They say being multi-lingual is a precious gift and with a couple of important languages in my knowledge pocket, I am the last one to deny it. I grew up in a very diverse environment from the linguistic point of view and I continued this heritage through my life, work and relationships. I am only grateful for it, however, in very strict work-related circumstances, too many languages might be an impediment for proper communication and, at the end of the day, for efficiency and productivity in a company.
Lately, I had the following experience: Three people, with complete different backgrounds and educations, as well as age, trying to communicate in languages that are not their mother tongue's. We are supposed to work together for the next months, setting up a technical project in a language that none of us were native speakers. The perfect Babel.
Actually, the main issues facing such a multi-lingual environment is: right communication, time waste/management and a high risk of failure or misundersating the aims and even the very basis of the project(s). Therefore, a common basis is necessary in order to advance towards meeting the goals. For instance, someone might not know perfectly the details and nuances of a language - including the grammar - but he or she has a good knowledge of the technical terms used for his everyday work. Being able to communicate straight away requests and answers is the first step towards achieving the goals. Of course, one of the best solutions is to use a translator - at least until a certain language upgrade takes place, but this solution takes also time and might cost additional money that small companies are not always able to afford it willingly.
A situation with a high risk of blocking a project is when - as in the case of the situation I was faced myself - the team members assume superficially that the projects will advance with or without a proper communication. Often, communication is under-rated, being considered rather a luxury of glossy companies or used only in case of reputation management or branding. However, a regular communication - including thourgh morning meetings with project updates - is aimed at avoiding perpetuating mistakes due to misunderstanding of aims and possible solutions.
My experience in the field of communication warns me always of the risks and I am more likely inclined to avoid a very diverse yet precarious multi-lingual environment. Take, for instance, a very specific situation: you have an emergency, when one member of the team failed to deliver the expected result. The situation is happening in the field of real estate. He misunderstood that he had to respect specific regulations in the field of construction. He went on with the work, people tried to finish within deadlines, investments were done in materials and extra payments done for the people. Midway, you have a control from the authorities in charge with the safety and security of the construction works and they request to demolish everything, or might even request an additional fine for disrespect of the local laws. Explaining the failures takes some extra time as well, as the team coordinators do not know what it is all about and need time to get familiar with the issue. In order to respect the final deadlines you need extentions of deadlines and eventually new approvals from authorities.
The final verdict: unprofessional handing of relatively simple professional communication issues.
My recommendation in such cases would be to try to create an homogenous team, with an advanced knowledge of the local rules and procedures. Hiring for short term a communication trainer or eventually paying on behalf of the company a basic language class will also help at a great extent. Although in both cases it involves additional costs, it is short-term and compared with the risks in cases such a common base does not exist, it is worth the investment.
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