Nowadays, most organizations and leaders collaborate with teams across borders and cultures on a regular basis.

Successful businesses in a globalized and virtual world require knowledge and skills about the new culture(s) that they are operating in, as well as empathy and understanding about how to manage situations in a multicultural environment.

To best work harmoniously with the worldwide team, curiosity, flexibility, and open-mindedness are the three important soft skills to have. When working with people from other cultures, never make assumptions about individual traits based on where the person comes from, to work successfully with people from around the world, people need to have an appreciation for cultural differences as well as respect for an individual’s differences.

Communication is one of the main issues when connecting with people from a different culture; misunderstandings are very common when people are unaware of a culture’s communication style.

Here are seven multicultural workplace benefits,

1. Increased Creativity

According to the Harvard Business Review article “The Myriad Differences of Diversity in the Workplace,” teams that include members from multiple backgrounds and experiences work more creatively to innovate and solve problems.

2. Diverse – and Delicious – Treats

Every workplace welcomes that email you get when someone has put some treats to share in the breakroom. Chocolate chip cookies. Brownies etc.

3. Align with an Increasingly Global Workforce

A multicultural workplace is a job perk, which helps with recruiting new employees.  But it also reflects a growing awareness that the world is a much smaller place than previously thought and business happens across countries and cultures.

4. High empathy

People with a multicultural background often feel misunderstood. However, these experiences coupled with their intercultural knowledge and skills make them high on empathy and help them to see past things that might come across as rude to others and get straight to the intended message. They are highly empathetic and less likely to misinterpret others’ actions quickly.

5. Wide knowledge base

Multicultural people have their own unique experiences and can be like sponges absorbing information from the cultures that they are connected to. They have a wide knowledge base on all sorts of topics drawn from their personal experiences.

6. Adaptability 

Multicultural individuals are chameleons. They can adapt their behavior and mindset according to the context. As good observers, they understand and adapt to local norms. Multicultural employees are likely to be comfortable stepping outside their comfort zone and willing to rise to new challenges.

7. Multiple perspectives

Multicultural individuals have a multifaceted worldview and can see situations from multiple perspectives. This can bring an organization great problem-solving and strategic thinking skills. 

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