Cultural diversity in international project management: 4 things that change everything

Since my first days at the UN I have been involved into project management of technical assistance projects, and at this point have had some experience on almost all continents. Diversity of people’s cultures is thrilling and magnificent, but it requires a set of specific skills to incorporate it into your work. Some of the days I love my job, but some of the days it is like being stuck between the rock and a harder place, and quite often these come from interculturality.??

I believe that interculturality is a colossal resource, but it can be a detrimental obstacle when not handled properly. Below are the four key aspects where I see incorporating interculturality being most crucial for successful international project implementation.?

Communication?

Lack of communication can bring the most stellar project to a stall, and when communicating across different cultures you have to accept that you will have to adopt an agile communication style. This agility can come in the form of making an additional effort to have a more personable relations in one country, and setting up a “check up” meeting with the team in another. It is extremely important to keep your assumptions low, regarding both general and work culture, and adjust your talking to the audience (I have written about this before). Keep not only jargon at bay, but also your ego – especially working with people who are non-native. Cross-cultural work also requires clearer goal setting – working methods can differ widely, so it is important that your team knows the goals (and how they benefit their lives).??

Hint: Listen actively, and more than you talk. Check in with (at least key) people every now and then. Knowing a person beyond the work routine allows you to be able to detect You can never understand someone’s culture. People in the country are your eyes and ears – learn from them.?

Compromise??

When you are working in project management, you are the least important person on the project. In order to have a successful project implementation, your role is to be a problem solver for others and a problem finder for the project overall. Dealing with different cultures it is almost guaranteed that you will have tensions between them – ones that are not related to work, but rooted deep in traditions and history. The bigger is the project, the higher are the stakes and the more likely cultural tensions are to derail your work and even become a conflict.??

Increasing ownership and keeping a cool head are the best ways of alleviating tensions. It is important to take ownership yourself of whatever conflict that arises – in the end of the day, negotiating successful resolutions skills are much demanded in achieving compromise.??

Hint: do your homework and try to study history, culture and key recent trends of the countries you work in. Even quick Wikipedia search can save you from losing trust of your country counterparts.??

Critical Thinking?

Making good decisions is vital for a manager. A good decision in multicultural setting is even harder to find. But sometimes the best decision is to admit that something is not working, and you have to give it up.??

No matter how well you have planned something, how much control and monitoring was involved, sometimes things just do not work out. Not working out may not be caused by a mistake, but simply things outside of your (or any) control – cultural clashes, velocity of institutions, human personalities, or even a geopolitical crisis. It is common to fill in the “risks” and “assumptions” in project management, but it is far less common to admit that one of your risks has realized and is impacting your work. Especially, when there is no rational or economically viable explanation.?

Despite how much you want to ignore it, for the sake of the rest of work and future work, you have to own that something went wrong.?In part, failure is also a possibility – to learn, to adjust, to keep yourself accountable. It keeps you intact in valuing people more than goals.??

Hint: Throw out your ego. There is a moment when you have to lean in, not risk your future work just to prove you are right.?

Curiosity??

Interculturality creates diversity and that, I believe, has also a positive influence on the imposter syndrome that most of us are plagued with. When you allow people to be different, you get liberated from the prejudice of what are the specific expectations about yourself. Take your time to support the team sharing spirit – you will be surprised how enriching cross-culturality can be for your project when it is properly integrated.?

Hint: Drop stereotypes and be curious, ask other people about their history, views and aspirations. See the woman and man behind the indicators and bridge to their working style.?

Of course, there are many other things one can say about interculturality, but these are the 4 key aspects where I see mistakes as most detrimental. But it is important to remember that every mistake is a learning opportunity when we are willing to learn from it. And learning from intercultural team can only make your life more fulfilling, not less.?