Revision as of 20:19, 21 September 2015

NOTE to team reviewing

This article is not done. Still some parts are missing and the text has not been read through for spelling, grammar and other mistakes. The thing I would like reviewed is: - Text content: -- is it interesting? what is missing for it to be interesting? -- does it make sense? some parts that need further explanation? -- some sections, subjects etc. that would make sense to include or incorporate in the text? -- how could I in general improve it?

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Abstract

(UPDATE WHEN FINISHED ARTICLE) Cross-cultural, languages and geographical challenges are some of challenge areas that can influence the work of a global team, meaning a team where the members are geographical spread out. The team members might have different cultural backgrounds, language barriers or may be located in different time zones. These types of challenges influence the communication and the understanding within the team, which can lead to misunderstandings or disagreements. In project management this is something to consider in project management process, when trying to predict, manage and control possible issues and delays within the work as well as the execution of the work, in order to make the process as smooth as possible. To use the global project management as an advantage it is important to be aware of the differences, understand where the different stakeholder or members come from and use the differences to your advantage. This article focuses on the challenges, which should be dealt with through out the process of managing a global project. Three of the project management knowledge areas within a project management framework will be discussed with focus on a virtual teamwork. The areas in focus are; human resource, communication and stakeholder management.

Introduction

To become a large company with an international business plan, teamwork across different countries is inevitable. Focus on global project management (GPM) is important when dealing with larger project on a global scale. The company might want to outsource or offshore parts of the developing of the product or service, in order to save cost and time, make the process more effective or acquire certain skills. E.g. local people could do the market analysis and exploration and selling of the product/service from the investigated country. As well the production or parts of it could take place either close to where the raw materials are extracted, in the country where the product is to be sold or in a country where the labour is cheaper. As a project manager you have to be able to handle different stakeholders; within your project team, the market, suppliers and possible collaborating companies.

The PMI standard of project management (PM) framework entails ten main knowledge areas that a project manager has to master in the five project process stages: initiate, plan, execute, monitor and control and closing project. This article will consider the areas where global project management (GPM) mainly differ from “regular” PM. The three areas in focus in this article are; human resource management, project communications management and stakeholder management. The other seven areas will not be approached in this article. The main challenge areas within GPM are; the geographical locations, the cross-cultural differences and language barriers.

Challenges faced in cross-cultural teamwork

Here is a list of examples on specific challenges: Geographical distances: - Time differences due to time zones - Communication o Establishing trust and making teambuilding over distances, when no face-to-face communication o How to use different media effective, not wasting time and ensuring inclusion of all people Cross-cultural differences - views, short term vs. long term goals - punctuality, norms and costumes - negotiation patterns and decision making styles - how people handle conflicts and how they communicate or deals with disagreements - how structured work is - how specific project specification should be communicated - in holidays and other traditions - ethics and morals - what is seen as important; e.g. relationship vs. individualism, etc. Languages barriers - Lack of common language; words and idioms, leading to misunderstandings and potentially disagreements

Culture and how it affect teamwork

Definitions of culture National culture: “the way of life, especially the general customs and beliefs, of a particular group of people at a particular time”. Culture in at a workplace: “the ideas and ways of working that are typical for an organization, and that affect how it does business and how its employees behave” Organizational culture: “the types of attitudes and agreed ways of working shared by the employees of a company or organization” http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/culture

Culture’s influence on a person

How a person thinks and behaves are influences by the human nature, culture and personality. E.g. meaning all human by nature eats when they are hungry. Culture could affect what they choose to eat. Personality could influences what you like or what you do not like to eat. The human nature is universal and inherent. The culture is acquired by a specific group or category and the personality is inherent and acquired and is specific to the individual. (INSERT FIGURE)

Culture differences (REWRITE SECTION)

Cultural distance assessment: Cultural aspects that can lead to challenges: Be aware that when looking at cultural aspects it is very easy to form stereotypes. - Religion can influence teamwork and the communication - How resistant you are towards change: Avoid risks, Resistance to innovation [Greece+ Singapore ‐] - Individuality – Collectivism [United States – Guatemala] - Comfortable vs. being uncomfortable expressing disagreement (Power distance)[Austria+ Malaysia‐] - Neutral‐Affective [Japan ‐ Kuwait] - Maleness – femaleness [Japan – Sweden] - Focus on long or short term goals [China – Pakistan] - Universalist vs. Particularistic [Switzerland – Venezuela]

Levels of organizational culture

Culture can be divided into three levels. On the high level are the visible aspects of a culture. E.g. a part of the organizational culture can be the dress code or the jargon, ceremonies within the organization. On the second level the Value level is, e.g. rules and behaviours, such as teamwork and innovation. This vision often comes from the founder of the organization. The third deepest level, Assumptions, is invisible, unspoken and is often taken for granted within the culture, like quality and responsibility. This organizational culture differs from company to company. (INSERT FIGURE)

