1.7 Learning review

Geographical dispersion: 2

Even though the team all works in Brazil, we should keep in mind that this country (including its offshore islands) is spread within 4 different time zones. Also, given the sales team might not often come into the headquarters to learn about new developments here, we might want to take the gross difference of environment of the different team members into account. Thus, the Geographical dispersion of the team should be considered, but might not be the largest challenge in this case.

Competencies needed:
We would have to keep in mind which regions in Brazil the team is working from, and thus how to deal with possible different time zones.

Electronic dependence: 3

Given the information in this case, we might expect the highest rate of challenge here. Which challenges of electronic dependence do we expect?

The sales representatives ordered the system, which means the IT department is likely dependent on their constant input. This is being made difficult by the fact that those representatives are constantly on the road, which make face-to-face meetings rarely an option. The need for virtual communication is thus high.

As many customers and thus the sales people are located in remote areas, the network connection seems to pose a challenge. Internet is as unreliable as phone coverage. This makes it difficult to spontaneously ask questions when they arise from both sides. It also makes it difficult to use visual contact for team conferences, limiting the format more often to audio-based conversation. The low bandwith also enforces more communication via Email or file sharing platforms like clouds. Sending large amount of data might also prove to be difficult with slow connections.

Another challenge here is the diversity of IT-knowledge, which means not everyone in the team might be aware on how to use e.g. cloud software right away. The IT-Team would need to make sure everyone is on the same knowledge level where it is needed.

The members of this project team also use different soft- and hardware platforms. Software like videochat or cloud platforms might have certain technical requirements that not everyone in the team meets. Even certain documents might look different depending on the software version, which might lead to misunderstandings in the collaboration.

Competencies needed:

As the need for communication in this case is high, and only possible on virtual basis, we need to ensure that following factors are kept in mind when choosing a strategy:

What are the communication needs of the team? What needs to communicate what at what time? How is the reporting and decision making flow?

Based on this, we need to come up with a technical platform that is as low-tech as possible, but still serves the communication needs. One example could be to design a well-structured cloud, in which to collect all needed information. It would enable to the team members to access the information on their own terms, instead of being overly dependent on synchronous methods like phone or video conferences.

The third step would be to make sure every team member has the needed hard- and software as well as the training needed for this particular virtual team collaboration.

Level of diversity of team members: 2

In this given case, we do not find any explicit mention of a high level of diversity. The majority of the team members have been working for the same company for a longer time, all speak the same language. Also, the team most likely grew up in the same country. However, even in a case like this, which shows many common areas, we should not forget that a high diversity is still possible.

We do not know anything about the age structure of the team members. People of different generations might have different perspectives on teamwork or project goals. Some of this team members might also have children, which might lead to a different focus on works-life balance. Of course, the individuals will likely also have their own personalities and strengths, which also might lead to a different preference in communication styles or work processes.

We see that even in a superficially homogeneous team as the one presented in this case, high level of diversity is generally possible. Since there should always be a higher awareness in this area, we would position this point on the level 2. We will discuss the details of possible diverse backgrounds of individual team members in session 4: Team roles.

Competencies needed:
One way to deal with a possibly hidden diversity in the team is with an anonymous survey, e.g. to ask about expectations, goals and feedback for the process so far. It could make possible differences within the team more transparent, and would enable the project leaders to deal with them.

Flexibility of structural arrangements: 1

Given the fact that the described team members in this case have all been working for the company for many years, and no turnover of staff is being projected, we can assume a rather low challenge in this area.

Competencies needed:
If a turnover within the team should arise, it would be important to put effort in a proper on-boarding on the milestones and decisions made so far.

Safety of communication climate: 2

The case does not explicitly state larger challenges here, like e.g. emotional conflicts between the team members or a gross difference of goals within this project. As with the point of "Diversity of team members" though, it is always important to have a focus on possible upcoming challenges here, as well as making sure that the atmosphere within the team stays positive.

Competencies needed:
Based on a possible survey on point 3, the team leaders could present the results in a proper way, and could discuss or present a possible way to deal with different expectations and goals within the team. Also a feedback cycle could be designed to ensure that possible challenges are also being addressed on time in the future. Lastly, it is important for the communication climate not only to discuss challenges, but also to celebrate successes. When particular sales representatives are back in the headquarters for some time, it could be a good idea to take some time to bond with these people, based on the individual needs.

