Thought Leadership - VEGA Americas

The Road to Successful Cross-Cultural Projects



It has been established that diverse teams tend to develop better and more creative solutions than homogenous teams. However, anyone who has been on a diverse team will probably tell you they did a lot of storming before they started performing.

Storming is the second stage of Bruce Tuckman's model of group development, characterized by interpersonal conflict, power struggles, and challenges to roles, processes and leadership, as team members assert their individual opinions and work through differing viewpoints and communication styles. 

Some diverse teams never get past the storming phase. Some homogeneous ones don't either.

Cross-Cultural Teams Success and Lessons Learned

By definition, cross-cultural teams are diverse. VEGA is a global company, headquartered in Germany, so we usually have several projects in the works involving cross-cultural teams. We have learned over the years, including through failure, what does and doesn’t work when putting together a team consisting of different cultures.

• First and foremost, do not make assumptions about anything. For example, different cultures have different ideas about how long tasks should take and how frequently updates should be provided. A building project that takes 13 months in the US could take three years in Germany. Americans typically want more frequent updates than their European counterparts think necessary. The Europeans say the Americans should trust that they are doing their part and they will let us know if there is a problem. This subtle cultural difference can create a lot of frustration on both sides of the Atlantic.


• ​When a project starts, social contracting must be given priority: clear expectations should be communicated and agreed upon. Project scope, assigned tasks, and due dates should all be worked out up front. It’s OK to debate particulars but everyone should be fully invested in the plan once the dust settles. This mitigates the risk of nasty surprises popping up later.


• Regardless of a project’s urgency, there is always time to build trust and respect. Failing to do so from the beginning will result in wasted time and hard feelings later. Results will be average at best. A high level of trust empowers people to passionately debate issues instead of just agreeing to (but not really supporting) what someone else decides. People won’t buy in unless they feel heard. Passionate debate fosters innovation and creative solutions. A good way to start building trust and respect is to learn about the cultures of the other team members . Taking the time to learn how teammates think and what they value is very powerful. You develop respect and appreciation for what they have to offer.  They see that you care about them as individuals. When VEGA brought electronics manufacturing to the United States, the German project leader sent German team members to an American culture class and the Americans to a German culture class. Our German colleagues also took English classes to help guard against misunderstandings caused by the language barrier.   


• When possible, team members should spend time together outside of work. Making a more personal connection engenders empathy. Team members realize they have more in common than they thought.