Types of cultural orientation

1. Ethnocentric: using own culture to judge other cultures a person or groups of people with another culture 2. Polycentric orientation: people adapt mind set to host-county 3. Geocentric orientation: open-mindedness regardless to country boundaries. (important all stakeholders are geocentric) (ELABORATE ON THIS SECTION)

Cross-culture in a standard Project management process

In this section the three knowledge areas will be discussed in a GPM context and the ten principles as well as theory on cultural differences will be addressed in the context. Within each step some matters should be taken into account when the team members and other stakeholders are geographically dispersed, might have language barriers and different cultural backgrounds.

Project Human Resource Management

Within this knowledge area there is four steps; planning, acquire, develop and manage.

Planning human resources

Defining needed project staffing; roles, responsibilities and capabilities. In a global team it is important to consider where is the needed skills available but also pay attention to how it could have disadvantages off-shoring or outsourcing, due to cultural, language and time difference.

Acquire project team

Acquire the needed team members possibility of forming a virtual team.

Develop team

- When developing a team it is important to pay attention to interpersonal skills such as cultural background etc. As a project manager it is also important to understand own cultural background to find common ground, identify similarities and differences within the team. Understanding team members can be done by assessing the members by using e.g. attitudinal surveys, belbin test, interviews, ability tests etc. These tools can help the project manager when proactively trying to avoid conflicts or understanding how to possibly handle future conflicts. As well it can lead to more efficiency, trust and commitment within the team. - Determine appropriate channel for communication. Maybe some members need training in using a specific communication media or some guiding in language understanding. - Create trust and agreement within the virtual team: As described earlier face-to-face meetings are one of the best ways to create trust and understanding. Having an early meeting enhances the chances of a good group dynamic. Establish ground rules, communication rules and create a common language and common understanding, e.g. a list of important words and their meaning. Aligning roles, tasks and responsibilities for each member. Team building within a virtual team: Forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Making room for informal socialization. - Make a resource calendars to ensure tasks are solved on time, consider time zones and days off (e.g. due to religious holidays or traditions)

Managing project team

As described in the ten principles it is important to keep a rhythm within the virtual team. Keeping the meeting plans ensuring every team member is engaged in the work and takes responsibility. Listen to the members and provide feedback and coaching. Share leadership by giving specific tasks to specific team members. In a virtual team as in every other team conflicts are likely to occur. Some approaches for resolving conflicts can be taken into account.

(REWRITE :) Withdraw/Avoid. Retreating from an actual or potential conflict situation; postponing the issue to be better prepared or to be resolved by others. Smooth/Accommodate. Emphasizing areas of agreement rather than areas of difference; conceding one's position to the needs of others to maintain harmony and relationships. Compromise/Reconcile. Searching for solutions that bring some degree of satisfaction to all parties in order to temporarily or partially resolve the conflict. Force/Direct. Pushing one's viewpoint at the expense of others; offering only win-lose solutions, usually enforced through a power position to resolve an emergency. Collaborate/Problem Solve. Incorporating multiple viewpoints and insights from differing perspectives; requires a cooperative attitude and open dialogue that typically leads to consensus and commitment.

Project communication management

Due to the overlap in the three knowledge areas the part which is already described in project human resource management will not be describe again. In project communication management the focus is on these steps of the process. (MISSING TEXT)

Communication: “Reasons/purposes” of communication: - Control - Motivate - Emotional expression: satisfaction, disappointment, joking etc. - Information Communication process model Noises: filtering, selection perception, information overload, emotions, language, silence, communication apprehension, lying, non-verbal interaction,

Communication Objective: General: goal, Action; plan, communication; focus on result Style of communication: Tell Sell, Consult, Join Credibility: Initial credibility, acquired credibility: Rank, Goodwill, Common Ground,

Who is the Audience? Primary, secondary or key audience? Knowledge and expect, Think about: gender, age, culture, academic etc. How to persuade audience?

Message strategy: Remember; beginning and end of the message. Wrap up and repeat conclusion. Visualization

Connecting to audience, E.g. use stories: Time of story? Point of story? Invoking classic themes?

Project stakeholder management

Like in the previous section some aspects has already been described earlier and to get the full picture the previous two sections should be read. In project stakeholder management these steps are a part of the process. (MISSING TEXT)

Deal with: - Identify own culture - Respect, fairness and democracy - Learn culture, common ground - Doubt, Listen - State facts, not your interpretation - Consider the other persons viewpoint - Proactively maintain identity of the group

Annotated bibliography