Academic literature has suggested that teams made up of members from different countries may perpetuate ‘cultural differences’ and may lead to a diversity of working behaviours and expectations. Recent research by Juliet Bourke, consulting partner at Deloitte Australia delved into the issue of working in a multicultural team by asking deeper questions relating to individual personality, the influence of racial background and team dynamics.

The research was conducted by establishing a three‐month project in New South Wales, Australia. A project team was assembled, comprising seven members. The aim was to capture the perspectives of the Spanish team leader and team members from Australia, Japan, the United States and Germany, as well as the Australian client. Particular focuses of the research were the perceptions of each individual behaviour (such as whether the perception related to their home country or their personality), teamwork experiences (positive or negative), the manner by which effective interactions were enabled and what the challenging concerns were.

The interviewees all concluded that the diversity of the project team allowed for positive outcomes to both task performance and process outcomes (i.e. overall team cohesiveness) but perhaps not as is commonly discussed in academic literature.

Bourke describes the four key insights drawn from the interviews.

1. Cultural and/or personality diversity is in the eye of the beholder.

2. Cultural diversity can positively contribute to people’s professional and personal enjoyment of the project, as well as a project’s outcome.

3. Cultural diversity can indirectly encourage project members to rethink their usual working habits and expectations, behave with fewer assumptions about the ‘right’ way to address an issue and promote linguistic clarity.

4. The dominance of cultural diversity among team members reduces the bias to interact with people who have common characteristics and create a unique bond. Juliet goes on to explain that:

. . . cultural diversity had a positive impact on team performance, both in terms of output and team interactions. In the words of the client ‘the team has been more productive and less stressed — when I compare them to employees in other places. I think they have worked longer hours because they are valued and appreciated. They have given 150% and have stretched themselves. Plus they have been upfront about issues – so open channels of communication’

QUESTION

If you were in a multicultural team of people from different cultures and ethnicities, what would be the effect on the team if all team members were of the same age group?