MENTORING A GLOBAL TEAM

Prepared for Professor Saumyendu Ghosh International Project Management DNSC 6290 The George Washington University

Prepared by Ceyda Alaca Santanu Bhattacharya Mark Vincent, Ph.D. July 3, 2012

Executive Summary
This paper builds on the model pioneered by Tuckman (1965) that sets the foundation for many investigations of groups and teams. Tuckmans four phases of team development - forming, storming, norming, and performing are introduced and examined in the additionally complex

context of international projects. Best practices analyzed from relevant literature are then used to develop and suggest recommendations and solutions for mentoring a team for an international project.

1. Introduction 1.1 The Global economy - what has changed?

It is easy to understand how the global economy has changed by just looking around us. At the same time we might be wearing shoes from Italy, a dress designed in Turkey, drinking French wine, searching for a German car with a Japanese laptop and talking on the phone that is made in China and put together in the US. One of the reasons driving globalization is that all parties involved gain from the process. Another reason is that nations are increasingly interdependent. No nation can be truly self-sufficient without great expense or sacrifice. The United States, for example, is one of the most self-sufficient countries in the world, yet it depends on imports for virtually all of its bauxite, diamonds, coffee, nickel, rubber, bananas, gold, platinum, and more. The global economy emerged in the post-World War II period, from 1944 to the mid-1970s, but it has undergone a fundamental transformation with the technological developments since then. The pace of technological change and innovation has brought the world closer and closer. The world has become smaller and has affected trade, finance, production and communications. Clearly international projects and international project teams will become a standard mechanism.

1.2 The Value of Coaching and Mentoring Teams for Global Projects
As globalization brought people together and required them to work together across time zones and cultures, coaching teams became a challenge and a must. Achieving such goals becomes even more challenging when team members do not share the same culture, and have different values, or expectations. Low cohesiveness and poor talent management may lead to demotivation, conflicts, frustration, and even power struggles that can seriously undermine the teams effectiveness. One of the values of mentoring a team is the increased team spirit and cohesiveness, by learning the dynamics of team development, and how to access and manage the resources and the individual talents available within their team. Also the communication among the team members enhances by learning to listen actively and try to understand every parties perspectives with respect. It also teaches members not to re-act issues with uncomfortable statements and be open to explore new solutions. It also helps with building trust and increase cooperation. At the end the team performance increases.

In 1965 Tuckman (1965) pioneered a model for group development that sets the foundation for many investigations. His landmark work defines the four key phases of group development as:

forming storming norming, and performing The remainder of this paper will introduce these phases with a focus on additional challenges encountered by teams in a international project management context such as our project. From these additional challenges a set of recommendations for improvements for mentoring international teams will be proposed.

1.3 Assumptions
To frame this discussion we assume that our company is based in the U.S. and we are in the Information Technology (IT) industry. The team members are located in the the U.S. (Washington D.C.) , China (Beijing) , and Luxembourg.

2.0 Descriptions and International Challenges of the Phases 2.1 Forming

Description The first phase of team development identified by Tuckman (1965) is forming, and is characterized by initial orientation, testing, and exploring relationships with leaders, other group members, and preexisting standards. International Issues Complexities that may arise in an international project setting stem could arise from failure to conduct a clear project launch, lack of a formal project team with a Terms of Reference (TOR), and vague or conflicting chain of command structures.

2.2 Storming
Description

The second phase of team development is storming, which is often the most emotional phase and can be characterized by conflict, polarization, resistance to group influence and task requirements Tuckman (1965). During this phase team members often feel overwhelmed by the tasks ahead but also stressed or impatient with the lack of early progress. Distrust is often typical and is evidenced by lack of team cohesion. International Issues In an international project team setting, this already difficult phase is even more of a problem. For example, (Daft, Kendrick, and Vershinina, 2008), noted the significant cultural differences that could clearly complicate the dynamics of the storming phase. These include aspects of Hofstedes Value Dimensions or the expanded Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE). Additional international barriers in this phase include differences in humanistic attitude and ethocentrism. Professor Geert Hofstede conducted one of the most comprehensive studies of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture. (Hofstede, 2012) Table 1 below shows the cultural differences among United States, Luxembourg and China. By looking at the scores we clearly see the U.S. is the most individualistic country and scored relatively low on the power distance and uncertainty. Almost opposite of the U.S., the Chinese are collectivist, hierarchy is important and do not like to take risk much. Luxembourgers are somewhat individualistic but not as much as the U.S. and they are Masculine at work where the best will win, but Feminine in social affairs, like caring for others and great sense of community. Table 1. Selected Hofstede Dimensions for United States, Luxembourg and China H o f s t e d e D i m e n U n it e d S t a t e s L u x e m b o u r g C h i n a

si o n s P 4 4 8 D 0 0 0 I: P o w e r D is t a n c e I 9 6 2 N 1 0 0 V : I n d i v i d u a li s m

