Building Effective Global Teams

Building Effective Global Teams by Imaad Mahfooz | Human Resource Executive Online   Managing in today's complex world has been made even more challenging due to global unrest and continuing economic uncertainty. In building and aligning successful cross-functional and multicultural teams on global projects, senior-level HR leaders must take a custom-tailored and nuanced approach.   The ongoing social and political upheaval presently underway in the Middle East is beginning to have an impact on the global economy. Since January of this year, when demonstrations began in Egypt, oil prices have been steadily increasing in worldwide markets.   That turbulence adds to the previous three years, which have brought unprecedented change to the global economy. Anxious and troubled capital markets, rising energy and raw material prices and sharp declines in land, housing and fixed-asset values all indicate the importance of multinational organizations utilizing the key factor of production (their human resources) that they are perhaps best able to manage.   In addition, sweeping changes in new business models, powerful multinational companies from emerging markets and changes in employee demographics and workforce mobility are prompting senior HR executives to deal with some very pressing concerns. These include global abundance with locally scarce talent, an aging workforce, rising demand for new skill sets, more diverse and distributed workforces and flexible-work arrangements.   Together, these developments are creating workforces and work environments that are as diverse and geographically dispersed as the businesses themselves. For senior HR executives of international companies, this transformation of business and human resources presents new challenges when:   a) Building a cross-functional and multicultural team for a critical global project;   b) Aligning cross-functional teams in a time-challenged M&A or restructuring environment; and/or   c) Improving organizational team effectiveness for high-priority, enterprise-level global initiatives, such as business transformation and ERP implementation.   These situations present important business challenges to senior HR and C-level executives of organizations involved in managing cross-functional and multicultural global teams that must work together to achieve organizational objectives.   Fortunately, there are some proven best practices that can assist HR leadership in building top-notch, cross-functional global teams.   Well-calibrated and trained teams comprised of local and expatriate resources with a shared vision and purpose can generate short-, mid- and long-term competitive advantages for senior HR executives looking to improve corporate performance, while strengthening their human resources capabilities.   A Nuanced Approach   Cross-functional global projects in business and technology are especially in need of a nuanced and custom-tailored approach, since managing cross-functional and multicultural teams in disparate locations presents unique business and social challenges. Our experience shows that managing and aligning a global team operating in Mexico, the Netherlands and the United States, for example, is quite different than managing one based primarily in the United States.   A cross-functional team can be defined as a group of employees from different functions within an organization, such as human resources, information technology, marketing and finance, who are all focusing on a specific objective and have the responsibility to work as a team to achieve desired goals.   Multicultural teams, on the other hand, are made up of people from different social and professional cultures who work together for a common goal. Managing cross-functional teams is a complex endeavor by itself, but it becomes even more challenging when the multicultural component is added to the mix.   In addition to sorting through cross-functional challenges, intercultural differences can present serious obstacles to teams charged with achieving international results. In fact, in today's global and knowledge-oriented environment, the alignment and utilization of human resources is just as important as raw materials, production and marketing.   Food is a personal passion of mine, and I see parallels between preparing an elaborate meal and pulling together a cohesive team to accomplish important business initiatives. Just as a capable chef is able to combine different ingredients and resources into a memorable meal, today's senior HR executives must harness the power of tangible and intangible resources and disparate functions to achieve desired business objectives.   At one global manufacturing organization operating in North America, plans were made to move production and sourcing of select products from Poland to China, but tight timelines and difficulties in collaboration on the three continents resulted in quality-control issues and cost over-runs.   A project-performance assessment pointed to problems with people issues -- such as cross-cultural communication and timely follow-up on production deadlines -- that were making matters worse.   In response, HR leadership identified within the organization a manager with international experience who was then trained in cross-cultural team-building concepts.   In recognizing the different communication and team-behavior styles of teams operating in North America, Poland and China, a cohesive "one team, one company" strategy was implemented. By determining areas of expertise necessary for different portions of the project, tasks and related timelines were distributed accordingly, with each regional team sharing responsibility for their piece of the project, with the result that the $42 million project was completed on budget.   Managing cross-functional global projects can be even more difficult in business environments coping with organizational change, business and technology transformation, mergers and acquisitions, or when integrating different systems and organizations.   Add time pressure and the situation becomes even more complex, such as the situation faced by a global energy company, which had acquired another worldwide company as part of a complex merger.   The two companies had different ERP systems and different HR procedures, which had to be reviewed and sorted out in a compressed time frame; this major corporate transition required that years of deployment decisions be made in a matter of weeks.   The larger company had spent decades building firm-specific human capital -- bringing people in at lower levels and promoting them from within -- while the smaller company had a more open-door policy for employees. Somehow, crucial human resources and payroll components from both companies had to be integrated, while one ERP solution had to be selected that could help align people, processes and technology in achieving organizational goals.   A joint steering committee of managers from both organizations was put into place by senior HR and technology executives to identify crucial processes required for the merger and to select the ERP platform best able to sustain them.   Using a rapid and succinct project-goal-alignment process, the steering committee identified key HR-process value drivers relating to talent management, succession planning and payroll, and aligned critical HR and ERP interdependencies. A new SAP ERP-oriented HR payroll mechanism was installed, which streamlined the payroll function across the organization, while lowering HR man hours through process automation and self-service.   In working together toward a common goal, the steering committee was able to improve the HR function, align it with technology and redeploy the HR workforce.   