at the same expanding those to your advantage. For example, a clerk at a bank can be given a routine set of tasks to complete but after all this is done, he/she may decide to take on some new work through the contacts developed at the same bank. All this comes together accordingly in various ways and one does thrive when faced with such a situation even though one may encounter a severe number of obstacles along the way.
Obviously one has to compromise with certain situations if these do not always have an effect on the final outcome of proceedings. Pressure is another important factor in all this as the ability to intrinsically work under pressure is also crucially important when faced with such impossible situations. Doty expands liberally on the question of pressure and how one can tackle this and eventually cope with this in the long one. One can thrive very well in such situations but one can also be torn apart by excess stress which creates an unbearable situation which can lead to nervous breakdowns and other similar problems.
Conclusion: How can multiculturalism be appreciated when forming a team to address certain social inequalities?
Multiculturalism brings about various aspects which can be seen to be very positive in the sense that they are observant immediately and lend themselves to an increase in potential on various fronts. Naturally enough one has to assess the various cultural differences which prevail within a team as these will have a considerable effect and impinge on the final outcome of the whole project. One has to look at things with a critical eye and the way society is constantly changing over the past decades means that such work remains crucially and intrinsically important before one is to succeed.
Multiculturalism also brings about positives in the way we understand others and what they really want from their respective lives. This can mean that persons who come from Sweden would be more outgoing and perhaps more attuned to certain projects whilst those from the UK would be slightly more reserved and more stuck to stay inside and brood over their problems. All these allowances have to be made when bringing up a multicultural team for assessment as at the end of the day, the whole success of the project depends on how you actually forge together all these issues. But that is also the beauty of multiculturalism where there is a mixing of talent, resources and other issues which can show that life is not just one stringent set of rules.
With a multicultural group involved in charity, a whole new dimension is taken up and which demonstrates that giving to others is perhaps the most important issue of them all. With a multicultural group, one tends to appreciate the various strands of society better and the needs of that society are also put into the equation. Consequentially, charitable goals are set which can be achieved rather quickly and without much ado, this is all brought intrinsically together in more ways than one when a multicultural approach is applied to a problem. Transformational leadership is also an important issue which then ensues and which is taken to the next level when life creates its own little obstacles and curious beacons. Nothwitstanding all this, a multicultural approach to a problem is always the best way to go about things as at the end of the day, life is a spiral of different experiences which are crammed together into one fell swoop and this melting pot is definitely a crucially important part of life’s meaning and its progress.
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