29 April 2024|leadership skills
Create space for everyone in your global team
Thank you for the comments on my recent article – How to team lead across continents and time zones. There was a key theme in the feedback from people working in English speaking global teams. Those members with English not as their first language had:
the feeling of being not as important to the global team;
the concern that they were lowering the performance of the global team;
the feeling that they were not being considered for certain projects or responsibilities;
the overall impression of being at a disadvantage.
So, in answer to that, if you are leading a global team or are part of a global team or multicultural team, how can you make everyone feel included?
If your team are a mixture of people working in their first language and people working in their second or third language, then how can you help them? Imagine joining a global team where everyone else has English as their first language.
From day one, there is a lot to learn and a job to start to excel at and all in a second language. When I am coaching or training, I often think of the quote about Fred Astaire (attributed to various people and requoted by Ginger Rogers; it originated in a 1982 Frank and Ernest cartoon):
“Sure he was great, but don’t forget that Ginger Rogers did everything he did…backwards and in high heels.”
That’s how it feels to be in a global team working in English, when English is not your first language. Even someone who has worked in English for some time, can still find it hard work. There are still things which are difficult to understand, confusing, or misleading.
So how can you help with this? The key is to create space for all team members.
Five ways to create space to make your global team inclusive
Space when talking
Whenever you are talking whether in a meeting or not, remotely or face to face, pace is more key than speed. Speed is how many words per minute. You can decrease your words per minute and so speed, but you may not be easier to listen to. Pace is different as it concerns how and where you pause. So, by improving your pace you will be easier to listen to: and may also have reduced your speed too, but that is not the primary purpose.
Most people working in their second language say that they understand slightly less than when using their native language, or understand not as quickly, and hesitate more when speaking as the day progresses.
So, make more space as you speak by pausing. It will make you easier to listen to and also allow questions to be asked. To do this keep your pace and style, don’t slow down, but make each of your pauses a bit longer. This keeps a varied pace and stops you from going into a monotone. As well, actively encourage the rest of your team to pause, especially so that questions can be asked, or a note taken. Once pace starts to change, new team members will be influenced to adopt a similar style.
45 minute rule
In any meeting either face to face or remotely, create a break every 45 minutes. It doesn’t need to be long maybe only one or two minutes. It isn’t a waste of time and should both improve the understanding of the team, and also improve performance and morale. If you are in the same room, then you can create the break by refilling coffee etc. Or be completely open and suggest a 1- or 2-minute pause (and silence) to check notes etc. Or suggest everyone stand up and jump around for a minute perhaps keep the cameras on.😊
This can be vital when working remotely for the whole team.
Questions
Make your space for questions larger. You can do this by actively asking for questions but also by using small breaks. It is also key to have space in the meeting or discussion for individual questions. So, in a coffee break or in a virtual break out room, or when the meeting has ended. If you are the team leader, keep an ‘open door’ policy so that team members can approach you with questions or to clarify something after meetings.
Buddy up
If someone joins your team and English is not their first language, if possible buddy them up with another team member. Choose someone in your team who is a brilliant note taker or very experienced or is at a point of needing a new challenge/skill. The two people can then debrief after each meeting as needed. In reality you may feel this won’t be needed much, but just putting it in place will improve confidence and morale and shows understanding.
Find the value
Create space not to acknowledge team members but to champion and use the advantages they bring. Show how valuable having non first language speakers is to the team. If you have a document going out globally, ask one of your second language speakers to proof it, not for correctness but for areas where there could be confusion. They can also flag where sentences are too long, or where an example would be useful, or where a diagram would help, or where an acronym needs explaining.
Conclusion
To make your global team inclusive and at top level performance, make space for everyone and don’t allow language to be any sort of a barrier.
Further reading
Global Leadership and global teams – The 7 shifts you need to make to lead in a turbulent world Article by Michael D Watkins for IMD.
If you would like to learn more about how to team lead globally and across continents or discuss one on one coaching, book a half hour situation appraisal to discuss your needs with our Director, Caroline Gregory via our contact form.