Problem solving strategies for international teams: from poor or mediocre to real value

There is no sugar coating it. You can have talented individuals from diverse backgrounds who try their best to collaborate and fulfill their individual and collective goals. But during problem solving they stumble over biases, cultural misunderstandings, lack of critical thinking and ineffective approaches. As the challenges take longer to overcome and misunderstandings occur, you start noticing frustration. Is this the type of inefficiency that your international team currently runs into?

As a manager, you know that the implications and cost of not addressing these challenges can be profound. You have seen the missed project deadlines due to unresolved internal disputes, a dip in team morale because certain voices feel unheard, or even the loss of team members who feel their unique perspectives are not valued. 

So, it isn't merely about the team’s problem-solving ability when applied to some specific case. It’s about your team’s overall productivity and the lost potential of global collaboration that has turned into friction.

In the latest Future of Jobs 2023 report from the World Economic Forum, analytical and creative thinking skills top the list of skills most important to workers. Analytical thinking also tops the list for the most important future skills: its importance is predicted to grow by over 72% in the next five years. If your team is currently facing challenges in this area or you find that biases or assumptions are common problems, it is crucial to pay attention to this now. 

Despite the challenges you might be facing, we have good news for you and your team: it is entirely possible to harness the power of your team’s cognitive diversity and turn it into effective problem solving that creates real value. 

Envision your team effectively tackling challenges, using proven problem solving techniques, and seamlessly integrating individual and cultural insights into the process. They make decisions confidently and address problems with critical thinking and a holistic, global perspective. Sounds good?

So, how do you transition your international team from poor or mediocre to great in problem-solving that brings real value to its stakeholders? Here's your roadmap:

1. Embrace Cognitive Diversity: Tap into the myriad of your team’s personality types, thinking and problem-solving styles. This isn't just about recognising individual and cultural differences but actively leveraging them.
2. Combat Biases and Groupthink: Educate your team about the biases and assumptions that could hinder their thinking and problem-solving performance. Introduce mechanisms to combat groupthink and promote independent thought. 
3. Adopt Tried-and-Tested Problem-Solving Techniques: Equip your team with tried-and-tested methods like the Six Thinking Hats, SWOT Analysis, Root Cause Analysis, or Pre-Mortem Analysis to offer structured and critical approaches to team challenges.
4. Master Cultural Dynamics: Understand challenges arising from the different decision-making processes rooted in cultures, communicate what you expect as a manager from the team, and set clear game rules for the teamwork and communication to align the diverse team expectations.
5. Promote Safe Risk-Taking: Establish an environment where everyone feels safe to speak up, contribute and challenge. The team members are willing to share and analyse failures and view them as stepping stones towards better solutions.
6. Prioritise Continuous Learning: Invest in resources, team coaching workshops, and external experts to keep the team evolving in the ever-changing world.
7. Leverage Digital Tools: Make problem-solving smoother and more collaborative with tools like Trello, Miro, Mural, and Notion when your team works remotely.

That’s our suggestion for a roadmap of things you can start to change for your team. Try following some of these steps to enhance your team’s problem solving skills and enhancing their collaboration and cross-cultural communication. 

If this all sounds too difficult and complicated or you feel you don’t have enough details to go by, we get it. We have worked with international teams for over 25 years and helped hundreds of international managers like you to get to this point where we know it is possible to turn things around and how to do it. 

If you need help, we offer a no obligation free call with one of our experts to discuss what your best next steps are. Book the call today by e-mailing [email protected] .