Introduction

__ **Introduction** __ Due to globalization and emerging technological opportunities, the use of geographically dispersed teams has become commonplace in the modern day organization. People from opposite ends of the globe can collaborate with one another to achieve common goals and produce shared work. Along with being globally distributed, individual members also contribute a unique set of cultural and national background which ends up forming a culturally diverse team. The use of culturally diverse geographically dispersed teams can present organizations with a variety of both challenges and opportunities. The purpose of this handbook is to explore the ways in which cultural diversity and geographic dispersion play a role in the team’s group process as well as providing the reader with some insight into potential strategies for dealing with the challenges of these teams.

Before you dive into the issues and strategies offered in this handbook, keep in mind that each team is unique; a unique set of individuals, culture, environments, tasks, etc. The content contained in this handbook is not meant to provide an exhaustive set of information on the subject. In fact, each issue we discuss could have their own handbooks and entire books have already been written about some of them. Still, we hope to synthesize some of the information already out there and create a simple guide to dealing with this type of team. We will introduce different aspects of group experience and discuss the impact that culture and geography have on each group dynamic.

As a culturally diverse geographically dispersed team ourselves, we also reflect on and incorporate some of our own group’s experience into this handbook. In this handbook, we will refer to ourselves as //Team Teal.// Our team is made up of individuals located around the globe, working out of New Mexico, California, Canada, and Palestine. Influenced by our own cultural backgrounds, we each contributed different skills and perspectives to form a diverse and dynamic team. In the process of creating this handbook, we encountered a number of these challenges and successes ourselves.

Along with information about a variety of topics, we will also propose some potential strategies for you to utilize as you encounter these issues. You will find topic specific strategies at the end of each section and in a compiled list at the end of the handbook. Just as we have been able to do with our own team, we want others to be equipped to deal with the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities that come with a culturally diverse geographically dispersed team. We hope this handbook will help.
 * Suggested line and footnote in Introduction (end of first paragraph): ** Only if you could easily find a place for it Adrian… I thought it would be good to reference Gary more often

The handbook is therefore meant to help mitigate the impact of //ecoshock// 1(Fontaine, 1997) for those on international assignments.

Footnote 1: ‘ecoshock’ according to Fontaine (1997, p. 632) is a package of physiological, psychological, and social symptoms commonly experienced by those on international assignments. // The citation is already on my list of references //