Language barriers in development teams can result in misunderstandings, a feeling of exclusion among team members, and poor collaboration. Over time, these issues will affect team morale and productivity.
In research by Forbes and Rosetta Stone Business, over 40% of respondents said that miscommunication made collaboration difficult. A similar percentage noted that language barriers affected productivity levels.
In other words, you must find a way to ensure your remote dev team can communicate effectively. In this article, we will discuss how to accomplish that. But first, let’s understand what language barriers really are.
What Are Language Barriers?
Language barriers are hindrances to communication between people who speak different languages. However, they can also occur between people who speak the same language but have different dialects. For example, a British and an American speak English, but variations in vocabulary, pronunciation, and even spelling can cause misunderstandings.
In a virtual team, language barriers can cause misunderstandings that lead to conflicts, frustration, and hurt feelings. When team members don’t understand each other, there is a lack of trust, which means no collaboration, either.
So, getting things right on the communication front is critical if you want to build a productive team. The first step is realizing there is a problem.
5 Ways to Identify Language Barriers in Your Dev Team
The impacts of language barriers are similar to those of other team problems, such as conflicts and reduced collaboration. Therefore, you may not easily recognize that your team has this challenge.
The following are tell-tale signs that your remote dev team has language barriers:
1. Frequent Misunderstandings
The nature of remote collaboration means interaction will be predominantly via written communication—email, chats, comments, etc. There are also occasional voice and video calls. Information is scattered across channels, so sometimes people can miss a couple of details.
However, if people constantly ask for clarification or repetition of instructions, this might suggest a language barrier within the team.
2. Missed Deadlines
It is common to miss deadlines in software development. In fact, if you don’t take your time to design the program, you can end up with technical debt — uglier, harder-to-maintain code.
Bugs, changes in the project scope, and other unexpected challenges can extend your delivery time.
But when basic tasks take longer than usual to the extent that they cause delays, you may be dealing with language problems. For example, if team members are slow to respond to messages or emails, it could be because they are translating or struggling to understand the words used.
3. Working in Isolation
Remote developers typically work alone. However, at different points during the software development life cycle (SDLC), they must interact with other team members to share progress updates or collaborate on tasks. So, it can be tricky to recognize when someone is being withdrawn.
Some signs that a team member is now working in isolation include turning in sloppy work, shifting their work schedule to when no one else is available, or skipping meetings. Isolated team members may also remain silent during meetings or discussions because they don’t understand the language or aren’t proficient.
4. Lack of Ownership
When team members take ownership of their work, it leads to professional development, innovation, and overall team success. The reverse is the case when people don’t take responsibility. No one knows what other team members are working on; there is a lack of accountability, and eventually, engagement levels drop.
If some team members are reluctant to take ownership of tasks or lead projects, it could be because they feel insecure due to language limitations.
Once you have concluded that you have a language barrier problem in camp, you can develop a solution.
Useful Strategies to Break Down Language Barriers
To ensure your culturally diverse remote team is successful, you must implement an effective communication strategy. Here’s how to eliminate language barriers that can prevent that from happening.
1. Provide English Classes And Grammar Tools
The first thing to improve the fluency level of your software development team is to provide English classes. You can offer a private tutoring scheme for your company or sign your developers up for an English as a Foreign Language course (EFL).
Providing a specific course based on the company’s needs is the quickest way to address the areas of competence that are vital to you. In addition, you can offer further studies to help your team improve writing and presentation skills. In support of English classes, tools like Grammarly can be provided to autonomously improve grammar while achieving a better command of the language.
2. Training and Onboarding
If you are running an international company, you can provide translation and interpretation services regarding legal matters and agreements. Secondly, you can translate the onboarding material to make sure to illustrate internal procedures clearly. This method, however, works only as a support for new hires. It’s important to combine translated material with English training.
Incorporating AI training can significantly enhance the onboarding experience and ongoing support for worldwide employees. AI training tools can offer personalized learning experiences, helping employees improve their English proficiency and adapt to the company’s communication standards more effectively.
3. Visual Communication
Another strategy for breaking down language barriers is using visual communication. Combine text with pictures and interactive design to highlight priorities and instruction manuals. Supporting text and procedures with graphic material will help your team familiarize themselves with the project and other departments.
