6.4: Intercultural Communication in Agile Teams - Video Tutorials & Practice Problems

<v ->An important topic is intercultural communication</v> in agile teams. Today's world is increasingly diverse and companies embrace globalization and respond to the shifting landscape of the pandemic. The ability to be inclusive to effectively interact, work, and develop meaningful relationships is different across cultures, social groups, any different groups. It is essential in building a global workforce. So what exactly does it mean for agile teams to be inclusive, respectful, to understand differences, and be supportive of people of different types, cultures and interests. It's easy to say that we want to be fully supportive but what does it actually mean? Agile teams consist of people from different regions, cultures, backgrounds. This diversity is what makes teams succeed as they provide a channel to foster innovation, build creative ideas, and overall build their next generation, cutting-edge, great product for their customers. It is of absolute importance to cultivate the environment of transparency, openness, mutual respect with recognizing people differences and make it all working together with respect and collaboration. And especially if you're working within distributed agile teams it is important to always pay attention. And one of the aspects is time zones. When mentioning meeting time, so deadlines, ensure that time zones are added. That becomes even more relevant when working team is across different countries. And finally, be cognizant of the fact that people react, behave, and understand things differently. In his book, "When Cultures Collide: Leading Across Cultures," Richard Lewis goes into detail about the importance of noticing difference in individual's traits. Focusing on those varied traits helps to improve communication on the team. There are five primary rules of intercultural communication. Number one, know the differences. Number two, treat people respectfully. Number three, be motivated. Number four, use verbal and nonverbal communication mechanisms. And five, show genuine interest. If we follow those practices, then we will be respectful, collaborative, and understood by our colleagues.