5.6 Summary

Teams are not homogeneous and differences among members are likely to stem from their memberships of different collectives and cultures. It has become commonplace to hear phrases such as "be open-minded" and "we need to appreciate diversity" when approaching challenges of diversity. However, working well in virtual teams means more than this, and requires us to use well thought-out approaches in order to bridge and integrate differences, thereby enabling the team to work effectively. The MBI approach, which recommends the stages mapping, bridging and integrating, helps us to achieve this. The mapping step acts as a tool to highlight commonalities and differences of a team, while reflecting more on one’s own cultural profile. Bridging and integrating enables us to discover options available to us in our endeavour to negotiate an inclusive, high-performing team-culture.