4. Team Up Native Speakers And Foreign For Casual Conversation
In virtual teams, moments for casual conversation are essential to improve team dynamics. To enhance communication levels, rather than teaming up with people speaking the same language, you can combine foreign and native speakers instead.
For example, Slack features like Donut pairs up random people in the company. Or you can organize coffee chats during the week to leave room for casual conversation among team members. Speaking in English, besides working tasks, is a way to improve the confidence and vocabulary of non-native speakers in your team.
5. Speak Slowly And Clearly
Sometimes, native speakers don’t realize the speed of their conversations. Remember to your colleagues (and yourself) that it is better to slow down and avoid colloquialism in the beginning. When speaking, pay attention to non-verbal responses, like frowns or nods, to prevent non-understanding.
6. Keep it Simple (Avoid Using Baseball English)
Whether you are talking to a native speaker or someone learning a foreign language, encourage everyone to use plain language as much as possible.
While using ambiguous words gives the illusion of intelligence or competence, it doesn’t mean the person has communicated effectively. If the recipient cannot understand what you’ve said, it defeats the purpose of communication. Jargon and complicated terminology can create unnecessary barriers.
In addition, avoid slang and baseball English — phrases like touch base or a whole new ball game can confuse people unfamiliar with these expressions.
So, create a culture that encourages simplicity and clarity.
7. Encourage Questions and Clarifications
In the previous section, we discussed how an open-door policy can help you identify language barriers in your team. Well, it can also be a solution.
When your team members know they can express themselves freely, it leads to trust. Thus, they can ask questions and seek clarification when needed, ensuring everyone is on the same page. Once everyone is in sync, collaboration becomes easier, and productivity increases.
8. Don’t Be Offended By Non-English Speakers
So, humor doesn’t always work. Sometimes, non-native speakers have improper use of the English language, which is offensive. There is no reason to take any sentence personally. Intonation, vocabulary, and humor vary depending on the country. If you notice that a certain way of speaking is offensive, you can politely explain the correct use of language and avoid misunderstanding.
9. Collect Direct Feedback from Team Members
Sometimes, a straightforward approach can help you discover and solve language and communication issues in your remote team.
Encourage team members to come forward with their concerns and suggestions. Let people who aren’t comfortable with a public conversation know it’s okay to message you privately. Also, you should share anonymous feedback forms to gather input from those who prefer to remain unidentified.
10. Follow Up With Written Communication
As a team leader, you can send a report to recap video calls and meetings. Usually, people are more likely to remember things when they can read them. Sending detailed and grammatical notifications or emails will help your team visualize your goals and expectations better.
Preventing Language Barriers in Hiring Practices
Overcoming language barriers in your dev team begins with hiring the right developers. The right developers can communicate clearly and are a cultural fit.
When assembling your culturally diverse remote team, you must look beyond their technical capabilities. Sure, the guy can code. But can he express himself in a way that his teammates understand?
Test each candidate’s communication levels by getting them on a call, giving them a writing test, or any task that really lets you see how they communicate. The idea is to ensure they have full professional proficiency in the required language.
Getting remote developers who can communicate effectively is half the battle. You also need them to be a culture fit. So, you may have a candidate who speaks the language well, but their communication style doesn’t mesh with the company culture.
Perhaps they are too blunt in an environment that values diplomacy or too reserved when you need folks who get pumped up and passionate.
So, try to get a sense of how candidates might integrate with the existing team dynamics. Have them interact with folks from the specific teams they will work with. See how their personality and working style vibe. At the end of the day, you want people who can slot in seamlessly.
Conclusion
Language barriers are an inevitable challenge of a distributed team. However, with an effective communication strategy, this language difference in your dev team can become your strength.
Start by providing proper training and grammar tools, using a translation service during onboarding, and upholding a culture of tolerance and empathy. That way, you can build a team that gains its strength from its diversity.
However, these all start with getting the hiring process right. You need to assemble a remote dev team that can collaborate seamlessly and fit your company culture. It is a tricky balance, for sure. You want linguistic excellence, but you also need those softer cultural elements for communication to really, really click.
Fortunately, this is our forte at DistantJob. We are a remote recruitment agency with an obsession with finding the best global tech talent. Our sourcers can find you top remote candidates, and our HR team will take care of everything for you — language barriers won’t stop us.
Contact us to get started.
