© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Dr. Arv Malhotra The Kenan-Flagler Business School The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill SIM WISCONSIN CHAPTER Leading, Leveraging & Managing Far-Flung Teams

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Agenda for the Talk  Examples of Far-Flung Teams  Technology-Use Practices of Far-Flung Teams  Leading Far-Flung Teams  Managing Far-Flung Team Process

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Example: Telecom Infrastructure Provider AIM: Global Demand and Supply Planning Leading Customer Germany Component Supplier Germany Global Logistics Group Oklahoma Production Ohio Corporate HQ NJ

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Example: Wireless Devices Manufacturer AIM: Test New Products (Pre-Launch) in Global Market Marketing Group Brazil Hong Kong Marketing Group Hong Kong Marketing Group U.K. Design Engineering Group Texas

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Design Engineering Group Customer’s New Market Mexico Brazil Customer’s Main Office U.K. Design Engineering Group Germany Customer’s Main Office U.S. Design Engineering Group U.S. Example: Automotive Engine Manufacturer AIM: Design New Engine for a New Market for the customer

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Example: Electronics Manufacturer AIM: Develop a Global Standard Processes for the Co. Tokyo Bangalore Italy Berlin Cambridge Boston Montreal U.S. West

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 SAME LOCATION REGIONALLY DISTRIBUTED GLOBALLY DISTRIBUTED SAME FUNCTION SAME COMPANY VALUE CHAIN GEOGRAPHIC SCOPE TEAMS VIRTUAL TEAMS VIRTUAL TEAMS FAR-FLUNG TEAMS FACE to FACE PURELY VIRTUAL Far-Flung Teams: Virtual Teams Version 10.0 MEMBERSHIP

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Communications challenged  “Communications challenged”  most work/interaction through electronic media  different kind of discipline needed Culturally challenged  “Culturally challenged”  different countries, functions, companies Task challenged  “Task challenged”  uncertainty in content of outcomes,  uncertainty in processes,  tough to coordinate because of team size, # languages, # time zones Challenges of Far-Flung Teams

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Far-Flung Teams: The Key Benefits  If working in a far-flung “virtual” mode is so challenging then why do it?

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Far-Flung Teams: Top 5 Objectives

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Technology Enabling Far-Flung Teams: Points to Ponder Technology Enabling Far-Flung Teams: Points to Ponder is Be All End All Rest is Just Fancy Shmancy is Be All End All Rest is Just Fancy Shmancy Things Could Be a Whole Lot Better with Video-Conferencing Things Could Be a Whole Lot Better with Video-Conferencing One or two “ all team ” audio-conference sessions are more than enough Face-to-face meetings are required for brainstorming

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Instant Messaging Electronic Discussion Threads Team Knowledge Repository Meeting Scheduler Templates Web Conferencing Audio Conferencing Virtual Work Space Virtual Work Space Synchronous Interactions Synchronous Interactions Asynchronous Interactions Asynchronous Interactions Project Scheduling Tool Simulating Reality: Building a “Virtual Workspace” Simulating Reality: Building a “Virtual Workspace”

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Technology-In-Use in Far-Flung Teams % teams using the technology

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Technology Enabling Far-Flung Teams: Best Practices Technology Enabling Far-Flung Teams: Best Practices is Be All End All Rest is Just Fancy Shmancy is Be All End All Rest is Just Fancy Shmancy One or two “ all team ” audio-conference sessions are more than enough Most successful far-flung teams banned use of for team communications Most successful far-flung teams banned use of for team communications Audio-conferencing is the lifeblood of all highly successful far-flung teams Audio-conferencing is the lifeblood of all highly successful far-flung teams (SLICE Boeing-Rocketdyne had 74 sessions in 9 months )

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Technology Enabling Far-Flung Teams: Best Practices Technology Enabling Far-Flung Teams: Best Practices Things Could Be a Whole Lot Better with Video-Conferencing Things Could Be a Whole Lot Better with Video-Conferencing Face-to-face meetings are required for brainstorming Teams found web-conferencing (audio + application sharing more useful) Teams found web-conferencing (audio + application sharing more useful) Far-flung team found electronic brainstorming (if done correctly) much more productive Far-flung team found electronic brainstorming (if done correctly) much more productive

