Working in a global team doesn’t just mean different time zones and accents—it means different expectations, habits, and comfort levels. Yet every day, our teams from Ukraine, India, Uzbekistan, and Europe manage to collaborate, deliver, and support each other.

To understand what actually makes cross-cultural teamwork smooth, we asked two people who face it daily—Delivery Manager Oleksandr Korop and HR Manager Mariia Diachkova. Their perspectives overlap in one important way: it’s not about complicated “cultural rules,” but about clarity, consistency, and human attention.

Oleksandr Korop, Delivery Manager

Distributed Work Isn’t New—It Just Got Bigger  

In our company, remote collaboration has never been something exotic. Even when I only worked within Ukraine, I was already in distributed teams—people joining from Dnipro, Khmelnytskyi, Lviv, and other cities. At the same time, we collaborated with customers from the US, Europe, and Asia, often together with Client Success Managers based in the US and Europe. So the habit of “working across distance” was formed early.

When the company transitioned into a truly global setup, it didn’t change the essence of the approach—it simply added more parameters. Suddenly, the same distributed model included SDEs from India, Uzbekistan, and different locations across Europe. And that’s the important point: the core mechanics still work, but cultural diversity amplifies everything. Accents become stronger, English levels vary wider, perception and communication tempo differ more, and some things that used to be “implicitly understood” stop being implicit.

Equal Rules? Yes. One-Size-Fits-All? Never.  

So I keep repeating the same core principles in my head: openness, clarity, professional attitude, attention to context, and flexibility in feedback. What changes is that you need to apply these principles with a mindset of equality and sensitivity to specific cultural and individual nuances. Equal rules—yes. But not “one-size-fits-all” communication.

For example, I often adjust how I run meetings to account for different accents and communication styles. In a global team, we all communicate a little differently, and it simply takes some attention and flexibility to make sure we understand one another.

So I try to speak a bit more clearly, use straightforward examples, and check for alignment in a natural way. I invite feedback and make room for quieter voices. I also follow up with a short written summary, which gives everyone time to process information and respond comfortably. When a team has several ways to communicate—and expectations stay clear—collaboration becomes much easier for everyone.

Where the Real Conversations Actually Happen

One thing I want to highlight as especially important in cross-cultural remote teams is 1-on-1 conversations. In group meetings people often hesitate to ask questions, admit confusion, or express ambitions and concerns. A well-run 1-on-1 removes that pressure. It creates a safer channel where someone can say, “I didn’t understand what we agreed,” or “I’m blocked,” or “I want to grow into a bigger role,” without feeling exposed.

Alongside 1-on-1, I strongly believe in keeping several communication lines open. Not as bureaucracy, but as psychological safety in practice. A team member should clearly know they can talk to the Team Lead, the Delivery Manager, HR if needed, and also raise things directly with teammates.

When multiple channels exist and are culturally “allowed,” colleagues can share feedback earlier and attract the right attention before a small issue turns into a silent problem.

Team-Building as the “Human Layer” We Often Miss  

And then there’s the tool that often gets underestimated—team building. For me, it’s one of the most practical ways to make remote work humane. In day-to-day delivery, our meetings are usually task-focused: structured agendas, defined decisions, limited time, and very clear boundaries. That’s exactly what we need for execution.

But it leaves almost no room to actually get to know each other as people. Team building creates that missing space.

It’s a chance to break the ice and learn more about each other’s background, location, hobbies, and interests—the pieces that don’t fit into sprint planning, stand-ups, or status calls, but directly influence how smoothly we collaborate.

I honestly can’t overstate how helpful team-building games can be. When they are simple and inclusive, they pull people into communication in an informal, low-risk way. And that’s where one of the typical cross-cultural barriers becomes very visible: English.

Different levels of command, strong accents, and different speaking tempo often don’t block regular “work protocol” communication—because daily meetings follow patterns and context helps. But they do block the extra layer: informal talk, spontaneous collaboration, innovation discussions, and the kind of “soft communication” that builds trust. That’s why I try to create it intentionally. I make a space for such discussion to open up space for exploratory topics: new technologies, AI opportunities, potential scope extensions, new features, and architectural changes. Having that “safe slot” for innovation helps people contribute without feeling like they’re interrupting the main work agenda.

And without that layer, teams stay functional but never become truly cohesive.

The Real Lesson: It’s Not About Culture—It’s About Care  

That’s probably the most important lesson I’ve learned: cross-cultural remote teamwork doesn’t require special “cultural tricks.” It requires a strong professional base, deliberate communication hygiene, and consistent human attention. When those pieces are in place, everything else becomes easier—work, feedback, initiative, and the simple feeling that you’re not just working with roles on the screen, but with real people.

