Multicultural Team Communication Strategies

Inclusive communications are a key area covered in online cultural awareness training, as they ensure every individual in a team or group is respected and actively encouraged to share their ideas. This brings together diverse experiences and viewpoints to ensure everyone can communicate equally, ultimately ensuring decisions are made collectively rather than in a silo.

Open and transparent dialogues are essential to organisations keen to implement cultural diversity best practices in Australia. Still, they are also vital to inclusivity, creating teams where each member has the space to voice their opinions without ever feeling obliged to conform.

What Is a Multicultural Communication Strategy?

Communication strategies aren’t anything new to most businesses and sectors. In short, they set out the policies that underpin how an organisation circulates information, internally or externally, or relate to the way teams or departments converse with each other.

However, the difference within a multicultural strategy is that there are defined rules that mean communications can’t be published without having listened to the needs and inputs of cultural groups or representatives, be that community leaders, team members of Aboriginal heritage, or a third party.

These strategies ensure that all communications:

• Respect and acknowledge the needs and values of communities or individuals
• Are equally accessible to all intended users, irrespective of their preferred language
• Do not incorporate imagery, phrases, or words that could be disrespectful or harmful to people of varied cultures or religions

For teams, these same rules apply, ensuring that all stakeholders involved in the group’s work or activities have the necessary access and resources to participate.

Key Elements of a Multicultural Team Communication Strategy

How Are Inclusive Team Communications Beneficial to Organisations?

Multicultural dialogues are an important part of training for RAP implementation teams, who are responsible for implementing and overseeing Reconciliation Action Plans. This is because they must communicate with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities to ensure they are effectively creating an inclusive, respectful environment.

From a teamwork perspective, multicultural communications are equally relevant, as there is ample evidence that collective decision-making empowers teams and leads to more well-rounded outcomes, by:

• Demonstrating that all views and lived experiences carry equal importance and value
• Listening to alternative perspectives and considering the best ways to acknowledge them 
• Respecting and celebrating differences in culture, belief systems, language, and values

When everyone has the right to influence decisions and is encouraged to have their say, there is far less risk that a decision will be made that disregards the needs or cultural preferences of certain groups or communities. This is why a multicultural team communication strategy is both a positive step in terms of inclusivity and cultural awareness, but can also deliver more effective teamwork.

Practical Ways to Develop and Implement a Multicultural Communications Policy

The specifics of your communications plan may depend on the type, size, and structure of your team. In every case, you should consider ways to support two-way communications between groups and cultures, with thought given to technologies and materials, such as using visual aids or translations to aid in accessibility.

Other aspects of your communications strategy should include:

• Fostering a culture where active listening is the norm, and where priority or hierarchy isn’t given to any individual or contributor, regardless of their status within the team
• Creating forums for communication that are safe and non-judgemental, without repercussions for disagreement, and where questions are encouraged
• Avoiding complex communication styles or single-language, single-dialect dialogues, and any form of jargon or idiom that may be hard for a non-native speaker or reader to engage with
• Inclusive language that reflects the diversity of the team and is no easier or harder for one person to comprehend

If your team converses in person, you may also think about non-verbal elements such as body language and seating structures. Each individual within the group should be able to see the others, ensuring eye contact and gestures are possible, without physical barriers that can lead to feelings of exclusion.

Importantly, communication styles can differ as can cultural norms, which means some team members may prefer to speak directly about their opinions, whereas others might choose to contribute more subtly. This is one of the many reasons why introducing cultural awareness or diversity training can play a big role in facilitating multicultural communications, ensuring teams understand and respect their differences, and can all participate fully in a way they feel comfortable.