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Activities PreStartDuringEndBetween Review discussion items to focus on disagree- ment Assign agenda items Rotate meeting facilitation Refocus on timelines & progress tracking Review discussion items to focus on disagree- ment Assign agenda items Rotate meeting facilitation Refocus on timelines & progress tracking Create feeling of team as a social entity Create feeling of team as a social entity Keep everyone engaged Check-in through voting, IM Application sharing & verbal discussion CONVERGE Keep everyone engaged Check-in through voting, IM Application sharing & verbal discussion CONVERGE Clear allocation of action items Meeting minutes posted rapidly Clear allocation of action items Meeting minutes posted rapidly Visibly ensure follow- up with discussion threads Update timeline & progress tracking Visibly ensure follow- up with discussion threads Update timeline & progress tracking Running Audio-conference Meetings as Managed Events Running Audio-conference Meetings as Managed Events

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 ENTHUSIASM LEVEL TEAM LIFECYCLE Audio-conference Meetings: Letting the Lifecycle Guide Frequency & Content Audio-conference Meetings: Letting the Lifecycle Guide Frequency & Content Zone 1: Building Team Spirit Medium Frequency Zone 2: Conflict Resolution High Frequency Zone 3: Converging Ideas Low to Medium Frequency

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005  Know who contributed a piece of knowledge 11 Key Capabilities of Far-Flung Team’s Knowledgebase 11 Key Capabilities of Far-Flung Team’s Knowledgebase  Find specific entries contributed by specific individuals  Identify historical connection between entries  Link external sources of knowledge to team’s knowledgebase  Find summary as well as detailed information  Link notes, multimedia info. and documents in the knowledgebase  Contains information about decision rationales that can be revisited  Attached keywords to the entries for later retrieval  View multiple entries simultaneously for comparison  Inform team about changes to the knowledgebase  Easily be able to change the identifiers on entries as knowledge evolves SOURCE: Majchrzak, Malhotra & John, 2005, Information Systems Research 16:1

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Teams that used it swore by it Why they loved it  Immediacy: expertise at hand  Team visibility  Water cooler  Backchannel communications during meetings (the Blackberry effect) Downside: security & loss of discussion content Instant Messaging: A Technology Tool Whose Time Has Come Instant Messaging: A Technology Tool Whose Time Has Come

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 COORDINATION COLLABORATION COORDINATIONCOLLABORATION “The wrong approach” “The successful far-flung way” “making coordination embedded” “making collaboration easier” The “Virtual Workspace” Philosophy

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Leading a far-flung team is all about finding the right people to work on the team Leading a far-flung team is all about finding the right people to work on the team Leading Far-Flung Teams: Point to Ponder Leading Far-Flung Teams: Point to Ponder … so what are the characteristics of an ideal far-flung team member?

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Broad Process Awareness Deep Functional Expertise An Ideal Far-Flung Team Member

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Cultural and functional sensitivity  Ability to pick up subtle non-visual cues Rich functional & geographical experiences Excellent verbal communicator Multi-tasker Technology savvy High ambiguity tolerant Willingness to make personal sacrifices An Ideal Far-Flung Team Member

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Far-flung team leadership means “ hands-off ” leadership … Let the team manage itself Far-flung team leadership means “ hands-off ” leadership … Let the team manage itself Leading Far-Flung Teams: Points to Ponder Leading Far-Flung Teams: Points to Ponder

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 An effective far-flung team leader leads by …  … walking the virtual hallways  frequent one-on-one check-ins  one-on-one mentor discussions  … establishing communication norms  closely monitor that norms are being followed  be flexible to change the norms that are not working  … motivating others through inclusion  ensure all members are contributing & being heard Leading Far-Flung Teams: Communication Intensive Style Leading Far-Flung Teams: Communication Intensive Style

