Catherine Mercer BingManaging Director, ITAP Americas, Inc. (w) 1.215.860.5640http://www.itapintl.com

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A Team Commitment Issue: The Need for More Human Process Expertise

Technical and Human Process Expertise

• Companies strive to improve their global reach through the use of teams

• To reach that goals, two factors are critical: Technical expertise Human process expertise

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Technical expertise can include: – Research– Finance– Sales– Marketing– Project management– General management

Technical Expertise

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4

Human Process Expertise

Values

Human process expertise determines how teams:

– Interact to establish goals– Communicate across national and cultural

boundaries and time zones– Solve problems, work together and

independently, and resolve differences

•

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The actions listed in the previous slide are

determined by culture…(how one was socialized to

interact with others)

5

Human Process Expertise and Culture

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Value Is Placed Primarily on the Team’s Technical Expertise

• Human Resource’s efforts focus on hiring and compensating the best technically qualified people, some of whom become members of global teams.

• It’s too often assumed that technical expertise is all that matters.

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Culture and Team Performance

7

• Often enough, we observe teams that miss milestones or deadlines, have technically well-qualified employees.

• High performing teams need: High levels of human process expertise, and Deep understanding of cultural differences

and how to work across cultures

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Example: A Team with Serious Challenges

You are a senior internal or external consultant specializing in creating effective team interventions. A client comes to you and during the conversation asks for team building training for members of a globally disbursed technology team.

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Example: A Team with Serious Challenges

The client is convinced that the team members are not committed to the work of the team, even though the outcomes are very important to the success of that division of the company. He points to missed milestones and a lack of urgency about meeting deadlines.

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Example: A Team with Serious Challenges

• The client observed that team members: Lack motivation/initiativeLack confidenceDo not work independentlyFail to take ownershipHave to little domain knowledgeHave inadequate technology skills

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Example: A Team with Serious Challenges

• Team members complained that the team leader:Does not inform them of project updatesIs not available during their work hours (they

work in a different time zone)Gives the interesting assignments to employees

who are close at handHas never visited their site, though their section

was acquired over five years ago

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Example: Deeper Insights into the Team’s Challenges

• A variety of factors negatively impact this team’s success:Remote selection practices (dependence on

information about engineering degrees, while not knowing which university degree is associated with “adequate technical skills”)

Organizational policies that limit travel to remote locations

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Example: A Team with Serious Challenges

• continued…Misunderstanding employees’ leadership

needs (e.g. how much context and specific directions to give them when delegating)

Lack of appreciation for the needs of employees to access the remote supervisor

Limited foresight as to the impact of the distribution of interesting assignments on employee development and motivation

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What Can Be Done for this Team?

Join the discussion on:http://www.itapintl.com/index.php/about-us/itap-insights-blog/26-did-something-interesting/126-blog-entry-10 (scroll down)

What can the team leader do differently to be effective when managing this team?____________________________________________________________________________________________

How can the organization support the team and the team leader? ____________________________________________________________________________________________

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• This presentation is an excerpt from Many Cultures One Team: Build Your Cultural Repertoire, a new book on teams by Catherine Mercer Bing.

• Enter promo code OneTeam to receive 20% off from Technics Publications website, http://www.TechnicsPub.com

• Click here to order your copy

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Many Cultures, One Team

Catherine Mercer BingManaging DirectorITAP Americas, Inc.

ITAP International, Inc.353 Nassau Street, 1st floorPrinceton, NJ 08540 USA(W) 1.215.860.5640http://www.itapintl.com

16©2015 ITAP International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.