M 6 5 6 A 2 0 6 S : M a s c u li n it y / F e m i n i n it y U 4 7 3 A 6 0 0 I: U n c e r t a i n t y

A v o i d a n c e L 2 N 1 T 9 o 1 O t 8 : a L v o a n il g a t b e l r e m a t o t ri h e is n ti t m a e ti o n

2.3 Norming
Description

In the third phase of Tuckmans (1965) model, a true sense and identity of team cohesion begins. During the norming phase, team members typically begin to agree upon the team objectives and goals. In addition, the previous competitive, territorial, or even hostile behavior of the storming phase is reduced. International Issues However, potential advancements of this phase are met with other barriers in international projects. For example, differing linguistic standards can reduce team cohesion and communication.

2.4 Performing
Description In the performing phase of Tuckmans model, the teams sense of identity continues to increase and the roles, responsibilities, strengths, and weakness of each member is realized. The team ground rules and procedures become fully established and accepted.The focus of the group becomes aligned with the project goals and tasks. The roles of the team become flexible and functional (Tuckman, 1965). International Issues Even established rules and procedures will have challenges in an international project management setting. For example, the project setting we have identified spans significant time zone differences from Washington D.C. (Luxembourg, +6 hours; China, +12 hours with DST or +13 hours non DST)

3.0 Solutions and Recommendations

From an understanding of the team development phases and the additional complexities posed in an international project management environment, best practices for mentoring international teams can be developed. In order to achieve optimal performance and communication standards across teams located in different geographic regions it is important to understand cognitive styles, value systems, and negotiation strategies in different cultures (Morrison and Conaway, 2006). Management must recognize the importance of mutual trust

building between various contributors in the global team. Several key recommended best practices include: 1) A recommended best practice would be to bring the whole team together at the start, end, and other pivotal points during various projects (if budget permits). Use these periods of working in the same place to not only build shared understanding of the problem domain but also working relationships within the team. Expect to have people travel a couple of weeks every other month in order to maintain the teams cohesion and become a performing unit faster. 2) This distributed team in the long run must be self-managed. So, when these spatially distributed pieces of specialist work cant be completely black-boxed and they must be integrated. One approach involves building formal channels for coordination. These include assigning integration roles (such as that of a Global Program Manager, GPM) or by locating some employees physically close to others, and opening direct channels of communication to help bridge distances(a.k.a. cross boundary spanning). 3) Incorporating uniform process and quality standards across global teams is critical to the success of distributed teams. This ensures that that people speak the same language (and that doesnt mean English) to augment the efficacy of the communication channels. There has to be some overarching standard that guide every phase of activities. At GE, design engineers from R&D centers around the world collaborate effectively because, as a senior GE Bangalore manager puts it, We all speak the language of Six Sigma. (Kumar and Puranam, 2011). 4) A time zone analysis between proposed locations with this paper (Appendix 1) demonstrates that participants in global team environment must be open to and have appetite for nonstandard working hours for real time communication that may be necessary for the project. So, teams in global environment must also embrace various newer communication mechanisms and new generation of tools for their day to day work such as instant messaging, online collaboration tools in addition to regular channels such as telephone and email. With the understanding of four linear stages (forming, storming, norming, and performing) that this group will go through in its unitary sequence leading to a high performing unit, mentoring will provide awareness of the above best practices in various phases required to understand the team development progression and processes for the team to determine appropriate actions depending on the theme and the needs of the team have at that stage (Storch and Soholm, 2005).