When chief human resource officers are faced with such challenges, it's important to create teams with a common sense of purpose and a shared commitment to action that can generate desired results, while also cultivating future leaders within the organization. Successful team building requires strategic and holistic talent utilization as well as a shared vision for achieving desired business and project goals. In my experience in managing and aligning on-site and off-site teams on various global HR and business-transformation projects, I have found the following six factors to be the key components for building cross-functional and multicultural global teams:   1. Agreement on project goals, project plan and project scope definition. It is advisable to have the company, management, team and project manager agree on a clear understanding of project goals, including outlining the business objectives, setting a time frame in which they are to be accomplished, and spelling out why they are necessary.   The scope of this understanding -- including requirements and specification -- should be encapsulated in a project plan so the team can measure progress during the project. The plan should include both a cohesive description of the overall strategy as well as sufficient details to show clear tactical responsibilities and specific accomplishments.   A controlled project scope ensures there are clear agreements on the project's objectives. Any proposed changes should be carefully evaluated for their impact on cost and schedule, and all relevant changes should be approved before work is started on them.   2. Review of team composition and working styles. An assessment should be conducted on team composition (different corporate functions represented) and how members interact, process information, make decisions and organize themselves, in order to optimize cross-functional expertise and determine individual preferences in working together.   It is sensible to consider the following when building global team initiatives:   a) Enterprise-level initiatives such as business transformation and ERP require the calibration of cross-functional components (e.g. HR, finance, procurement, IT, etc.).   b) The use of human resource outsourcing, shared-services centers and offshore workforces is expanding significantly to include small and mid-sized organizations. These mechanisms will likely grow as globalization continues throughout the world.   c) A significant portion of recent globalization of the labor force has been enabled by Internet technology and driven by the desire to control costs.   d) Previously, a large number of traditional multinational companies and new international players have operated with double standards regarding workforces in the developed and developing world.   e) Fast-changing economic power and global demographics are prompting growing economic powers, such as China and India, to re-examine HR procedures in order to compete globally.   f) Improving standards of living and education in emerging countries, coupled with new technology tools facilitating mobile and virtual workforces, are prompting a reassessment of the old expatriate-focused model for managing global projects.   3. Team cohesion. Once the review of team working styles is complete, it is advisable to design a "team map." This can be done by examining the team's different functional strengths and weaknesses in performing the top three to four tasks needed for producing the desired end-product or solution.   This valuable exercise identifies individual work preferences, promotes unity of vision and purpose, enhances cross-functional team alignment and fosters a sense of teamwork focused on common goals.   When faced with project log-jams, it is better for HR leaders to avoid intervening directly with the team. In instances when direct involvement is needed, it is better to have minimal involvement with day-to-day team functions, as inordinate involvement can prevent team members from solving problems themselves and learning from that process.   A more prudent approach involves encouraging team members to adapt to each other's work styles by acknowledging cultural differences and working accordingly. If there are still issues, members can be counseled and/or reassigned to reduce interpersonal friction.   4. Cross-functional and multicultural communication issues. Managing cross-functional and multicultural teams requires keen insight and planning, as cultural differences can aggravate issues when it comes to team performance. The following cultural components can lead to potential conflicts and reduced performance:   a) Direct and indirect communication: Some team members (e.g. from the United States, United Kingdom and Germany) use direct, explicit communication in asking questions and identifying problems, while others (e.g., from China, Japan and Malaysia) are indirect in asking and responding.   b) Language fluency and speaking accents: Members who are not fluent in the team's dominant language may have difficulty communicating their knowledge. This can prevent the team from using that person's expertise, creating frustration or perceptions of incompetence.   c) Dissimilar hierarchical attitudes: Team members from strong hierarchical cultures, such as Japan, expect to be treated differently, according to their status in the organization. Members from egalitarian cultures, such as the United States and UK, do not. The failure of some members to honor those expectations can cause humiliation or loss of stature and credibility, which can affect overall project performance.   d) Contradictory decision-making styles: Members differ in how quickly they make decisions and in how much analysis they require beforehand. In some cultures, a seat-of-the-pants approach may be seen as being proactive, while it may be viewed as rash and ill-thought-out in other cultures. Someone who prefers making decisions quickly may grow frustrated with those who need more time.   5. Acceptable behavior. Once the team has defined and agreed upon new, non-negotiable behaviors for the team, this information can be documented for future behavioral reference and application.   6. Management support. Despite their best intentions, global project teams and project managers do not always have enough authority to make all the decisions necessary to accomplish project goals. This is where timely and substantive support from senior executives can make a huge difference in a project's results. Timely decisions and sufficient resources are two very important examples of key management support.   With cooperative, involved management from senior HR executives, global teams can gain the knowledge and confidence to collaborate effectively within a new environment through the self-creation of shared and actionable project plans.   Even while managing in a complex global environment, HR executives can help their organizations prosper by understanding the importance of best practices in forming and utilizing global teams.   This can be a win-win strategy in two important ways. First, the organization benefits by successful on-going business operations and timely, cost-conscious completion of projects. Secondly, potential new leaders can be identified from within the organization.     [About the Author: Imaad Mahfooz is the managing principal of Chronos Consulting, an organization focused on significantly improving client's business results in the areas of HR transformation, global team and talent management and shared services implementation, especially in conjunction with SAP & Oracle ERP projects. He has worked in management positions for global blue-chip companies and consultancies, and has extensive experience in managing cross-functional, multicultural global teams on complex business/IT projects.]