Understanding the backgrounds of each team member can assist managers in the molding of an effective and collaborative work group.

In a recent survey completed of 70 global teams, only 18% considered their team performance highly successful and achieving business goals¹. As technology and globalization continue to transform the workplace, people from many different cultural backgrounds are beginning to work together². Developing teams to understand and appreciate differences while motivating employees in a virtual environment is a new challenge many managers are now facing³. ff14 gil for sale Global leaders are now identifying a new subset of skills and talents required to effectively lead teams as organizations leverage team members from around the globe⁴. Air Jordan 11 Donna

Understanding the importance of trust in a virtual cross cultural environment

The concept and meaning of “team” varies significantly across cultures and organizations; therefore it is imperative to note that behaviors and communication styles will likely vary as well. Establishing a ‘we-feeling’ and commitment are the first steps in collaboration⁵. New Balance 009 hombre Within some countries around the world trust is an earned respect not easily given; therefore establishing a trusting relationship virtually requires careful precision and finesse to ensure the relationship is built upon mutual trust and respect. Järvenpää and Leidner (1998) studied the concept of “swift” trust, noting that this type of trust is very fragile and temporal in nature. They further noted global virtual teams do not build trust, but import trust from more familiar settings and place a high value on timely responses with regard to communication⁵. LUNARGLIDE 8

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Overcoming the barriers language creates

Zofi (2012) speaks to the importance of overcoming intercultural disconnect using five cross cultural communication strategies which can be easily remembered using the acronym LEARN. Saint Joseph’s Hawks

• Listen
• Effectively Communicate
• Avoid Ambiguity
• Respect Differences
• No Judgment

Understanding the limits of technology

Technology, while great at connecting people around the world, creates additional challenges for people to notice and pick up on many nonverbal behavioral cues. NIKE AIR ZOOM STRUCTURE 20 Even with the recent introduction of video conferencing, subtle nonverbal cues often go unnoticed⁶. In recent years, the use of technology and globalization have been accused of homogenizing particular ways of working and studying to align more with Western behaviors. Some question if this protocol is ethical to ignore local cultural preferences to achieve collaboration on a higher level as it can later manifest as a cause of communication problems⁵.

Motivating and training cross cultural virtual teams

Motivational and training aspects of a manager’s role can be further complicated by the degree of differences in employee cultures. nike roshe two hombre What acts as a motivator within one culture is likely to have a different impact within another; this also holds true for employee development and the educational approach needed to properly train staff to use new technologies, which will assist in the continuation of cross cultural projects. Asics Gel Kayano Evo Homme To offset these challenges facing today’s global marketplace, many organizations are introducing balanced training programs to ensure team members achieve a healthy balance of intercultural skill development and technological development to further develop leadership potential in a high performance, high cooperation workplace⁶.

Intercultural competence and virtual teamworking skills training

Along with these balanced training programs, many organizations are finding it helpful to regularly review established ways of working that all team members agree to, ensuring all team rules continue to remain relevant. Todd Gurley Jerseys Investing time in staff development opportunities to showcase cross cultural differences to improve team members’ understandings of each other has also been shown to help build trust and respect within groups, and when possible, a rotation of team meeting locations which can allow colleagues to show off their culture¹. Working with a company striving to build strong virtual cross cultural teams will require forward thinking analysis of each individual team member. Air Jordan 7 (VII) Understanding the backgrounds of each team member can assist managers in the molding of an effective and collaborative work group.

So how can we avoid similar problems in future projects and achieve better results?

The signs are there – we just do not recognise them

Big surprises are usually surprises to some and quite expected by others. Many will have seen the problems coming. For some observers it is no surprise that things get complicated in major projects.

Some well-educated technicians could see in advance that constructing a nuclear plant like this would not be an easy task. Ambitious and approved by politicians at the time of purchase – yes, but in terms of engineering it is a truly remarkable and difficult project.

