HIGH

PERFORMANCE

TEAMBUILDING

ACROSS

CULTURES

Preparing cross-cultural teams to identify and manage potential conflicts due to cultural differences is key to achieving outstanding performance. This article first describes a common set of cultural issues between Mexico and the US. It then focuses on best practices for working with Mexican team members.
Case
Bill Smith, an operations manager, is responsible for a manufacturing site in Mexico. Most of the products that had been manufactured in their US plant moved to their operation in Mexico. Based on regular meetings and reports from Mexico Smiths impression has been that he is not getting a true assessment of problems in Mexico. Based on this feeling, Smith made changes in the reporting structure of their Mexican plant while the local plant manager was on vacation. When the plant manager, Heriberto, returned from vacation, he was very angry that he had not been consulted before changes were made. At this point, the relationship between Smith and his Mexican plant manager is deteriorating. This concerns Smith because Heribertos skills cannot be easily replaced. What root causes might contribute to the issues in this cross-cultural situation? The comparative profiles from Hofstedes cultural dimensions that are displayed in Figure 1 suggest that there are significant cultural differences
2006 Rosa Antonia Carrillo High Performance Teambuilding Across Cultures

between the U.S., and their Mexican counterparts. For instance, based on their own cultural context, the Mexicans are likely to demonstrate greater respect for hierarchy, have a lower tolerance for ambiguity, have a more indirect communication style, and place greater importance on relationships. They may be reluctant, therefore, to contradict the expectations of a headquarters manager in an open meeting, and uncomfortable broaching issues in a direct style, especially with someone whom they do not know well. Heriberto probably has plenty to say, but Smith needs to work together with him to create a shared style of exchanging information, surfacing issues, and resolving problems.
Rosa Antonia Carrillo, MSOD is president of Carrillo & Associates, a consulting firm specializing in leadership development and cross-cultural change management. www.carrilloconsultants.com (562) 596-8537

requires documenting and standardizing processes that in many cases were previously implicit and unrecorded. A large Hofstedes Cultural Dimension amount of work may be Comparisons required to document how client issues have been Individualism Collectivism addressed and how various types of problems High Power Distance Low Power Distance have been solved. In addition, if jobs are to be eliminated in the US, Feminine Masculine employees are likely to be cautious about sharing USA Mexico their knowledge or 2/20/06 48 expertise with others whom they see as a threat Figure 1 to their employment. They might It Begins at New Employee also be anxious to limit outsourced Orientation duties to a restricted set of activities in order to minimize the When new team members are number of layoff notices. Lack of brought on board, little attention is clarity about information sharing paid to the orientation of existing practices can cause employees to team members to the dynamics either hold back vital information they will be facing. Both the or to share technology that could existing and new team members potentially leak to competitors. have challenges that need to be addressed to arrive at practical The reduced US staff is also solutions to cross cultural issues. probably facing more work with These can be successfully fewer resources. They are addressed during new employee therefore not disposed to building orientation by adding a day to the close relationships with their standard orientation that existing Mexican counterparts. The impact team members and managers of this mindset can be a attend, to examine cultural predisposition to find fault as well differences and set working as a lack of trust towards a foreign agreements around potential team member unless such thinking conflicts. is brought to the surface and shifted to a more collaborative Many programs focus on orienting frame of mind. Mexican employees to the new company, but fail to address On the Mexican side, there may be several challenges from the trepidation about succeeding in a headquarters perspective. Moving foreign culture or being treated as work from the US to Mexico an equal partner. Additionally,
2006 Rosa Antonia Carrillo High Performance Teambuilding Across Cultures
Low Uncertainty Avoidance High Uncertainty Avoidance

