How to Address Cultural Differences in Kickoff Meetings

Why your LatAm team isn't speaking up in meetings (hint: it's not a language barrier) You've noticed it in every cross-border meeting: Your US team debates openly while your LatAm engineers remain quiet. Working with dozens of distributed SaaS teams has taught me something important: This silence rarely comes from language barriers. It comes from different cultural understandings of how meetings should work. Here's what's actually happening: 🤝 Relationship preservation matters. In many LatAm cultures, maintaining harmony often takes priority over expressing individual opinions 🏛️ Respect for hierarchy runs deeper. Speaking up might be seen as challenging authority, even in your "flat" organization 🗣️ Conversation patterns differ. US teams often jump in with immediate reactions, while LatAm colleagues may prefer thoughtful consideration I saw a company transform their meeting dynamics by making simple changes: What they did: 📝 They sent discussion points 24 hours before meetings 🎙️ They used structured turn-taking instead of open discussion 💬 They created dedicated Slack channels for post-meeting thoughts 🔄 They rotated meeting facilitation across all locations What happened: 💡 Previously quiet team members began contributing valuable insights 🌉 Knowledge sharing improved across locations ⚡ Decision quality improved with more diverse input 🌍 Team cohesion strengthened The main lesson? Different cultures have different "rules" for speaking up. When you accommodate these differences, everyone benefits. According to INSEAD's Global Leadership research, psychological safety is experienced differently across cultures, with power distance being a key factor in who speaks up during group settings. Question for leaders: What meeting formats might you change to hear from your entire global team? #RemoteTeams #Leadership #GlobalTeams #LatAm #CultureDifferences

Most cross-cultural team conflicts aren’t about culture. They’re about how the conversation is facilitated. I’ve seen brilliant global teams lose momentum because: - One voice dominates while others stay silent. - Cultural cues get misread as disinterest or resistance. - Decisions get stuck because no one bridges the “thinking speed” gap. As an international keynote speaker and cross-cultural facilitator, I teach leaders to turn diversity into an advantage in the meeting room, not just the company brochure. Here are 5 quick facilitation moves that work across borders: 1️⃣ Set shared ground rules – Equal airtime isn’t automatic. Make it explicit. 2️⃣ Rotate meeting leadership – Builds empathy and prevents hierarchy dominance. 3️⃣ Translate idioms & jargon – What’s clear in one language can be fuzzy in another. 4️⃣ Use layered questions – Give introverts & reflective thinkers space to respond. 5️⃣ Summarize decisions in writing – Prevents “lost in translation” moments later. 💡 The best teams don’t just respect cultural differences they design how they communicate. 📖 Read my latest insights here: https://lnkd.in/gWWF8p_T

What happens when program management goes global? 🤔🌎 During this year, I’ve had the opportunity to work with teams across Brazil 🇧🇷, Mexico 🇲🇽, United States 🇺🇸, Singapore 🇸🇬, Ireland 🇮🇪, and more. People often think that being a program manager is easy. All we need to do is bring our playbooks/frameworks, right?! Nope. It’s much more than that. Here are 2 things you will face as a program manager with XFN Global teams and tips to move forward. 1️⃣ Cultural differences. The goal here is not to influence teams to adopt your preferred way of working. Instead, listen to each other and find ways to celebrate and embrace different perspectives. For example, understanding country specific holidays, working agreements, terminology, and asking for a translator if language assistance is needed. The little things matter! 2️⃣ Time Zones and Communciation. This one depends on region and tools available. Consider how to run meetings effectively asynchronously. Use built in communication tools (e.g slack, teams, lark etc) to send messages at a certain time. Determine who truly is required versus optional. Send an agenda in advance and give adequate time for the team to fill in updates prior. Focus meetings around important topics, decisions, blockers, and next steps. What are some of the best practices that you have used when communicating and working globally? #programmanagement #globalteams #culture