And maybe that’s the main truth behind every successful distributed team: cultures differ, time zones differ, communication styles differ—yet people everywhere respond to the same things. Respect. Patience. Clarity. Safety. A bit of human warmth. When we give each other that, distance stops being a barrier and starts being just another parameter we handle together.

Mariia Diachkova, HR Manager

The Game Starts with Clear Rules

When people ask me what really helps colleagues from different countries feel comfortable working together, my answer is always the same: clarity.

Clear expectations. Clear roles. Clear communication channels.

And this applies to everyone. The manager’s behavior should be consistent for each team member: the rules of the game, the way we communicate, where we communicate (Teams, email, client messenger), how we ask questions, how we warn about being unavailable—all of that needs to be communicated very openly from the very beginning. So much of what we call “cross-cultural misunderstanding” is actually just unclear communication.

Another absolutely essential thing is aligning schedules. Different time zones don’t become a problem if everyone understands the overlap and when meetings will happen. But the manager needs to articulate it clearly, because not everyone is comfortable asking questions in a group call—and in some cultures, it’s especially difficult.

In distributed teams—not only cross-cultural ones—predictability is everything. People need to know what to expect, what is expected from them, and what the rules are. That’s the foundation.

The Tiny Things That Save Us from Big Headaches

• First, rules should be repeated from time to time. What you agreed on during onboarding won’t stay fresh forever.
• Second, any correction or sensitive feedback should always be done one-on-one. Never in front of the entire team. Group meetings are not the place for that.
• Third—and this is a big one—English.
  We all speak it differently. That’s why it’s better to avoid idioms, phrasal verbs, sarcasm, and “local jokes.” Even memes. You never know how something will land, or whether it will land at all.
• Follow-ups deserve special attention.
  A written summary gives everyone time to reread, process, and clarify. It’s especially useful in multicultural teams where accents, reasoning styles, and levels of English vary. It prevents misunderstandings and helps maintain fairness.

How to Feel Like a Team—even If You’ve Never Met

The secret here is simple: consistency.

Respond on time. Follow through on commitments. Explain delays.

People shouldn’t feel abandoned after sending a message. And the rules shouldn’t change every day depending on who asked the question. That unpredictability destroys trust.

And, of course, emotional intelligence matters. Genuine interest matters. If a person truly doesn’t care who works with them, no team-building activity will change anything. The desire to build relationships has to exist at least a little.

Online Team-Building Is the Glue We Didn’t Expect

Online team-building helps fill the gaps that naturally appear in distributed teams.

It gives people a way to see each other outside task-focused roles, to chat, to laugh, to notice the human side—and this softens communication barriers a lot. In multicultural teams, it also helps reduce the “us vs. them” feeling that sometimes appears unintentionally.

But cross-cultural team-building needs special attention.

• Time matters.
  For example, in India it’s common for people to spend evenings with family. If you schedule a team-building at 7 p.m. Ukrainian time, it’s 9:30 in India. They simply won’t come—and that’s not because they don’t want to, but because family evenings are sacred in India. That’s why we often schedule activities earlier—around 4 p.m. Ukrainian time—so it’s still early evening: about 6:30 p.m. in India and 6 p.m. in Uzbekistan. A small shift makes a huge difference.
• Next, you need a moderator who enjoys talking to people. Someone who can keep the conversation going and stop it gently if it goes on for too long. Topics should be neutral—no politics, no religion, no sensitive cultural issues. Tech news, hobbies, funny stories, pets—all that works great.
• And it’s absolutely okay if not everyone joins. This is not mandatory. People have the right to refuse.
• Team-buildings can last an hour or three—it depends on the group. I remember playing an online drawing game with my team for three hours because everyone kept saying “one more round!”
• Icebreakers and Small Rituals.
  Every two weeks, we have a global HR Team meeting—Ukraine, India, Uzbekistan. I always start with some small talk or interesting news: weather, holidays, team events. They tell me how their team-building went; I tell them that we already have snow while they’re sitting in +20° rain. These tiny exchanges create connection.

Team-Building Across Cultures: Do’s, Don’ts, and Lifesavers

• Consider language, time zones, comfort levels.
• Keep it simple.
• Avoid culturally sensitive topics (politics, religion, social debates).
• Don’t discuss work issues.
• Choose topics that are safe, interesting, or just fun.
• Moderate the time—people may have family commitments they can’t voice.
• Encourage people to leave when they need to, without pressure.
• Always ask for feedback afterwards.

And remember: team-building is part of organizing the team’s work, not something separate. It supports communication, trust, and understanding—three things without which cross-cultural collaboration simply cannot exist.