As a Senior Lecturer in Cross-Cultural Management, Dr Maged Zakher specialises in helping professionals understand how cultural differences shape communication, motivation and leadership in international organisations. However, his approach goes deeper than standard teaching and theory.
What are the main opportunities and challenges that tend to emerge when people from different cultural backgrounds work together in the same team?
When people from different cultural backgrounds work together, the opportunities are significant. Teams can draw on a wider range of perspectives, problem-solving approaches and networks, which often leads to more creative ideas and more robust decisions. They may also be better placed to understand diverse customers and stakeholders. At the same time, the very differences that create these benefits can generate challenges. People may have contrasting expectations about communication, hierarchy, time, feedback and what “good” teamwork looks like. If these differences are not surfaced and managed, they can lead to misunderstanding, perceptions of unfairness, and disengagement. The key is to treat diversity as a resource that needs active facilitation, rather than assuming it will automatically result in better performance.
How can managers create shared ways of working in multicultural teams while still recognising individual differences and avoiding assumptions?
Managers of multicultural teams need to do two things at once: create shared, explicit ways of working and remain flexible enough to adapt to individuals. One useful starting point is to co‑create “team agreements” around communication, decision‑making, meeting etiquette and feedback, not as rules imposed from above, but as norms the team discusses and signs up to together. This reduces the risk of unspoken expectations clashing. At the same time, managers should be curious about individual preferences and avoid treating cultural background as a shortcut to knowing the person. Asking open questions, checking understanding, and giving people safe ways to raise concerns all help. In practice, it is about combining clear, agreed structures with the humility to recognise that people may still work best in different ways.
What role do communication, trust and clarity play in helping multicultural teams work effectively over time?
Communication, trust and clarity are the foundations that allow multicultural teams (or any teams for that matter) to make the most of their diversity. Clear communication, in terms of language, expectations and feedback, reduces the space for misinterpretation, especially when people have different communication styles. Trust develops when colleagues see that others are consistent, fair and willing to listen, and when mistakes are treated as opportunities to learn rather than to blame. Clarity is crucial because multicultural teams often cannot rely on shared “unwritten rules” about how things are done. Being explicit about goals, roles, decision rights and what success looks like helps everyone pull in the same direction. Over time, investing in these three areas turns potential friction into productive difference.
Read more about Multicultural Management: Leading Difference with Clarity, Fairness and Purpose