How to Create and Manage Multilingual Remote Teams

Managing a global remote team means engaging people from diverse cultures & languages and creating sustainable online workflows.
How to Create and Manage Multilingual Remote Teams
By
Ryan Pell

Last year we were forced to switch to remote work at one point. This kind of format has certain advantages for both entrepreneurs and ordinary employees, but how do you go about creating and managing a remote team?

A multilingual remote team does not have a physical office at all. Employees in all-remote teams have the opportunity to work from anywhere in the world by simply connecting to the Internet and using a specific set of virtual instruments such as messengers, task managers, and so on.

How to Create a Multilingual Remote Team?

When creating a dynamic remote team, the first thing to do is to write down a list of essential requirements for all candidates. Think about a person’s professional skills and character, knowledge of foreign languages​​, and general motivation to work. These characteristics can vary greatly depending on the company and job description.

Qualities to Look For

Proactivity

It is vital that the person can offer a solution to the problem on their own. People who can work as efficiently as possible are proactive. The feature is achieved by the following abilities: setting a goal and striving for it. A responsible approach to the tasks has to be the cornerstone of the work attitude.

Professional Skills

The candidate must have a specific skill stack to fulfill their responsibilities and be interested in developing them. The professional skills of a team member should compliment the skills of the other members. It’s also advantageous if a potential employee has experience in industries related to business and finance, and if they have a keen interest in global trends and profile news.

Foreign Language Skills

Speaking one or more foreign languages is one of the essential skills and qualities to look for. Proficiency in English is a must-have to bridge the language gaps in the remote and multilingual teams. If someone is applying for a position in your remote team, they also need to show that they’ve achieved a conversational level in another language.

Team leaders, who look for team members, have to speak foreign languages themselves and improve their skills daily.

If you’re managing a team of developers, it’s important that they know how to speak English: most coding languages are based in English expressions, so you’re technical team must have a good understanding and be able to communicate about code syntax with each other.

In general, all technical documentation for all programming languages is compiled in English.

Ruby was invented in Japan, and the documentation is written in English. It was done in this way so that anyone who can speak English could understand the coding language. Professional and near-professional literature, just like most of the support articles and blogs online, are also written in English. English has become the primary professional language to overcome cultural barriers and enable people to work together from across the globe.

How to Find a Recruiting Platform?

First of all, you need to decide where exactly you’ll be looking for potential candidates. You can find great talent on general freelance sites such as Upwork or TECLA, or scroll through extensive profile communities like Behance or ArtStation. One of the most powerful emerging tools for recruiting candidates is social networks, for example, LinkedIn.

You can also use job platforms for posting vacancies, but given the diversity and number of job seekers on such sites, you might end up looking for a needle in a haystack.

How to Manage a Multilingual Remote Team?

Find Tools for Team Management

It’s time to set up workflows for improving work processes. A good place to start is to create a kind of virtual office by defining a stack of tools and services that you will all use. Many leading small companies use Slack to organize their workflows. Alternatives are Asana, Float, Zapier, or iDoneThis (but there are many, many more!). You as a manager should select the tools according to your company’s needs. Answer the following questions to find out the best ones for your team:

  • What do we need to make a success of the project? For example, you can look for a tool for planning, tracking the time spent on a task, or communicating with people. There are tools that offer all of the above-mentioned features in one.
  • Will it be possible to integrate the service into other workflows? Remember that a particular service will need to be combined with other tools. Check the degree of its adaptation to your business and security.
  • Can the team members message each other? Ensure that employees can quickly exchange information and make decisions on the fly.
Use every opportunity and every tool to build team spirit and ensure teamwork.

Encourage communication and friendship between colleagues and provide all the tools to make it more efficient for them to get things done.

Create an Appropriate Work Model

It’s perfectly normal when things start going wrong! When this happens, take a moment to rethink your workflows and adjust your tools — or even the business strategy. Not sure how to measure success? Track employee satisfaction with recurring pulses or once-off surveys.

The leader needs to know ​​how each of her members feel and what the general mood in the team is when shaping a remote team. Healthy team relationships have a direct impact on the well-being of your multilingual remote team.

Progress in the project’s development is often associated with the environment in the team. The general well-being of each team member also matters, so avoid overworking employees, avoid stressful situations, listen to employees’ opinions, and look for a compromise in resolving controversial issues. Perhaps you will need a custom software development agency to create a tool that will cater for all of your needs as a team.

Wrap Up

Creating and managing a multilingual remote team is a possible task for a sophisticated team lead or a manager like you! The most challenging thing about working it out is finding the right workflow and enjoying the ride.

About the author

Ryan is a passionate writer who likes sharing his thoughts and experience with the readers. Currently, he works as a digital marketing specialist at https://preply.com/. He likes everything related to traveling and new countries.

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