An ability to work with all walks of life is an essential component of any business. Whether you are working with freelancers on the other side of the world, or you are dealing with remote workers that live down the road, there are going to be differences in how people work. If you are dealing with people who come from all over the world, and are trying to unify everyone into one solid culture, with one ethos, naturally, certain differences will arise, either culturally, or ideologically. And it’s your responsibility to deal with this effectively.
How can you best do this?
Educating Yourself First
You may have never worked with someone who practices Ramadan, and so, understanding that someone cannot eat or drink during daylight hours when they are observing this can be a difficult thing for colleagues to get their head around. Educate yourself first, and put yourself in their shoes. It’s very simple. Empathy is one of the greatest tools we can leverage in business. And while tolerance should be the norm, there are people that can’t comprehend this from time to time, which is why an education is essential.
Ensure You Are Communicating Yourself Effectively
Whether dealing with freelancers on the other side of the world, or you are working with people face-to-face, communication is crucial. This is why you need to make sure you are coming across in the most open and honest manner as possible. This means avoiding complex and confusing business terms. It’s a fundamental approach any business leader should understand, but this is even more so when dealing with other cultures. And sometimes this is unavoidable, because there are potential language barriers. Translation services like Lighthouse Translations can help you to bridge the gap by helping you to put forward your communique in terms that everyone can understand. Ensuring everyone understands the finite details of utilizing translation services, ensures that all bases are covered.
Lead By Example
You want your employees to be tolerant of each other’s cultures and differences. To start, you should feel this way too. That’s one of the strangest things about being a leader; you can dish out orders, but not necessarily have to follow them yourself. But, when ensuring that your team is working together as a unified entity, despite being dotted around the planet, you need to lead by example. This is all going to be evident in how you present yourself, how you communicate, but also how you lead. It’s something that we can forget about, especially if we are working so hard at getting our workers to communicate effectively with each other, we can view ourselves as separate from that entity. This is all about ensuring a positive company culture, and by including yourself within the processes. There are going to be different cultures in business, and if we are going to work effectively, respect, tolerance, and a human approach to working is vital. It’s the only way we can push forward.
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