Managing in today's complex world has been made even more challenging due to
global unrest and continuing economic uncertainty. In building and aligning
successful cross-functional and multicultural teams on global projects,
senior-level HR leaders must take a custom-tailored and nuanced approach.
The ongoing social and political upheaval presently underway in the Middle East
is beginning to have an impact on the global economy. Since January of this
year, when demonstrations began in Egypt, oil prices have been steadily
increasing in worldwide markets.
That turbulence adds to the previous three years, which have brought
unprecedented change to the global economy. Anxious and troubled capital
markets, rising energy and raw material prices and sharp declines in land,
housing and fixed-asset values all indicate the importance of multinational
organizations utilizing the key factor of production (their human resources)
that they are perhaps best able to manage.
In addition, sweeping changes in new business models, powerful multinational
companies from emerging markets and changes in employee demographics and
workforce mobility are prompting senior HR executives to deal with some very
pressing concerns. These include global abundance with locally scarce talent, an
aging workforce, rising demand for new skill sets, more diverse and distributed
workforces and flexible-work arrangements.
Together, these developments are creating workforces and work environments that
are as diverse and geographically dispersed as the businesses themselves. For
senior HR executives of international companies, this transformation of business
and human resources presents new challenges when:
a) Building a cross-functional and multicultural team for a critical global
project;
b) Aligning cross-functional teams in a time-challenged M&A or restructuring
environment; and/or
c) Improving organizational team effectiveness for high-priority,
enterprise-level global initiatives, such as business transformation and ERP
implementation.
These situations present important business challenges to senior HR and C-level
executives of organizations involved in managing cross-functional and
multicultural global teams that must work together to achieve organizational
objectives.
Fortunately, there are some proven best practices that can assist HR leadership
in building top-notch, cross-functional global teams.
Well-calibrated and trained teams comprised of local and expatriate resources
with a shared vision and purpose can generate short-, mid- and long-term
competitive advantages for senior HR executives looking to improve corporate
performance, while strengthening their human resources capabilities.
A Nuanced Approach
Cross-functional global projects in business and technology are especially in
need of a nuanced and custom-tailored approach, since managing cross-functional
and multicultural teams in disparate locations presents unique business and
social challenges. Our experience shows that managing and aligning a global team
operating in Mexico, the Netherlands and the United States, for example, is
quite different than managing one based primarily in the United States.
A cross-functional team can be defined as a group of employees from different
functions within an organization, such as human resources, information
technology, marketing and finance, who are all focusing on a specific objective
and have the responsibility to work as a team to achieve desired goals.
Multicultural teams, on the other hand, are made up of people from different
social and professional cultures who work together for a common goal. Managing
cross-functional teams is a complex endeavor by itself, but it becomes even more
challenging when the multicultural component is added to the mix.
In addition to sorting through cross-functional challenges, intercultural
differences can present serious obstacles to teams charged with achieving
international results. In fact, in today's global and knowledge-oriented
environment, the alignment and utilization of human resources is just as
important as raw materials, production and marketing.
Food is a personal passion of mine, and I see parallels between preparing an
elaborate meal and pulling together a cohesive team to accomplish important
business initiatives. Just as a capable chef is able to combine different
ingredients and resources into a memorable meal, today's senior HR executives
must harness the power of tangible and intangible resources and disparate
functions to achieve desired business objectives.
At one global manufacturing organization operating in North America, plans were
made to move production and sourcing of select products from Poland to China,
but tight timelines and difficulties in collaboration on the three continents
resulted in quality-control issues and cost over-runs.
A project-performance assessment pointed to problems with people issues -- such
as cross-cultural communication and timely follow-up on production deadlines --
that were making matters worse.
In response, HR leadership identified within the organization a manager with
international experience who was then trained in cross-cultural team-building
concepts.
In recognizing the different communication and team-behavior styles of teams
operating in North America, Poland and China, a cohesive "one team, one company"
strategy was implemented. By determining areas of expertise necessary for
different portions of the project, tasks and related timelines were distributed
accordingly, with each regional team sharing responsibility for their piece of
the project, with the result that the $42 million project was completed on
budget.
Managing cross-functional global projects can be even more difficult in business
environments coping with organizational change, business and technology
transformation, mergers and acquisitions, or when integrating different systems
and organizations.
Add time pressure and the situation becomes even more complex, such as the
situation faced by a global energy company, which had acquired another worldwide
company as part of a complex merger.
The two companies had different ERP systems and different HR procedures, which
had to be reviewed and sorted out in a compressed time frame; this major
corporate transition required that years of deployment decisions be made in a
matter of weeks.
The larger company had spent decades building firm-specific human capital --
bringing people in at lower levels and promoting them from within -- while the
smaller company had a more open-door policy for employees. Somehow, crucial
human resources and payroll components from both companies had to be integrated,
while one ERP solution had to be selected that could help align people,
processes and technology in achieving organizational goals.
A joint steering committee of managers from both organizations was put into
place by senior HR and technology executives to identify crucial processes
required for the merger and to select the ERP platform best able to sustain
them.
Using a rapid and succinct project-goal-alignment process, the steering
committee identified key HR-process value drivers relating to talent management,
succession planning and payroll, and aligned critical HR and ERP
interdependencies. A new SAP ERP-oriented HR payroll mechanism was installed,
which streamlined the payroll function across the organization, while lowering
HR man hours through process automation and self-service.
