Success Factors for Fostering Highly-Collaborative, Global Teams
In the context of our global, digital economy, organizations often work on multiple projects that are international in scale and frequently involve technology services partners. Managing these global teams is now a necessity for many organizations, and it can be challenging when the company is new to this level of scale or must incorporate multiple stakeholders into the mix. Ultimately, companies want to ensure that everyone on the program works together seamlessly and productively towards the same goal.
At Ness, we collaborate closely with clients and our collective team members who often span multiple time zones and business functions. Here are some of the ways we work together to facilitate project success:
- Ensure that Executive Leadership from both organizations have set and agreed upon the success criteria of the engagement and implemented metrics aligned to that success.
- Over-communicate the importance of this strategy to all employees to help them understand that it will aid in making the company successful and reaching their goals.
- Ensure there is consistent and predictable communication regarding the performance of the engagement at all levels to instill transparency.
- Last and most importantly, foster trust and effective communication with the global teams. This can be done by making frequent visits to the locations where the teams are working, managing the “global clock” so all teams feel they are not always working late or early, and ensuring that Executive Management visits twice a year to provide business updates & engage with key stakeholders.
The key is to foster an environment of open communication, collaboration and innovation, cultivating a partnership based on trust. With this as the foundation, the work I’ve seen global teams accomplish is truly extraordinary.