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005  Virtual meetings facilitator  Team knowledge manager  Agenda maker and minutes taker  Rolodexer  Electronic discussion maintainer  Team progress (schedule) tracker  External presenter (written & verbal) Far-Flung Team Leadership: A Distributed Leadership Style Far-Flung Team Leadership: A Distributed Leadership Style

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Cognitive Diversity Behavioral Diversity Peak Performance Source: Majchrzak, Malhotra, et al., “Can Absence Make a Team Grow Stronger?” Harvard Business Review, May 2004 Leading by Simultaneously Encouraging and Controlling Diversity Leading by Simultaneously Encouraging and Controlling Diversity

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 He who talks the most, leads the least. Leading is being an active listener and passive controller Defining Far-Flung Team Leadership

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 TRUST in traditional settings TRUST in traditional settings EXPERTISE BASED EXPERTISE BASED SOCIAL CUES BASED SOCIAL CUES BASED Trust in Traditional Teams

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 SOCIAL CUES BASED SOCIAL CUES BASED EXPERTISE BASED EXPERTISE BASED SWIFT TRUST in far-flung teams SWIFT TRUST in far-flung teams Trust in Far-Flung Teams

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Trust in Far-Flung Teams is built through… Establishing Communication Protocols Early (and being flexible to change)

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Who schedules the virtual meetings (and when)? Who facilitates the meetings & and what is the general expectation from virtual meetings? Who will attend the virtual meetings & what etiquettes will be followed? How agenda for virtual meetings will be developed & distributed? How team meetings’ minutes will taken & distributed? How often (and when) will virtual meetings be scheduled? What are the expectations from team members between virtual team meetings? How will information be shared between team members? How information will be stored & retrieved via the knowledge repository? What information (and how) will be provided to senior execs., business partners, and clients? Who will provide this information (and when)? RELATED TO VIRTUAL TEAM MEETINGS RELATED TO INFORMATION SHARING IN THE TEAM RELATED TO EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION Developing a Far-Flung Team Communication Protocol … Adapted from: Mastering Virtual Teams by D.L. Duarte and N.T. Snyder

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Trust in Far-Flung Teams is built through… Clearly Specified (& Visible) Timelines and Tasks + Individual Accountability

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Sweden India Brazil Argentina SUBTEAM A SUBTEAM B Building Trust: Creating Interdependent Sub-teams Building Trust: Creating Interdependent Sub-teams

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Senior Executive Senior Executive Senior Executive Senior Executive Senior Executive Senior Executive Senior Executive Senior Executive Team Member Team Member Team Member Team Member Team Member Team Member Team Member Team Member Team Leader FAR-FLUNG TEAM STEERING COMMITTEE Functional Expertise A Location A Functional Expertise B Location A Functional Expertise C Location B Functional Expertise D Location C Leading by Making the Virtual Visible

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 OUTPUT PERSPECTIVE OUTPUT PERSPECTIVE INDIVIDUAL DIRECT BENEFITS INDIVIDUAL DIRECT BENEFITS LEARNING & GROWTH PERSPECTIVE LEARNING & GROWTH PERSPECTIVE PROCESS PERSPECTIVE PROCESS PERSPECTIVE Measure of Far-Flung Team Success Measure of Far-Flung Team Success TEAM PERSPECTIVE INDIVIDUAL PERSPECTIVE Measuring Team Success: Using a Balanced Scorecard Perspective Measuring Team Success: Using a Balanced Scorecard Perspective

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 PEOPLE PROCESS TECH. STRUCTURE STRATEGY Corporate policies that support far-flung teams Structuring and leveraging sub-teams Executive stewardship of far-flung teams Picking the people for the team Leadership for far-flung teams Establishing norms to work together Creating common procedures Planning & conducting virtual meetings Using technology for coordination & collaboration Managing technology impact on group processes Chartering far-flung teams Objectives of far-flung teams Framework for Managing Far-Flung Teams

© Malhotra & Majchrzak 2005 Far-Flung teams require a special culture and communication intensive leadership that stresses managing & sharing knowledge by leveraging collaborative technology FINAL THOUGHTS