Understanding Work Teams

Basic managerial strategies for influencing group behavior , encouraging group problem solving and mediating inter-group conflict

Problem-solving within a group has never been easy since a group always involves a few different people with differing viewpoints . To encourage collaborative group-solving and mediate inter-group conflict , a few strategies can be used . Most of them are especially relevant to intercultural management

Mindful listening . It is important not only to listen physically , but also to listen in such a way that allows one to get the necessary information about the speaker 's verbal , nonverbal , and

meta-nonverbal contexts that are being conveyed in the conflict negotiation process (Ting-Toomey

Mindful Reframing . One needs to adjust to the cultural background of the opponent and be able to translate the message into appropriate cultural terms

Face-management skills . It is necessary `to give face , which means avoidance of public humiliation of other people . One should remember that ideas of self-esteem and dignity vary across ethnic cultures and social groups , and what one person thinks normal may be an insult in the eyes of another person

Trust-building skills . A person who has problems in communication may turn off listening devices ' and shrink into oneself (Ting-Toomey Then this person becomes unavailable for any significant influence . That is why it is important to build trust in the eyes of another person and produce the impression of `trustworthiness

Collaborative dialogue . In collaborative dialogue , individuals forming part of the group have to adapt to their cultural values of the other members . Thus , is a person is a collectivist , this person has to learn to be more assertive in the expression of his /her values , norms and ideas . An individualist , on the contrary , has to learn to be more receptive to the views of others

Works Cited

Robert , Mary Lou . IBM 's BPMAC : A Small...