Unit 8 Assessment

Culture and Teamwork Exercise

Questions
Pre-Meeting Small Talk Video
1. How does the culture of the participants influence meeting start times
and approach to small talk? What was the effect on the team
atmosphere as a result? (3 marks)
Different cultures have different approaches to how they approach
meetings and meeting times. In American cultures, they seemed far
more sociable and lax about starting the meeting right away, talking
about sports. Meanwhile, in Asian countries, Victor was surprised and a
little upset about how late and slow they were to start the meeting as
it meant they missed valuable time for valuable information such as
roles. In general, it led to a divide in the group as Victor wanted to start
the meeting and the three Americans were relaxed about their
approach.
2. Pick two of the characters and explain the cultural differences between
their communication styles. (2 marks)
Comparing Victor to Rob, we can see two huge differences in
communication styles. Victor is more used to listening during
presentations and Chinese culture is less focused on fast paced
collaboration as the American culture. The language barrier was
harmful as well, as Victor had a hard time understanding a lot of what
was said.
3. What could Rob and Adeola do differently to help break the ice before
and during the first team meeting? (2 marks)
Instead of talking to each other about the golfing like they did in this
situation, it would have been better for them to communicate it to the
team, perhaps the team would have a better understanding of their
culture and see that golf was still apart of it. Another option would
have been for Adeola to clarify her previous roles as well as her
strength with Project Manager and how she once led sales men before.

4. Think about your current or previous workplace. What are two

unspoken rules that new employees should understand in order to fit
in? (2 marks)
Avoid loud and obvious conversations in the work environment. As a
developer, it is hard to do my job with lots of noise in the background,
so often people respect that by keeping conversations to the caf, or
quiet. The second would be arrive on time, whether its with work or to
meetings, everyone is on tight schedules and time is precious. So it is
important to be prepared and to be to meetings with work on time.
Delegating Roles and Managing Communication Barriers Video
5. What are some assumptions and cultural stereotypes that may have
influenced Carols behavior? (2 marks)
She assumed that because Adeola was Pakistani and wore a Hijab, she
might be unable to handle or deal with men like an American woman
could due to lack of confidence. She also assumed that Victor would be
understanding to the American slang terminology and did not think to
describe in more detail, or with more vague terms, what points were
being said.
6. How did Carols behavior and attitude affect her team? What are two
recommendations for Carol that would improve communication with
her team? (3 marks)
It caused a divide in the team because she did not give credit enough
where it was due for Adeola, and ignored possible language difficulties
for Victor. This made both Adeola and Victor feel excluded and/or not
appreciated as part of the team. Carol should have taken the time to
introduce each of the team members and mentioned previous work
history and roles. This would give the team a good understanding of
the skill sets and may set aside cultural biasing. Another option would
to have taken the first meeting at a slower pace to assimilate the two
new workers. Making sure that each person is able to communicate
smoothly will help the team progress faster.

7. What other communication challenges did you notice in this scene?

What role did the cultural factors have in the communication
challenges? (2 marks)
Based on Victors Asian culture, he thought he was supposed to be
more focused on listening rather than coming up with input on the fly.
Another challenge was that Rob viewed the new hires as a burden
rather than an asset. This is because he assumed that their cultural
differences were going to cause the group more trouble than benefits
and caused communication problems as result.