The COVID pandemic has changed our perspective on many things, the value of working from your own home being one of them. Although the restrictions associated with the pandemic have long since been lifted, one thing remains—many office workers still prefer to stay at home.
Companies also have to adapt, so a new phenomenon is emerging—businesses are shifting to the online space, allowing themselves to hire teams from all over the world and moving to a global working model rather than a local one.
Such a possibility was unheard of a few decades ago, but today, one department can be the workplace for people from all continents—all without relocating. Building teams across borders, however, has its challenges. Find out what you can do for your global team to strengthen productivity, motivation, and the bonds between team members.
Building a Global Super-Team: Strategies and Challenges
It’s no surprise to anyone that managing a global team from different countries, time zones, and cultures can be complex. There are hurdles to overcome, but if you can navigate them successfully, you can build a connected team of professionals who will work miracles in your organization. So, what should you pay attention to?
Leveraging Technology for Seamless Communication and Organization
If you work in a global team, you already use technology, but are you taking advantage of its full potential? Many collaboration tools are out there, and many users don’t even know what they offer beyond the most obvious features, such as video calls.
Online tools offer great opportunities for collaboration, organization, and communication. Services like Trello and Slack help teams around the world manage tasks and goals, brainstorm, and communicate with each other in an organized and clear manner.
Technology can be even more helpful if teammates travel for work or team-related matters. Equipping them with an eSIM-compatible phone and an eSIM application, such as Saily eSIM, can be a great solution. The app provides access to affordable data plans in over 150 countries, enabling team members to easily connect to the internet and avoid excessive roaming charges when abroad.
Fostering Intercultural Communication with Online Language Learning
Effective global team building relies heavily on seamless intercultural communication. Integrating online language study within the team’s training regimen helps break down language barriers and fosters mutual understanding. By using digital platforms for language learning, team members can acquire essential language skills relevant to their colleagues’ native tongues, enhancing the team’s ability to communicate across cultural lines. This not only facilitates smoother collaboration across different time zones and cultural contexts but also promotes an inclusive environment where all team members feel valued and understood.
Handling Different Time Zones
Time zones can be the biggest obstacle to building global teams. In companies that operate locally, it’s simpler—everyone has the same working hours. But when managing a global team, you’ll quickly find it difficult to schedule a meeting between people who operate almost on opposite sides of the clock.
If you have difficulty scheduling meetings across different time zones, reducing their numbers is the most straightforward solution. It’s a worldwide phenomenon that many employees share the infamous quote: This meeting should’ve been an email. Perhaps this is one of those situations? Ask yourself if it’s really necessary to call all team members at the same time. A simple text message might solve the problem.
Of course, some things need to be discussed in person, so work on your organizational skills. Schedules, calendars, and spreadsheets are your friends. Ask your teammates about their preferred call times, too. They may overlap if night and morning birds are on the team, making scheduling much easier.
Just don’t forget to add variety—don’t leave one region with constant evening meetings.
Managing Cultural Differences
We don’t often think about our cultural backgrounds, but we clearly see differences when they hit us. Such differences can become quite disruptive in a workplace shared by people from all over the world, even if it’s a virtual workplace.
Cultural background can affect everything from communication styles to approaches to work-life balance. For example, employees from countries such as Japan or South Korea may prioritize task completion over private life. In contrast, some team members from Western European or Scandinavian countries may shock them with their high value of personal time. Moreover, many cultures respect social hierarchy, and some people may struggle to express themselves around older colleagues.
Cultural differences are unavoidable in a multicultural team, but they’re nothing that good communication can’t solve. It’s worth introducing some mutually agreed-upon rules, such as how formal or informal language should be used by everyone or how to dress for video calls.
Valuing Communication and Feedback
In a virtual workplace, face-to-face communication is limited, so it’s important to figure out how to communicate ideas and feedback while still recognizing the human aspect of working with others. Team members need to feel that they are not working in a vacuum, moving from one task to another, because that would make anyone feel unmotivated and burnt out.
Since your face-to-face communication is limited by distance, you should schedule some time for in-person communication. These don’t always have to be team-wide meetings. Use text messages and simple one-on-one conversations to establish relationships and strengthen bonds. Also, if you can afford it, schedule trips to visit each other or at least weekly non-work-related meetings during work hours—just ask your teammates for a virtual coffee date. It will do wonders for your team’s morale. After all, no one said that remote work has to be devoid of human connection.
