Managing Global Projects

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Managing Global Projects

• Patrick Corey
• MSE, PMP, CCNP

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Patrick Corey MSE, PMP, CCNP

• With over 15 years of experience in Project
  Management and IT Infrastructure Services,
  Patrick Corey has managed several multi-national
  projects for a global pharmaceutical company and
  a nation-wide, multi-service migration for a
  financial services company headquartered in
  Cincinnati. His background includes a BS degree
  from the University of Notre Dame, MSE in Systems
  Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania,
  Project Management Professional Certification,
  Cisco Certification, as well as Gold Dolphins for
  qualifications as a Submarine Officer in the US
  Navy.

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Education, Certification, Experience

• Education and Certifications
• University of Pennsylvania, 1995 MSE Computer
  and Network Systems
• University of Notre Dame, 1982 BS Mechanical
  Engineering
• Cisco Certified Network Professional, 2003 (CCNP)
• Cisco Certified Network Associate, 2003 (CCNA)
• Project Management Professional, 2003 (PMP)
• Member, Project Management Institute (PMI)
• Experience
• Transatlantic Frame Relay France, UK, US
• Multinational Network Migration to EQUANT North
  America, South America, Europe, East Asia, South
  Africa, Australia
• Multinational Corporate Merger, Hoechst and Rhone
  Poulenc North America, South America, Europe,
  South Asia, East Asia, South Africa, Australia
• Network, Internet, Remote Access, Extranet
  Migration to ATT North America, 10 Separate
  Business Units
• US Submarine Officer and Naval Aviator, Gold
  Dolphins, Carrier Qualified

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Challenges in Global Project Management

• Global Project Management
• Culture
• Language
• Task / Relationship Dimension
• Trust
• Other Challenges
• Virtual Project Team Management
• Communications
• Meetings
• Video vs. Voice vs. Face-to-face
• Loss of Non-verbal Communications
• Loss of Focus

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• Cultures cause members to see reality very
  differently.1

1 Global Teams, Marquardt, Horvath
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• Culture leads us to believe that our way of
  thinking, acting and doing things is the only
  rational way.1

1 Global Teams, Marquardt, Horvath
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Culture Impacts

• Leadership roles and expectations
• Participative
• Hierarchical
• Individualism and groups
• Rights of individuals
• Group oriented
• Communications
• Expressive (style)
• Goal-oriented (accuracy)
• Problem solving
• Linear, break it into chunks
• Holistic

1 Global Teams, Marquardt, Horvath
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Culture Impacts

• Decision making
• Delegated
• Management
• Dealing with disagreement and differences
• Direct (US)
• Indirect (no)
• Perspective on time
• Time is money
• Relationships are more important
• Flexibility and control
• Tolerance of flexibility
• Clear roles
• Motivation
• Competitive
• Cooperative

1 Global Teams, Marquardt, Horvath
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Global Project ManagementCulture Quiz Yourself
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• In which cultures are the following true
• A meeting without a concrete result is a failure.
  
• To question another participant's proposal is to
  question the competence of the person who put it
  forward.
• Any process of open decision-making is an
  illusion. The purpose of the meeting is for
  decision-makers to evaluate the mood of others,
  to sense supporters and to test the waters.
• The meeting is a forum for the dynamic expression
  of strong personal opinions, preferably contrary
  to everyone else's.
• Meetings are for briefing and discussion. They
  are not considered an appropriate forum for
  decision-making or delegation, nor is a clear,
  decisive result anticipated.

4 http//www.global-excellence.com/
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Global Project ManagementCulture Quiz Yourself
4

• A meeting without a concrete result is a failure.
  UK
• To question another participant's proposal is to
  question the competence of the person who put it
  forward. France
• Any process of open decision-making is an
  illusion. The purpose of the meeting is for
  decision-makers to evaluate the mood of others,
  to sense supporters and to test the waters.
  Italy
• The meeting is a forum for the dynamic expression
  of strong personal opinions, preferably contrary
  to everyone else's. Greece
• Meetings are for briefing and discussion. They
  are not considered an appropriate forum for
  decision-making or delegation, nor is a clear,
  decisive result anticipated. Spain

4 http//www.global-excellence.com/
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Global Project ManagementTask / Relationship 3

• Which is more important of the two in any given
  culture?
• The task - getting the job done
• The relationship - building and maintaining the
  personal and professional connection and
  channeling the business through it
• Cultures that give more weight to the task rather
  than the relationship are the Anglo-Saxon
  cultures (Germany - UK - USA - Holland - Austria
  - Canada - Australia - New Zealand - Switzerland
  - South Africa) and the Scandinavians (Norway -
  Sweden - Denmark)
• Task cultures
• less business entertaining
• more focus on job description fulfillment and on
  the use of time in relation to results
• Relationship cultures
• more business entertaining
• more use of strategic socializing and gift-giving
• more focus on ability to create, build and
  maintain business relationships

3 Author Richard Cook first published in
Training Buyer December 1999.
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Culture10 Most Costly Sins When Cultures Clash 2

• You think the world plays by your rules
• You do what you always did in the past
• You take English for granted
• You dont respect the cultural pathways for
  making things happen
• You dont stand in your hosts shoes
• You forget to invest in relationships
• You jump from vision to action (relationship,
  vision, strategy, then action)
• You take the village by storm (You are number
  one customer to us, bye!)
• You select the wrong people
• You forget that your advice is noise in their ear