In working together toward a common goal, the steering committee was able to
improve the HR function, align it with technology and redeploy the HR workforce.
When chief human resource officers are faced with such challenges, it's
important to create teams with a common sense of purpose and a shared commitment
to action that can generate desired results, while also cultivating future
leaders within the organization. Successful team building requires strategic and
holistic talent utilization as well as a shared vision for achieving desired
business and project goals. In my experience in managing and aligning on-site
and off-site teams on various global HR and business-transformation projects, I
have found the following six factors to be the key components for building
cross-functional and multicultural global teams:
1. Agreement on project goals, project plan and project scope definition.
It is advisable to have the company, management, team and project manager agree
on a clear understanding of project goals, including outlining the business
objectives, setting a time frame in which they are to be accomplished, and
spelling out why they are necessary.
The scope of this understanding -- including requirements and specification --
should be encapsulated in a project plan so the team can measure progress during
the project. The plan should include both a cohesive description of the overall
strategy as well as sufficient details to show clear tactical responsibilities
and specific accomplishments.
A controlled project scope ensures there are clear agreements on the project's
objectives. Any proposed changes should be carefully evaluated for their impact
on cost and schedule, and all relevant changes should be approved before work is
started on them.
2. Review of team composition and working styles.
An assessment should be conducted on team composition (different corporate
functions represented) and how members interact, process information, make
decisions and organize themselves, in order to optimize cross-functional
expertise and determine individual preferences in working together.
It is sensible to consider the following when building global team initiatives:
a) Enterprise-level initiatives such as business transformation and ERP require
the calibration of cross-functional components (e.g. HR, finance, procurement,
IT, etc.).
b) The use of human resource outsourcing, shared-services centers and offshore
workforces is expanding significantly to include small and mid-sized
organizations. These mechanisms will likely grow as globalization continues
throughout the world.
c) A significant portion of recent globalization of the labor force has been
enabled by Internet technology and driven by the desire to control costs.
d) Previously, a large number of traditional multinational companies and new
international players have operated with double standards regarding workforces
in the developed and developing world.
e) Fast-changing economic power and global demographics are prompting growing
economic powers, such as China and India, to re-examine HR procedures in order
to compete globally.
f) Improving standards of living and education in emerging countries, coupled
with new technology tools facilitating mobile and virtual workforces, are
prompting a reassessment of the old expatriate-focused model for managing global
projects.
3. Team cohesion.
Once the review of team working styles is complete, it is advisable to design a
"team map." This can be done by examining the team's different functional
strengths and weaknesses in performing the top three to four tasks needed for
producing the desired end-product or solution.
This valuable exercise identifies individual work preferences, promotes unity of
vision and purpose, enhances cross-functional team alignment and fosters a sense
of teamwork focused on common goals.
When faced with project log-jams, it is better for HR leaders to avoid
intervening directly with the team. In instances when direct involvement is
needed, it is better to have minimal involvement with day-to-day team functions,
as inordinate involvement can prevent team members from solving problems
themselves and learning from that process.
A more prudent approach involves encouraging team members to adapt to each
other's work styles by acknowledging cultural differences and working
accordingly. If there are still issues, members can be counseled and/or
reassigned to reduce interpersonal friction.
4. Cross-functional and multicultural communication issues.
Managing cross-functional and multicultural teams requires keen insight and
planning, as cultural differences can aggravate issues when it comes to team
performance. The following cultural components can lead to potential
conflicts and reduced performance:
a) Direct and indirect communication:
Some team members (e.g. from the United States, United Kingdom and Germany) use
direct, explicit communication in asking questions and identifying problems,
while others (e.g., from China, Japan and Malaysia) are indirect in asking and
responding.
b) Language fluency and speaking accents:
Members who are not fluent in the team's dominant language may have difficulty
communicating their knowledge. This can prevent the team from using that
person's expertise, creating frustration or perceptions of incompetence.
c) Dissimilar hierarchical attitudes:
Team members from strong hierarchical cultures, such as Japan, expect to be
treated differently, according to their status in the organization. Members from
egalitarian cultures, such as the United States and UK, do not. The failure of
some members to honor those expectations can cause humiliation or loss of
stature and credibility, which can affect overall project performance.
d) Contradictory decision-making styles:
Members differ in how quickly they make decisions and in how much analysis they
require beforehand. In some cultures, a seat-of-the-pants approach may be seen
as being proactive, while it may be viewed as rash and ill-thought-out in other
cultures. Someone who prefers making decisions quickly may grow frustrated with
those who need more time.
5. Acceptable behavior.
Once the team has defined and agreed upon new, non-negotiable behaviors for the
team, this information can be documented for future behavioral reference and
application.
6. Management support.
Despite their best intentions, global project teams and project managers do not
always have enough authority to make all the decisions necessary to accomplish
project goals. This is where timely and substantive support from senior
executives can make a huge difference in a project's results. Timely decisions
and sufficient resources are two very important examples of key management
support.
With cooperative, involved management from senior HR executives, global teams
can gain the knowledge and confidence to collaborate effectively within a new
environment through the self-creation of shared and actionable project plans.
Even while managing in a complex global environment, HR executives can help
their organizations prosper by understanding the importance of best practices in
forming and utilizing global teams.
This can be a win-win strategy in two important ways. First, the organization
benefits by successful on-going business operations and timely, cost-conscious
completion of projects. Secondly, potential new leaders can be identified from
within the organization.
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