previous experiences of disrespect may cause them to be cynical about the company representatives intentions toward them. These built in resistances to collaboration are greatly magnified by a lack of cultural understanding on both sides of the border. A key to pursuing this type of effort successfully is to make sure that employees based at headquarters and the Mexican site have an adequate understanding of the perspective of their counterparts and are able to build a mutually beneficial partnership with them. Instructing team members on cultural differences and allowing the time to discuss how these differences might cause conflict down the line, builds the foundation for teamwork. Another benefit of taking this approach is that the Mexican culture is much more relationship based than the US. Research shows that Mexicans form loyalties to individuals versus companies. Much of their impressions about the new company will be formed at orientation. Showing that a company cares about Mexican culture and teamwork will increase loyalty and a sense of connection to headquarters. Plus, the face-toface contact with managers and peers will establish working relationships that are meaningful to Mexicans resulting in less turnover. Creating these opportunities for mutual understanding and collaboration would benefit teamwork across cultures at any
2006 Rosa Antonia Carrillo High Performance Teambuilding Across Cultures

time, but doing it at the time of new employee orientation creates a mindset of collaboration as the foundation of your work culture. Integrating Teambuilding across Cultures at New Employee Orientation There are a number of reasons this approach is successful and it correlates to a growing body of best practices for cross-cultural collaboration. While these may not all apply to every company's situation, we have found these to dramatically improve the ability of new employees to come on board ready to contribute and facilitate international communication.
Building Cultural Empathy

There are natural polarities between the US and Mexican Cultures. According to Hofstede, there is potential conflict on three of the four cultural dimensions identified in Figure 1. The US culture of individualism focuses on individual achievement and responsibility while the Mexican culture focuses on family, relationships, and harmony. In power distance, the US values flat organizations and equality, whereas Mexico is more hierarchical and values the expert role. The third dimension, uncertainty avoidance, is about a cultures comfort with ambiguity. In general, Mexico tends to minimize or reduce uncertainty through strict rules, laws, policies, and regulations are adopted and implemented. The US, on the other hand, tends to have fewer rules and does not attempt to control all

outcomes and results. This is reflected in a society that is less rule-oriented, more readily accepts change, and takes more and greater risks. As these cultural dimensions are discussed, current employees are encouraged to talk about how they are reflected both in their personal lives and at work. New Mexican employees enjoy this conversation because it gives them insight into the real way things work. This information adds value far beyond the standard corporate orientation to company expectations and values. US employees find that listening to Mexican employees talk about their values enlightening, eye opening, and enriching according to comments collected afterwards. At the end of the cross cultural session, intact work teams review what they have learned about each others culture and arrive at working agreements around communication that will help prevent conflicts due to cultural differences.
Why is this approach successful?

and spend time with new employees. Since most communication will be virtual in the future, this is valuable time to establish relationships. Later, travel ideally takes place in both directions, with visits from Mexico to the company's US operations for project planning and/or training, and visits by technical experts or project managers to sites in Mexico in order to get to know and better assess the capabilities of the expanded team. 2. Setting Working Agreements Throughout the orientation, roles and responsibilities as well as how performance will be measured are clarified. It is important to talk about how project parameters will be set from the beginning, and to make the nature of the working relationship clear. When cross border team members have not worked together before, it takes some time for trust to be established. We recommend that meeting dates be set for setting goals jointly and measuring progress towards milestones, with gradual delegation of responsibility and trust based upon performance.
3. Ground Rules for Team Communication

There are specific elements of this approach to new employee orientation that make it effective. 1. Meeting Face-to-Face Although saving money is an important objective, participants have found that starting the relationship with face-to-face contacts is a worthwhile investment. Key managers sit through the cultural orientation
2006 Rosa Antonia Carrillo High Performance Teambuilding Across Cultures

Part of the working agreements set an orientation is to establish ground rules for communication. Establishing these ground rules can also help to reduce conflict and ensure that potential issues are tackled in their early stages. Agreement about how quickly the whole team should be notified after a potential problem is identified, for example, makes it easier for Mexican team members to step

forward with concerns. Many of them have a strong sense of duty towards their work that can override their reluctance to bring up problems directly, providing that the rules for surfacing issues are clear. Other ground rules regarding time windows for responding to messages, and the hour of day when calls will be held with attention to time zones can all contribute to team clarity and therefore more efficient working patterns. After Orientation Beyond and