Furthermore, some of us who know about cultural differences between France and Finland were a bit uneasy about this project. Would the two consortia of companies understand each other well enough when the inevitable problems arise?

Check your project management against intercultural concepts

A good starting point to analyse cross-cultural risks (and opportunities!) is a mix of classic project management and assessment of culture.

In a project you manage typically

1. specification and content
2. schedule, progress
3. costs, budget, money
4. people, HR
5. information and stakeholders.

A minimal approach would be to run a discussion on each of these items with the project management from a cultural perspective. This typically involves an external intercultural consultant but can also be done by internal expertise: veterans of multi-cultural projects among the senior personnel who have insight, objectivity and sensitivity based on experience.

The role of HR in managing intercultural risks

The HR function has a role to play here. They may be the advocates for the importance of common working styles within their organisations. Through training and coaching programmes and increasingly through culture analytics, HR may offer understanding about the cross cultural differences and risks on organizational, team and key-individual levels. HR can also map the intercultural skills and needs of people using competency assessment tools.

Large organisations require tools for building intercultural sensitivity

Thousands of people are involved in a mega project. Some experience more international contacts and others less. But almost everyone will be in an intercultural situation where safety and operational performance can be impacted. When today everyone who has a smartphone has access to online training programmes, there are no logistical barriers to reaching all project participants with intercultural learning resources. Some innovative organization offer round-the-clock access to tools which help individual to deal with intercultural challenges.

Room for improvement

Project management in Europe is generally at a good level. Technical problems, budget overruns and delays are, however significant when they hit.

Cross cultural knowledge and expertise in project management is an area where many organisations can improve. Intercultural competence can save money and achieve faster successful project completion.

Taking active, explicit steps to build a culturally stress-tested project plan key people and involving larger numbers of project participants to build their cultural awareness minimises risks, makes for smoother operation and saves time and money.

Risk management for cultural difference in the workplace in a nutshell

1. Recognise the risk – there is a wealth of case studies, models and benchmarks for this
2. Measure the scale of the challenge – use cultural assessment and cultural profiling
3. Understand and act – to mitigate the negative effects of cultural difference and build high-performing multi-cultural teams

This mega project has been going for over a decade and has made huge losses for the French company AREVA through delays in construction and starting electricity generation – by 2016 many years behind the original schedule.

Business goals and profession may unify us, but culture gives us diverse ways of working

There are significant differences in belief and behaviour between Latin countries in Europe on the one hand (take Italy, France and Portugal as example) and Nordics such as Swedes and Finns on the other. Northern and Southern Europe are different, when we look at population level. This is also true in international joint ventures, acquisitions and mergers – even when there are strong uniting factors such as common industry, engineering culture and business goals.

I wonder if these cultural factors have a role in the project. Have they contributed to the delays, misunderstandings and problem solving?

Different cultures, different approach to specifications

One insider view is that the specifications were not good enough: nobody knew what they were getting into.

In my experience, this is actually quite common in big infrastructure projects. The specifications have a tendency of changing during the implementation. In normal circumstances, people would meet, discuss and resolve the problems from a technical or business perspective. This is how bridges and airfields are built. The changes are managed and the project moves on.

Did the Finns and the French really recognise and manage the cultural gaps they both know exist? Were cultural issues a part of the risk management of this nuclear plant project?

Stress-testing your project plan against cultural differences

We are told that the plant is airplane crash-proof and tsunami proof (no tsunamis recently in the Baltic Sea, but better safe than sorry). I suggest that the project plan was not properly stress-tested against known cultural differences.

If AREVA and the buyer TVO had executed even some pro-active cultural competency training would we in fact be much better off with the project, costs and the production of electricity?

Whether we deal in megaprojects or everyday work of teams and organisations, we need to ask: has our project itself been bomb-proofed against cross-cultural misunderstandings?

_{Photo credit Teollisuuden Voima Oy.}