Many people working in international or multicultural teams often express frustration with foreign colleagues and leadership, saying things like:

"He is mean to me," "I get confused when she talks," "It hurts when he's rude," or "I can’t stand her authoritative style."

Over time, these feelings can lead to the belief that foreign colleagues don’t trust or like them, resulting in disengagement, quiet quitting, or even burnout.

HR and leadership often attempt to resolve these issues by organizing team-building activities, sports events, or personality workshops. While well-intentioned, these efforts rarely address the root cause of negative feelings, especially when personality differences aren't the true problem.

Could these feelings be driven by something deeper than personality clashes?

Research shows that invisible cultural differences play a significant role in professional settings.

Norms around politeness, teamwork, leadership, and feedback vary widely across cultures, and when people from different backgrounds work together, it's inevitable that these differences will collide.

Without the skills to recognize cultural influences, team members may misinterpret these differences as personal slights.

The solution is targeted team building that develops cross-cultural skills.

Generic cross-cultural skills help employees distinguish cultural differences from personality traits.

Specific cross-cultural skills enable team members to understand and work respectfully with colleagues from particular cultural backgrounds.

Developing these skills allows teams to navigate cultural complexities and collaborate more effectively and do better with fewer expenses.