The benefits of multiethnic diversity in a global organization can be realized only if proper management and leadership are offered to the employees. A multiethnic team has the potential to transform an organization and enable it achieve success if it is well directed. The leadership system in the world has changed with many people realizing their rights. This calls for a leadership style that recognizes the diversity and uniqueness in people, as well as give people space to be heard. This essay discusses the characteristics and the skills that leaders should apply to achieve success in a multicultural team. Some of these include open style of leadership, a good sense of humor, a sincere interest and good communication skills. It also looks at the characteristics of these teams which make them successful.

A major characteristic of a multiethnic team is the diversity of the members who make the team. Taking this diversity to be an advantage to the team is advantageous. Diversity in a team brings about innovativeness (Miller et al, 2000). Creativity also is brought about by diversity. Miller et al (2000) connote that there is a range of different worldviews associated with a diverse team than a homogenous team. These worldviews enable a heterogeneous team to be able to come up with solutions facing the organization. The leadership in this case has to be accommodative. It has to value differences in people as well as their diversity. Experiences in a diverse team are combined for the better of the organization. They provide many alternative answers to a problem. Due to the fact that this group is not fixated to a particular culture, it tends to be more adaptive to situations than a homogenous group.

Another strategy employed in managing multicultural teams is establishing partnerships (Jennifer, Kelly & Douglas, 2011). This helps in building a multidisciplinary team and in mending loopholes where tradeoffs may arise from. The technique involves forming partnerships with a view to preventing conflicts within and without the organization. The factors for consideration in making organizational decisions in this case include nature and cost of financing, political and external stakeholders and risk factors that are beyond costs.

Setting a conducive organizational culture and environment is another strategy to realize success in multicultural settings. Thamhain (2011) connotes that the people side and its culture, skills sets and values, have a great impact on the performance of a team. The effectiveness of communication and the skill of influencing people directly touch on the success of the organization. Building professional esteem by the leadership and the management has also been seen to affect performance positively (Thamhain, 2011). Team success on the part of team leaders and members is also accompanied by respect, credibility and trust as people work together. The organizational goals and objectives should be clear to all the members and each member should be clearly conversant with their role in the team.

To ensure success, there is a need to ensure senior management support, and continuous improvement in terms of such support. The differences in people’s styles of leadership and philosophy need to be recognized and supported (Thamhain, 2011). The leaders should also be ready to share their power and their influence in the organization. To ensure that all stakeholders are working towards a common goal, the management should unify the leadership process.

In conclusion, this essay has discussed the skills that make multicultural teams succeed. These included effective communication skills, unifying the management process and setting a conducive working environment. The paper also discussed the features of a successful multicultural team like being accommodative of diversity.

References

Jennifer, S.S., Kelly, S. & Douglas, D.G. (2011). A multidimensional model of project leadership. Leadership and Management Engineering Journal, Apr 2011, 162-168.

Miller, M.D., Ronald, F., Ashish, K. & Rudy, O. (2000). Leadership and organizational vision in managing a multiethnic and multicultural project team. Journal of Management in Engineering. Nov/Dec 2000, 18-22.

Thamhain, J.H. (2011). Critical success factors for managing technology-intensive teams in the global enterprise. Engineering Management Journal, 23 (3), 30-36.