Brief descriptions for the various stages of development and recommended leadership guidance and mentoring in those stages are identified in Table 2. Table 2. Recommended Mentoring Practices for the International Project Teams P h a s e E x p e c t e d P h a s e C h a r a c t e ri s ti c s M e n t o ri n g a n d G u i d a n c e t o t h e I n t e r n a ti o

n a l P r o j e c t T e a m F o r m i n g T h e t e a m is j u s t f o r m e d a t t h I n t r o d u c ti o n o f p a r ti ci p a n t s

is s t a g e . T h e f o ll o w i n g q u e s ti o n s m u s t b e a n s w e

a n d t h e cl a ri fi c a ti o n o f b a si c t e r m s, o b j e c ti v e s, v is

r e d : W h o a r e t h e p a r ti ci p a n t s ? W h a t a r e t h e y g o

i o n a n d v a l u e s. R e c o m m e n d a ti o n s a r e f o r t h e t e

i n g t o d o ? H o w s h a ll t h e y d o it ?

a m ( o r a t l e a s t t h e l o c a ti o n l e a d s ) t o h a v e a t

e a m k ic k o ff a n d a p r o d u c ti v e ic e b r e a k i n g s e s

si o n p r e f e r a b l y u n d e r a g o o d f a ci li t a t o r w h o h

a s p r e v i o u s e x p e ri e n c e o f b u il d i n g i n t e r n a ti o

n a l t e a m . G o a ls a n d T a r g e t s d u ri n g F o r m i n g s t

a g e : O r g a n iz e a t e a m k ic k o ff a n d a p r o d u c ti v e ic

e b r e a k i n g s e s si o n , E s t a b li s h s h a r e d t e a m g

o a ls , b u il d t e a m o b j e c ti v e s t a t e m e n t a n d i d e n

ti f y k e y p e r f o r m a n c e i n d ic a t o r s ( K P I) , E s t a b li

s h cl e a r e s c a l a ti o n p a t h t o a v o i d b u si n e s s d is r u

p ti o n s d u ri n g e a rl y s t a g e . S t o r m i n g C o o r d i n a ti n g , T i m e Z C o n fl ic t r e s o l u ti o n , d

o n e c h a ll e n g e s, l a n g u a g e b a r ri e r a n d d if fi c u lt i e

is s o l u ti o n a n d t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t e a m s p e ci fi

s r e g a r d i n g e s t a b li s h i n g c o m m o n u n d e r s t a n d

c c o m m o n u n d e r s t a n d i n g s o f r o l e s, r o u ti n e s e t

i n g , r o l e s a n d p r o c e d u r e s.

c .

G o a ls a n d T a r g e t s d u ri n g S t o r m i n g s t a g e : D

e fi n e r o l e s a n d r e s p o n si b il it i e s l e a d e r s h i p a

m b i g u it i e s m u s t b e f u ll y r e s o l v e d a t t h is s t a g e

, C o n d u c t a C o a c h d ri v e n M e y e r s B ri g g s s e s si o n a

n d u n d e r s t a n d p e r s o n a li ti e s o f t e a m m e m b e r s.

I d e n ti f y / d e fi n e a n d a d o p t m e t h o d o l o g y , E s t a

b li s h o p e r a ti n g r h y t h m , C o n d u c t d r y r u n s e l e

c t a n o n c ri ti c a l t a s k a n d o n e f u ll s h o r tc y cl e o f d

e li v e r y w it h t h e n e w t e a m I m p a r t c r o s s c u lt u r

a l t r a i n i n g t o t h e t e a m a t e a c h l o c a ti o n , U s e

a p p r o p ri a t e m e d i a ri c h n e s s f o r c o m m u n ic a ti o n ,

v i d e o c o n f e r e n ci n g f o r t e a m m e e ti n g s s h o u l d

b e e n c o u r a g e d ; p u t ti n g a f a c e t o a n a m e m a k e s g

r e a t d if f e r e n c e . N o r m i n g T h e t e a m e s t a b li s h e s a c o m m E n c o u r a g e d e v e l o p m e n t o f t

o n u n d e r s t a n d i n g , r o l e s a n d p r o c e d u r e s t h r

h e t e a m s p e ci fi c c o m m o n u n d e r s t a n d i n g s, r o l e

o u g h s e lf a s s e s s m e n t a n d a g r e e m e n t s. T h e c o m m

s, w o r k i n g , e t c . G o a ls a n d T a r g e t s d u ri n g N o r m

u n it y m u s t b e e s t a b li s h e d a n d t h e i n d i v i d u a l w

i n g s t a g e : R u n r e t r o s p e c ti v e s a t t h e e n d o f fi r

il l a c c o m m o d a t e t h e m s e l v e s.

