You are a bit helpless because you realize that one of your projects is getting out of hand or is already “derailed”? Instead of making suggestions or remark early, when something is not really working, your international colleagues keep quiet.
It is up to you: Do you bring all participants together, so that they get to know each other? Do you accompany with intercultural trainings, with workshops about common values? Do you want, that all colleagues to build a trusting relationship?
These are questions, which seem to be less important in Germany. Our German projects normally reach their goals, even when the colleagues don’t personally meet. Germany has a markedly different social behavior from, is, however, homogeneous within. We can understand each other more easily individually responsibility is a highly valued in German society. A manager is accustomed that his employee is doing his work with less guidance or they are doing their job even without guidance.
Let us look to Asia, Africa, South America, in relationship oriented countries the understanding of leadership is different. Individual responsibility is not such a high value. When the trust to each other is not supported, you will realize colleagues, who will not tell you, when they did not understand you. They will say: yes, yes!
There are companies, they do of course at the beginning of every project workshops about „international communication and culture“. Workshops about the common goals, they know each other. In my experience projects, which are set up like that, they tend to run much more successfully.
For more than 20 years I have been training leaders both here and abroad and embrace them for the challenges in guiding global employees. So:
There is a leadership culture created and developed and everyone can live with that culture. That also means, that everywhere is more guided (at least at the beginning) and less individual responsibility is expected. Every manager is aware, that this is a part of his leadership task.
