Of the many factors that are used in global management work, the most important- and most impulsive- are employees. While capital, land and technology can be planned and hazards predicted and managed, employees are most difficult to manage globally. Global Project teams usually comprise a diverse group of professionals with complementary sets of technical skills. Cultural diversity can bring several advantages to global organization: it springs up innovative approaches to problem solving, it brings in greater wisdom and experience and cultural diversity also remains an important catalyst for originality and inventiveness.

With the growing dependence on teams in the workplace and the effects of globalization, companies and managers are continually experiencing the difficulties of managing teams comprised of highly diverse individuals. Diversity in team can encompass race, religion, national origin on top of other broad types of diversity such as marital status, educational background, management experiences, and seniority.

In "globalized" or multicultural teams, there is ample room for misunderstandings, which makes global project teams with members from several work locations, companies or countries, a challenging task that requires a multidisciplinary approach.

Since the accepted forms of diversity have substantially increased, leading to nearly every team experiencing some form of diversity, it is critical that project managers understand how to increase diversity awareness among team members.

There are a number of ways project managers can increase team members’ awareness of and appreciation for diversity.

• Before a project manager can expect team members to understand and appreciate diversity, it is critical that team members be given the opportunity and guidance to explore one’s feelings toward diversity. Providing regular sessions to discuss feelings about diversity can help team members identify personal barriers to acceptance and understanding that stem from life experiences and prior encounters with highly-diverse situations or people. There are many different types of diversity present in project teams, and it is important for all team members to become aware of these forms of diversity and the importance of having a highly-diverse team.
• Next, communication about different types of diversity and factors to consider when dealing with diverse team members is important. Project managers should implement informal and formal team communication standards to continually address common diversity-related issues observed in the workplace.
• Finally, understanding the role of diversity in intergroup relations is critical to improve diversity awareness and appreciation in project teams. The more diverse team members are, the more likely teams are to have individuals with differing cultural norms, expectations, beliefs, standards of excellence, and grooming/attire habits, which all influence how members interact and contribute to the overall team goal. The definition of a "team" in terms of purpose, distribution of roles and assignment of responsibilities may vary in aspects such as: the style of authority,  the attitude toward time and work practices.

There are many different types of diversity present in project teams, and it is important for all team members to become aware of these forms of diversity and the importance of having a highly-diverse team. As an important requirement of good business is relationship building, it is important to build confidence and widen links to energize the production process.
Global Project managers must be proactive in removing any prejudices that may inadvertently creep in. In addition, the Global Project managers must be willing to continuously adjust their schedules and programs in response to cultural exigencies. Shared values will shape the implicit assumptions and expectations and support definition of the framework within which acceptable solutions can be negotiated.

References:
Mostafa Hashem Sherif, At&T, Diversity, Culture and Technical Project Management
Natasha P. Smith, Increasing Diversity Awareness in Project Teams, Dec 27, 2009
Chad Lewis, Examining the Effects of Cultural Diversity on Project Management

Ruth Goldberg is the managing director of TenStep Isreal