s t s h o r t o p e r a ti n g c y cl e , C o n d u c t t e a m r e t r o

s p e c ti v e u n d e r a d e si g n a t e d c o a c h , M o n it o r d a

y t o d a y c r o s s b o u n d a r y h a n d o ff p r o c e s s cl

o s e l y , M a k e n e c e s s a r y p r o c e s s a d j u s t m e n t s

t o i n c o r p o r a t e f e e d b a c k f r o m t h e r e t r o s p e

c ti v e s e s si o n , A g r e e o n p e r f o r m a n c e s t a n d a r d

s f o r t h e s t a g e , M a k e n e c e s s a r y p e r s o n n e l c h

a n g e s b a s e d o n fi t m e n t a n d n e c e s si t y , T a k e t h e

fi r s t l a r g e a s si g n m e n t, E s t a b li s h K P I d a s h b o a r

d , B a s e li n e K P Is , A c k n o w l e d g e t e a m s s u c c e s s -

s m a ll o r b i g . P e r f o r m i n g T h e T e a m c a n p ri m a ri l y c o n c e n t r a E n c o u r a g e w o r k p e r f o r m a n c e t h r

t e o n g e t ti n g t h e j o b d o n e i n s t e a d o f p r o c e d u r

o u g h a f o c u s o n e x c e ll e n c e , p o t e n ti a ls , n e w t a

e s, c o o p e r a ti o n a n d o r g a n iz i n g . T h e c o o p e r a ti o

r g e t s, e t c .

G o a ls a n d T a r g e t s d u ri n g N o r m i n g

n w o r k s a n d t h e r e a r e l e s s t a l k a b o u t p r o c e s s

s t a g e : D e p l o y s t e a d y s t a t e c r o s s b o u n d a

a n d s e lf a s s e s s m e n t.

r y s p a n n e r s, R e fi n e ri c h n e s s o f m e d i a f o r d a y t o

d a y t e a m i n t e r a c ti o n , e n a b l e t e c h n o l o g y s u

c h a s i n s t a n t m e s s a g i n g a t t h is s t a g e i n a d d it i

o n t o a s y n c h r o n o u s c o m m u n ic a ti o n m e t h o d s, O p e

r a ti o n a li z e s e lf m a n a g e d R u n R e t r o s p e c tA d

j u s t c y cl e s, T e a m h a s e x e c u t e d fi r s t l a r g e a s

si g n m e n t, T e a m is a b l e t o s e lf m o n it o r t h e T e a m

K P I, R e b a s e li n e s t e a d y s t a t e p e r f o r m a n c e t h

r e s h o l d s.

4.0 Conclusion
Motivated, cohesive, self-managed team = High performance This is derived from the Principle of synergy which says that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A well trained Formula One team - capable of changing tires and filling a gas tank in seconds - achieves more than its members if they were working individually. It is particularly important due to the increasing complexity of running business that requires variety of skills that individuals in U.S. do not possess by themselves in abundance. To achieve success in the highly crowded marketplace, teams need to be well organized, motivated, cohesive, selfmanaged and most importantly globally distributed. Distributed teams in this case is a business necessity; the risk/reward tradeoff is clearly understood by companys management. Companys management is supportive and committed to this move to form a global team. In general, teams working in the physical location take a long time to form, storm, norm before beginning to perform; when distributed in this case, this will take even longer. Distributed teaming is hard and requires more resolve to build and stay on track in the long run. Qualified Global Project Managers will be key enabler in the process and must make sure that the team has well trained and has a clear mandate to coach the team along the way. Establishing a baseline as outlined in this paper for how the teams should function during various group development stages will help, however the team should be encouraged to treat it just a as guidance and adapt it to suit their needs.

5.0 References

Daft, R, Kendrick, M., and Vershinina, N. 2008. Management, International Edition. Cengage Learning EMEA Hofstede, G. 2012. National Culture Dimensions. http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html web site accessed July 2, 2012 Kumar, Nirmalya, and Puranam, Phanish, 2011. Have You Restructured for Global Success? Harvard Business Review. Morrison, K. and Conaway, W., 2006, Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands. Adams Media Company Tuckman, B., 1965. Development sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin 32 (6): 38499 Storch, and Sholm, 2005. Practical team based organization. ISBN: 87-7706-460-7