Using a cross-cultural approach to teambuilding during new employee orientation has proven to be successful in new start-ups as well as expanding businesses. Employing the following best practices will help to maintain the culture of collaboration established at orientation. They can also be used to improve an ongoing operation that is experiencing challenges such as losing customers, missed deadlines, and unexpected costs from high employee turnover. 1. 1-1 Communication As mentioned in connection with the cultural dimensions displayed above, Mexicans who have been raised in traditional settings have probably learned to communicate in relatively indirect ways and to show deference towards their seniors or superiors in social or business contexts. This may make it difficult for them to raise problems or objections openly in a group setting where higher-ranking managers are present.
2006 Rosa Antonia Carrillo High Performance Teambuilding Across Cultures

One piece of advice for circumventing this aversion to confrontation is for a project manager to check in one-on-one with key counterpart(s) on the Mexican side before and after meetings. Sometimes issues will be raised in this context that the Mexican manager would hesitate to mention in a larger group setting. When these are known in advance, they can be discussed in a constructive manner during meetings without even citing the source. A related practice is to request that a Mexican manager gather issues from his or her team before a meeting so that these can be incorporated into the meeting agenda in an objective, nonconfrontational fashion.

2.

Regular Check-ins

Establishing a regular rhythm for checking in with each other, regardless of whether there are any outstanding problems or not, creates a positive context for addressing problems when they do arise. Such a regular rhythm of communication can also be supplemented and enriched by using multiple forms of communication (videoconference, instant messaging, e-mails for confirming action steps after meetings) to ensure a steady flow of information and early identification of problems.

3. Virtual Meeting Facilitation Because so many of the exchanges with cross border team members take place in a virtual communication environment, facilitating such virtual meetings

properly is vital to effective teamwork. In addition to the usual techniques for effective conference calls, team members who have taken on the role of facilitator can: Share graphics as well as voice through the use of file-sharing programs Use virtual communication technology features to allow issues to be raised anonymously by any team member Ask, "What is missing?" towards the end of the meeting, leaving plenty of room to answer so that neglected issues can surface

4. Getting Accurate Information People who are accustomed to "getting a straight answer" are sometimes stymied by responses from Mexican team members that they see as avoiding the point or refusing to acknowledge a problem. US managers are taught to be self-critical and seek constructive feedback, and Mexicans do not share this perspective. There is often another way of formulating a question that a Mexican counterpart finds much easier to respond to openly. Such questions may flag an issue without forcing conflict, or even acknowledge a possible area of difficulty without assigning blame. For example: "It sounds to me like there may be a problem with completing this portion of the project before the deadline. What is the most difficult issue that you are facing?"

5. Motivation With salaries in the most popular cities being driven up by eager new market entrants, it is difficult or even impossible to match every salary increase that employees will be offered by competing firms. However, much of the turnover in cross border settings is driven by the feeling among employees that they have been tasked with repetitive, low-level work and are not seen as real team members. These circumstances can lead to low motivation and premature departures of the most gifted and ambitious workers. When Mexican employees or suppliers are treated as team members who can add greater value through increasingly complex and demanding projects, they are likely to be motivated not just by higher levels of compensation at another firm down the street, but also by learning and taking on more challenging work in their current jobs. Conclusion US company expansion into Mexico has become a reality in a competitive global economy. Companies that take into account both headquarters and cross border perspectives while systematically implementing best practices across their organizations are able to maximize the benefits of expanding into Mexico they also have the best chance of limiting unintended negative consequences due to lack of cultural awareness.

2006 Rosa Antonia Carrillo High Performance Teambuilding Across Cultures