Team Development and Cultural Issues

Introduction

Business promotion and brand marketing are considered the backbone of progressive concern. But, the more critical issue is project management, development teams, and organizing resources with consideration and appropriation of cultural differences. Project managers are supposed to be equipped with basic organizational skills so that their workforce can contribute its best and get fruitful results towards the growth and progress of an organization. However, the globalize business concepts shrunken the world into a village which made it quite hard to develop teams with multicultural individuals and diverse personalities. Moreover, it is a fact that the success of a business revolves around the business management approach, which structures the organizational persona and success. In the current ingenious and methodical business era, achievement of a standard business environment, project management, and organization of teams are not only hard, but, in some cases, it is impossible for an un-resourceful business approach. Therefore, it is much important to have strong project management and team development strategies in the current global and competitive business environment (Williams, 2002).

Team Development Process

The team development process is mostly based on three elements which are defined below:

• Forming: The FormationFormation is the first step of team development which organizes a group of people into a team. In that step, human resource managers pick the best resources to build an outstanding team. The FormationFormation of the team is the first and essential step because it organizes a group of people and gives them a chance to interact with each other and exchange their views. Moreover, FormationFormation is the step that provides a chance for the members to develop the best interpersonal skills and interact with multicultural and multi-personality team members.
• Storming: In a second step, the team members identify their roles and responsibilities as well as find the appropriate path to accomplish the set forth goals. Here the managers play a critical role in defining the priorities and properly arranging the individual’s strengths for the achievement of organizational goals. Discussion among the multicultural and diverse personalities and roles of managers would bring harmony between the members and develop unity to pursue the set forth organizational targets (Robbins & Judge, 2007).
• Performing: Performing is the last step that places the team into a real-time working environment and digs up a realistic output. The managers are also participants in that stage to evaluate the performance of individual resources. This is the time to prove and expose the skills that I have learned throughout the team development process and training. It is a fact that performance is perpetual of a team, but it should be out of cultural context. The teams should perform as a team other than as individuals.

1. How far should a person accommodate the culture of another?
   1. To bring harmony among the team members, every member should accommodate the culture of another. Without mutual accommodation, it is not possible to develop a strong team.
2. When is compromise appropriate?
   1. In a team, a difference of opinion is very obvious. However, a compromise is appropriate when something is largely accepted by the majority of team members.
3. What happens when it becomes very costly to accommodate the culture of another?
   1. The managers should initiate at the worst conditions when it becomes very costly to accommodate the culture of another. It should be tackled by the managerial skills to develop working relationships among the team members other than panicking about the situation.
4. Who has the final decision when there is an impasse?
   1. The final decision must be taken by the supervisors or the human resource management department. First of all, the impasse situation should be avoided by every member; however, if it is not possible, then the final decision should be taken by the supervisors and managers.
5. Who should accommodate more, the “host” or the “guest”?
   1. The host should show wisdom and accommodate the cultural differences between the team members. However, the guests should also consider things realistically.

References

Robbins, S & Judge, T (2007). Organizational Behavior. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Williams, J (2002). Team development for high-tech project managers. Norwood, MA: Artech House.