Developing a Multicultural, Cross-Generational, and Multidisciplinary Team: An Introduction for Civil Engineers

Abstract

Globalization has led to new forms of teams that are diverse in age, education, culture, ethnicity, language, and often geographic location. Like teams in business, consulting, and military operations, which have become multicultural, cross-generational, and multidisciplinary to address the new and emerging challenges of operating in a globalized world, civil engineering project teams have found that team development is not just necessary, but critical to optimal performance and, ultimately, to mission or project success. Team introductions, building, and development have to be conducted before launching a mission or project. An integration liaison is now an integral part of any mission or project and is able to address cross-generational issues, multicultural barriers, and cross-discipline disputes before they occur during the team development phase. More importantly, they are able to minimize and often prevent other problems from developing during the mission or project by understanding how these dynamic areas interact with each other and how to resolve team member disputes if they do occur. This ultimately leads to the development of a high-performance team that is team centered, on task, and on budget.