2 Culture Clash Thomas D. Zweifel, PhD
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Culture Building Multicultural Skills 2

• Guidelines for Global Citizens
• Decoding a Culture
• Global Results Pyramid
• Global Integrator Graph

2 Culture Clash Thomas D. Zweifel, PhD
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Building Multicultural Skills 2

• Guidelines for Global Citizens
• Never take English for granted
• Respect, listen, and be open
• Interact with people as individuals, not as
  culture. Resist the urge to generalize
• Resist the urge to immediately solve the issues
  hearing them is often enough.
• How do you decode a culture?
• Understand the economy, history, geography,
  religions, govt, media, attitude to outsiders,
  education, language, myths
• Understand the ideology and values of the
  founders
• Who are the outcasts
• Identify defining moments, i.e., crisis, wars

2 Culture Clash Thomas D. Zweifel, PhD
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Building Multicultural Skills 2 Global Results
Pyramid
Typical American
2 Culture Clash Thomas D. Zweifel, PhD
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Building Multicultural Skills 2 Global
Integrator Graph
2 Culture Clash Thomas D. Zweifel, PhD
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Global Project Management

• Culture - Whose rules apply?
• Focus on understanding the other culture
• You do not need to concede to them
• They do not need to concede to you
• Draw benefits from the diversity

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Global Project ManagementLanguage

• English is the international business language
• But
• Not all participants have the same fluency in
  English, speaking or understanding.
• What challenges your audience more, speaking or
  understanding?
• When speaking one can limit the words to those
  they are familiar with.
• When listening native-speakers often use
  expanded vocabulary, speak fast, and use
  unfamiliar enunciation.
• Speed and clarity of speech, in meetings and on
  the phone
• Contrast between multi-country projects and those
  with one other non-English speaking country
• Caution on software translators
• Learning the native tongue helps to sooth
  relationship and build trust. Meetings will
  invariably revert to English

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Global Project ManagementLanguage

• Use of slang and idioms 1
• "Se fendre la pêche
• to split one's peach (literal)
• to laugh one's head off (American idiom with same
  meaning)
• Not all countries understand the use of baseball
  and American-football terminology. Use of these
  terms is common in the American business
  environment.
• Blocking and tackling
• Hit a home run, coming in from left field,
  batting a thousand, has two strikes against him,
  and the need to cover all the bases

1 http//www.uwosh.edu/french/idiom.html
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Global Project ManagementTrust

• Why is trust important?
• Project team members invariably have local
  priorities.
• Global projects may not always the highest
  priority -- management is out of sight, out of
  mind.
• Project team members support the project resolve
  the unknown. Global projects have more
  unknown.
• How to build trust?
• Build relationships
• Introductions are required in many cultures.
  Blind calls are often rejected
• Business entertaining
• Face-to-face, one-on-one sessions build trust
• Respect for the culture and LANGUAGE

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Global Project ManagementOther Issues

• Time Zone Impact
• Many meetings will be conducted by phone
• Time zone differences impair the ability to
  conduct unified meetings. (US EU Asia)
• Daylight savings time shift is not universal!
  Sometimes the shift is on a different week and
  some countries do not even shift.
• Most time zones are on the hour, few are on the ½
  hour.
• Vacation
• Plan for vacation in your projects. Dont assume
  all have 2 weeks per year and taking this time
  off is optional
• Some (European) countries take August off! Check
  the local country for their unique environment
• Many cultures allow for 6 weeks vacation
• Not all countries celebrate the 4th of July.
  Consider holidays in other countries

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Global Project Management Other Issues

• Currency
• Currency of the contract can have greater impact
  than the cost of the service
• Originally the contract was signed with a fixed
  currency exchange rate and prices were set in
  French Francs.
• Legal
• Country in which the contract is signed can have
  significant impact on legal rights.
• Select law firms with international experience in
  contracts related to the project.
• Contract length varies significantly from country
  to country. Typical Swiss contract can be 2
  pages.
• Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)

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Managing Global Teams More Effectively 5

• Meet face-to-face at the beginning of the project
• Team development
• Team ownership of the project
• Set goals, develop project plans and define roles
• Meet for a minimum of three days at beginning of
  project
• Take the time needed to build relationships
• Learn how to communicate to your team members
  remotely
• Work will need to be done independently and trust
  is critical
• Increase quantity of communications
• Remote team members have local responsibilities
  that may have higher priority
• Rotate location of meeting. Encourage greater
  ownership from remote team members
• Hold project progress meetings
• Keep team focused, maintain commitment, enhance
  motivation,
• Maintain relationships

5 Managing Global NPD Teams, Gloria Barczak,
Edward F. McDonough III
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Effective Global Meetings 2

• Prior
• Co-create the agenda. Send draft and solicit
  input
• Pay attention to time zones and holidays
• During
• Lead from your vision.
• Speak and listen to every person
• Be considerate of fluency differences. This
  impacts contribution
• Traditional vs. Virtual
• Traditional Body Language can be read by all
• Traditional Meeting can be more relaxed
• Virtual Most effective when all are familiar
  with each other
• Create a plan for project meetings with
  appropriate mix. Rotate meeting leadership and
  location.

2 Culture Clash Thomas D. Zweifel, PhD
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Challenges in Global Project Management

• Virtual Project Team Management
• Communications
• Meetings
• Video vs. Voice vs. Face-to-face
• Loss of Non-verbal Communications
• Loss of Focus
• Maintaining Teamness