The Impact of Cross-Cultural Communication on Multicultural Project Team Performance

Abstract

The multicultural project team has become a strategic concern in an organization that aims at capitalizing on the multi-faceted viewpoints to drive innovations in a world that is ever more globalizing. These teams, however, have a strong performance conditioned by their capability to cope with the difficulties of communication across the borders of various cultures as one of their strong points and at the same time a serious challenge. The research seeks to fill the gap in existing literature by combining the sources that research the strong connections between communication, team performance, trust and management strategies. A systematic literature review (SLR) study was conducted in this study as there were five steps offered by Denyer and Tranfield (2009). In the Scopus, Web of Science, and EBSCO databases, a strict search and screening procedure was performed to identify 27 core studies used in the thematic analysis that were published between 2015 and 2025. Three major findings were made in the analysis. To begin with, multicultural teams require various mechanisms, such as adaptation to various verbal/nonverbal styles, a carefully selected communication media in virtual communication, and cultural intelligence (CQ) as an adaptability process, which is effective communication. Second, communication influences performance in a dual profound manner: proper communication is known to improve creativity and cohesion, whereas improper communication causes conflict, reduced productivity, and project failure. Third, trust as a mediating variable is a direct relationship between the quality of communication and the cohesion of the team; at the same time, management led approach is proactive, and strategies to deal with the cultural complexity are necessary. The author concludes that to attain high performance of multicultural teams, more than simplistic solutions should be applied. Organizational leaders and project managers are advised to use systematic and culturally sensitive communications plans, engage in an active creation of an atmosphere of trust, and encourage the growth of cultural intelligence to suppress the barriers that can occur in communication and fully utilize creative potential of multifaceted workforce.