• Disagreement may be expressed by tone of agreement or absence of agreement, rather than explicit statement of disagreement.
• Disagreement may be expressed by suggesting a different idea, at a later time, rather than immediately.
• These two ways of expressing disagreement may lead a student with a direct style to think that agreement has been reached – because there is no explicit disagreement – and to be confused or irritated when others act as if there is no agreement later.
• Pointing out problems explicitly – to others outside the team – can violate expectations that team members need to "save face" for one another and deal with problems as a group.

• Students in the U.S. typically like to make decisions quickly, and revise if needed; many other cultural management styles involve longer, deeper analysis before coming to a decision. This may leave others looking "weak" in Americans' eyes, and Americans looking "reckless" in others' eyes.

• Deference to authority figures is stronger in many other cultural, national, and educational settings, than in the U.S.
• Maintaining respect for team members even in the face of disagreement or disappointment, is stronger in other cultures than in the U.S.

• Despite their best intentions, native speakers may become frustrated with the time it takes them to get used to non-native speakers' accents, word use, or general fluency.
• Problems with translation can also affect perceptions of competence on both sides.
• Expertise of non-native speakers can be lost to the process if they lose motivation to contribute fully, because the native speakers do not fully include them.
• Side conversations in different languages can be a source of annoyance and division.
• Conflicts that arise due to misunderstanding and impatience can damage relationships and severely diminish motivation and team performance.

Note: The list of challenges is from  Brett, J., Behfar, K., & Kern, M. (2006). Explanations are rewritten by Crisca Bierwert, CRLT

• Explain the value of collaboration, and the fact that collaborative skills need to be learned
• Encourage cooperation
• Recognize and acknowledge early signs of differences in communication, and expectations
• Provide students with some training about variations in communication and decision-making styles
• Ensure that all participants have time during discussion to share views and ideas
• Be prepared for gaps in understanding and think of ways to use these as effective learning, and review opportunities for all students; and
• Identify and discuss processes for agreement and disagreement, with room for revision

• Start with well-defined tasks and increase the difficulty
• Be flexible as you keep track of the students' development, and project development
• Be clear whether you expect all team members to contribute to ALL tasks, or if you want them to divide the work

• Assign the teams yourself (as instructor)
• Assure heterogeneity in terms of ability
• Do not outnumber or isolate (e.g. putting one to a group) women and minorities, if possible
• Provide recourse for dysfunctional teams

• Be explicit about grading policies for team assignments at the start of term
• Have students reflect on and assess their collaborations, their team members, their own teamwork; and
• Have them do this during the process – not just at the end

Brett, J., Behfar, K., & Kern, M. (2006). Managing Multicultural Teams.
Harvard Business Review 84(11), 89-96.

Focus groups with U-M faculty and students with cross cultural experience in higher education (facilitated by CRLT).

Views of U-M undergraduate students during a breakout session of 2010 U-M Summit of International Students.

"Student Teams in the STEM Classroom," CRLT Engineering workshop presented on varying occasions by Cynthia Finelli