Geographical dispersion: 3

This dimension is certainly highly challenging in our case. The team consists of members of 8 countries spanning 5 continents, which will make dealing with different time zones challenging.

Competencies needed:
It will be important to find ways to incorporate these different times into deadlines or conferences of any kind. Also, we should consider how to get as much work done as possible in an asynchronous matter- which means with people working on the project on their own times, and without e.g. daily conferences.

Electronic dependence: 2

The Electronic dependence could be rated with a 2. On the one hand, the technical environment seems to be conducive of virtual work: The team shares the same hard- and software platforms and is trained to used them. On the other hand: Because the entire team is spread around the world, it will be difficult for the team members to meet each other face to face to work on this project. The team will have to depend heavily on electronic communication.

Competencies needed:
Given that the technical platforms and training seem to be in place for our case, our project leaders will have to ensure that they are using the right tools and methods to accommodate for the variety of geographical and other backgrounds (see later challenges)

Level of diversity of team members: 3

This is clearly another big challenge for our team. From the fact given in our case, we have a high level of diversity amongst our 15 project team members. Here are some examples of the types of diversity we are presented with:

a) The team consists of members of different functions and hierarchies.

The different hierarchies in this case might mean that there are different interests to bring together. Some of the managers might be able to prioritize the work for this project themselves, whereas some specialists might have to coordinate their work for this project for example for some other urgent work for their supervisors.

b) Members of the team are based on 5 different continents, and might be used to other ways of work.

For people in some countries, it might be very normal to conduct phone conferences at night, in order to accommodate for other time zones, whereas this might be highly unusual in other areas. Some of the team members also might be used to different styles of leadership, based on the socialization in their countries. As deadlines in some areas of the world are considered to be fixed, they might be in constant negotiation in other places, due to the general dynamic nature of their work environments. All of these different expectations need to be aligned in order to avoid misunderstandings within the team.

c) The project team comes from different departments.

The engineers within the team might also be used to a different set of communication than the marketing people. Of course, the different departments might also have different interests or working speeds that need to be aligned. While Sales might look into the costs of the final product, the engineers within Research and Development might rather look for a perfect function and design of the final product.

d) Other diversity backgrounds not mentioned:

In paragraph b, we discussed that team members might have different work preferences due to their different cultural backgrounds. Of course, all of these different preferences might also be attributed to different personalities. One team member might come from a place where it is generally unusual to work after office hours, or on vacations, but might personally not have a problem with it. Another one might come from a region where late work is expected, but see this as a challenge because he has a baby a home demanding attention at night. All of this diversity concerning the personality or situation of the individual team members might influence their performance.

Competencies needed:
We can see that the explicitly as well as implicitly mentioned diversity in this case is highly challenging. To communicate and bridge these differences will be highly important for the success of this project. One tool we can use here will be introduced in the chapter MBI: How to Map, Bridge and Integrate diversities. We will also discuss this topic further in the chapter on roles and expectations. It is important for the project leader and team members that we need to create a culture where the diversity in this team is being appreciated, and seen as a resource rather than only a challenge.

Flexibility of structural arrangements: 3

We can see that there is a high turnover of staff, which means that new team members need to be constantly “on-boarded”: They need to know and be aligned about former agreements made. They also need to be constantly informed about the general status quo of the project.

Competencies needed:
Given the indication of the past, we can assume that the high turnover within this project might continue. It will be important to install a proper knowledge management system, which includes good documentations on the most important steps to date. It is not enough to assume that “everyone is on board”, but we need to ensure that this will also happen for the future. The project managers might want to install mentors, who are direct contact persons for new members, as well as a good documentation platform that installs all previous agreements and milestones so far.

Safety of communication climate: 3

Even though we did not gain much information on the communication climate, we can see from Maryam's perspective of the case that differences in working styles already emerged. Given the high diversity of the team, as well as the high turnover rate, we can assume that these factors might have a strong impact on the communication climate. The project leaders will thus need to ensure the individual communication needs, based on their respective diversity, is being met.