How to manage a Multicultural Team and Track Working Hours

Time management of multicultural teams

Having people from all over the globe in the workplace can be quite cheerful and can also provide a lot of advantages to the company. But these advantages can be a real challenge to achieve. Suppose you are currently working in a multicultural organization that prioritizes the contribution of the diverse workforce or hires remote employees from diverse backgrounds. or.  What will be the most common difficulties you’ll face?

First of all, there will be language barriers, management structural differences, different cultural norms, and what-not…Let’s see how we can address these problems to make a highly productive multicultural team. 

Put aside barriers

As long as team managers will have cultural barriers in their minds, the team won’t be able to breakdown those barriers. Make conversations with them outside of work. Try to understand their norms and values or even make them talk more.  Employees do not really appreciate when they are not encouraged to communicate. While having a culturally diverse team you might have minorities too. Maybe they will feel isolated. By establishing a bond will make them feel more respected and valued. You can also try by making them talk one on one with each other. In this way, they’ll also understand each other’s values and differences as well. People appreciate it when you make an effort to understand them.

Be aware of cultural festivals

 It might not be possible to memorize every festival that ever occurred. But try to look up the most attended or common ones like most populated areas in the world, are China and India Their festivals such as Chinese New year, Lantern Festival, Qingming and Dragonboat festival are quite famous in the world. For India, there would be Shivratri, Holi, Dussehra, and Diwali. Now I know remembering all of them by dates won’t be an easy target. But it will be a great deal for them if you just wish them on right date. It will be the icing on the cake if you can afford to give them a day off.  Even if you are working with them remotely just give them some time to celebrate religious obligation. 

Be natural and assume less

While working with people across the world you should not get your hopes high. Even if they are good at their work, but getting through cultural barriers can be time taking. Give your employees time to cope up with the environment. If you are on a skype or working remotely with freelancers, don’t expect a quick or creative answer. Avoid using phrases because they can be different in every culture and everyone will understand them differently. Don’t assume things be clear to them about their tasks and goals. 

Track working hours

When any of your employees are done with their working hours try having a talk outside of work. Talking and sharing things helps a lot to know each other. Either working in the same place or remotely, multiple applications can be very helpful to track working hours. There are some remote employees monitoring software and time clock apps for multiple employees. These apps with their AI usage can tell you a lot about their products so you might not have to question them directly   

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