1. Working With International Project Teams
Presented by: Ernest Ejianreh

2. Understanding the Need for International Project Teams
Market share growth – the proportion of revenue coming from overseas market is expected to jump by an average of 30-50% in the next 3-5 years. This is as a result of our today’s globalized economy.
Labor cost – Ford recently announced the movement of its Focus brand manufacturing plant to China. The company plans to save $1b by going this route.
Non-availability of required skill set – It’s sometimes more cost effective to work with a subject matter expert remotely.
Creative solutions through greater variety of perspectives and ideas.

3. Rise in the success rate of Managing Global Virtual Teams
Year
Study
Outcome
2001
Performance of 70 different virtual work groups by Prof. Vijay and Prof. Gupta
82% fell short of goals
2005
Performance of IT projects outsourced to virtual workgroups by Deloitte
66% fell short of goals
2009
Performance of 80 global software teams by BCG and WHU-otto Beisheim School of Management
Global teams outperforms those that shared same office sapce

4. International Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity is defined as the ethnic, gender, racial and socioeconomic variety in situations, institutions and groups
Managing Culture is as important as managing any technical factor in achieving project objectives
Cultural Intelligence (CQ) is the capability to relate and work effectively with culturally diverse project teams

5. Overcoming Difficulties in Managing International Project Teams
Mindset – Develop a global mindset to see global opportunities
Assumptions - Do not assume things about a particular group or individual, instead take the time to get to know others
Cultural differences - Increase the team’s collective knowledge of the range of cultural differences in the group
Language – Establish conversational rules from the beginning

6. Managing Across International Time Zones
Share the burden of 24/7 across the team
Use as many collaboration tools as you need to and constantly search for better ones
Prioritize asynchronous (everyone-at-their- own-pace) communication, including , Hackpad and others.
Meet in smaller groups
Pay particular attention to team members outside the room
Invest in travels to build team cohesion, especially at various touch points during the project lifecycle

7. Unique Communication Tips
Learn the language of the majority of the project team member when applicable
Acknowledge differences in accents and encourage team members to be mindful of them
Be an active listener
Remind team members to use straight forward language and speak clearly. Avoid use of slangs, idioms and words with multiple meanings
Be sensitive to non-verbal communication
Understand your team members’ high or low context background and adjust accordingly

9. Non-Verbal Communication
Be versed in a culture’s nonverbal expressions, such as touching, bowing, personal gestures and the display of emotions
Keep in mind that there exist no nonverbal expression that have the same meaning all over the world, not even a smile
Limit hand gestures and maintain a moderate body posture
Do not interpret absence of disagreement as agreement

10. Meetings with International Project Teams
Requires more formality, structure and preparation
The meeting organizer should get the agenda right well in advance and send to all participants to aid their preparations
The person chairing the meeting should encourage comments from all participants
Be comfortable with delays caused by technical hitches

11. Bringing an International Team Together
The Right Team
Team composition should be your starting point. You won’t get anywhere without hiring (or developing) people suited to international virtual teamwork
Perform behavioral interviews and personality tests to screen candidates for the following qualities;
- Cultural Intelligence (CQ) – awareness and sensitivity to other cultures
- Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
- Good communication skills
- Ability to work independently
- Resilience to deal comfortably with technical hitches

12. The Right Size
Most effective virtual teams are small ones—fewer than 10 people.
According to OnPoint Consulting’s research, of all the virtual teams the firm studied, the worst performers have 13 or more members
Research shows that team members reduce effort when they feel less responsible for output
As groups grow, inclusive communication becomes more challenging
Richard Hackman, a Harvard’s Professor, noted that it takes only 10 conversations for every person on a team of 5 to touch base with everyone else, but rises to 78 for a team of 13
Optimize team’s performance, don’t assemble too many players

13. QUESTIONs

14. Conclusion
Project Managers of tomorrow will need to unite team members of various backgrounds and cultures. Once people understand and improve their CQ, they will be able to work within and lead international project teams.