Cultural Diversity in Groups

Why is it important to understand the cultural dimensions of group members? How does this affect group communication?

Cultural differences in group settings can cause misunderstandings and miscommunications that could potentially be the death of a group. In one of my previous classes I was part of a team in which there were three distinct cultural backgrounds represented. Knowing this it was important for the members of the group to realize that in our communication how we responded and how quickly we responded could be taken different ways by different members of the group. For myself, I had to be conscious to respond to posts from certain team members even if just to say I read it so that I did not offend them.

The ability to have a variety of cultural dimensions in a group can be an asset to the group because of the breadth of experiences and understanding it will bring to the team but it is imperative that all team members acknowledge the challenges that come with cultural diversity.