Multicultural Teams :
Benefits
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They are an example of unity in a broken world
Personal and spiritual development.
Get to consider the host culture from various perspectives, through the eyes of different cultrual 'glasses'. Which makes the collective wisdom and understanding greater.
Challenges
Where there are more cultures interacting, there are more opportunities for communication differences and misunderstandings
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Multicultural teams demonstrate the transforming power of the gospel as team members from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and nationalities come together to proclaim Christ.
Language use.. choosing a ‘common wider’ language to operate in as a team can marginalise those for whom the common language is not their first language.
Challenges: It takes more time and effort to develop the team community and learn each other's strengths and weaknesses
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The 'we' versus 'them' mentality is hard to avoid and it destroys trust and cripples team growth.
The possibility of a dominant culture being present within a multicultural team can create feelings of both superiority and inferiority complexes, thus disintegrating the team.
Resources for operations towards the realization of team goals can usually be less difficult to assemble because team members are linked to different economic realities.
Members in a multicultural team have a greater potential for growth because there is a lot of education that can happen when people interact with those from different cultures.
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Team members become more like Christ as they learn to put off their own "self-interests/desires and cooperate with others on a multicultural team for a common purpose. While the challenges are greater on a multicultural team, the opportunities for personal spiritual growth are also magnified.
Multicultural teams demonstrate the transforming power of the gospel as believers from diverse backgrounds, ethnicities, and nationalities work together for the cause of Christ.
Benefit: It is a great example of the Body of Christ to those we minister to.
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It takes time and effort for leaders/organizations to train new members well in regard to multicultural teams and give clear vision and direction to organizational expectations that are non-negotiable.
Members of multicultural teams have conflicting values, so the team values need to be negotiated, explicitly articulated, and agreed on.
Well-functioning multicultural teams require every member to make compromises in cultural values.
Can be both a Benefit and a Challenge
Multicultural inputs birth different approaches to ministry. This creates more diverse and creative ways to engage in projects. Yet, differences in opinion and agreement slow down the speed at which consensus can be reached
A multicultural team in a sense creates its own new culture in order to accomplish the common goals they have
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The time that it can take to develop a healthy multicultural team can seem “too long”, can cause teams to be “stuck” in the process, but the reward for successfully pushing through will result in a higher functioning team"
Leadership can faciltate team growth but it could also destroy the team when it does not understand the cultural dynamics at play
More, diverse and creative solutions or tools to challenges that arise are available in the teams collective toolkit.
Less likely to teach the Word of God through only their own cultural lenses.
It is likewise a great witness to the churches that send us of the united body at work for God's glory.
Suspicion by the host culture (as political agents, intruders, outsiders or colonizers etc.) and other weaknesses can be offset by collective representation and collaboration.
Members have the benefit of viewing and participating in varied styles, practices and disciplines for worship and service to God.
An increased/refined insight and understanding of what is biblical vs. cultural.
Language proficiency or lack of proficiency gives greater opportunity for misunderstandings.
People can grow from learning the values of others but the presence and interaction of different values can also be threatening at the same time
And for team members whose cultures place a high value on efficiency over relationship, they may see little to no value in this time and effort
It can be difficult to determine which cultural values can coexist in harmony with the Gospel, and which ought to be "superseded" or changed by the Gospel
And this is fantastic! God's Word being co-opted by any culture diminishes its power
It's virtually impossible for a single culture to take the Gospel to "the ends of the earth"; collaboration is not only helpful, it's a necessity
But there are less resources to assist leaders. Most written in monocultural context.
especially when forced to compromise: what is core vs periphery, who can I work with and on what. Need for deep security in Christ and solid in word while being flexible and mobile.
and the ability to prepare a team for self-reflection and emotional reaction may be beyond certain leaders.
Sometimes you need the team to perform in limited timeframe
It reflects the multiculturality of the church the body of Christ. Also points to the fact that the simple truth of the gospel of God's grace does not depend on a language, culture, age or gender.
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Working together and establishing mutual accountability demand a higher level of communication which many times bumps onto the barriers of poor language and/or lack of cultural inteligence among the team members