Building Teams

Across Borders
David Armstrong

T EAMWORK HAS ALWAYS been essential top success. But, as globalization changes the
landscape, teams face new challenges. Groups that must collaborate to meet goals are now
separated by distance – continents, time zones, language, and cultural barriers. It’s challenging
enough to work as a team when your colleagues share the same work environment. It can be
difficult to bond with people you have never met in person. Email and telephone conversations
don’t fully convey one’s personality, and a weekly conference call is a poor opportunity to build
trust with a group of faceless voices. Despite challenges, team members must collaborate to
accomplish goals and function seamlessly.

Challenges Facing Teams

Here are five challenges global teams face and six solutions for helping them achieve their goals.

1. Team identity.

Traditionally, the most natural reference to “we” has been geographically based – we’re
here, you’re there. To collaborate and function seamlessly today, teams must understand
that “we” represents a group defined by purpose, not geography.

2. Higher costs

The costs of working across distances can be high, not only in equipment and technology,
but also in management. Establishing a team of members from different locations may
require more time and attention than co-located teams.

3. Responsiveness and planning

People communicate more frequently with people they see daily – even when the
communication is via email or voice-mail. Frequent, coincidental encounters in hallways
and coffee rooms allow you to participate in decisions, hear information, and get
feedback that teammates across town – or on the other side of the world – miss out on.
Consultation and inclusion that occur spontaneously in proximate settings require
foresight and planning to span distances.
4. Commitment, trust, and motivation

While team dynamics across distances are comparable to those of face-to-face teams, the
process of building shared commitment, mutual trust, and focused motivation is more
challenging. Team leadership is critical to establishing the discipline needed to nature the
sense of team. Team members who work from multiple sites often encounter “us” and
“them” dynamics. Once established, these site-cultures may fragment the culture into
warring provinces.

5. Alliances based on assumption.

There are pervasive differences in assumptions between national and ethnic cultures.
Interestingly, however, international work teams also stumble over functional or
corporate cultures. In fact, international team members from one function often feel they
have more in common with each other than with their co-workers from the same office in
other fields. The inclination to form alliances based on shared qualities can also work in
the team’s favor. Successful teams create their own culture – their own version of “us”
that supports team cohesion and commitment – despite differences in language, ethnicity,
and work practices.

Getting Teams on Track

While teamwork is more complex for groups whose members are geographically dispersed, the
benefits of successful teams can outweigh the costs. Here are six actions to help bridge the
distances.

1. Redefine “we”.

A team should have a psychological proximity, where members are present in each
other’s thoughts even when not in each other’s presence. Team leaders promote this
mindset by encouraging behaviors that reflect unity, such as emphasizing shared purpose.
When teammates include each other in decisions and information, team identity forms.

2. Start face-to-face.

Bring the team members together during the team’s formation. Not only does the
gathering promote bonding, it helps members learn to trust other members’ intentions and
understanding. Teams may need to meet in person occasionally to strengthen the bond,
redirect, or start new projects.

3. Put communication on the agenda.

Teams often get bogged down by their tasks and forget to talk about their working
relationship. Teams should discuss how and when it is appropriate to communicate with
each other and establish clear expectations for response times.
4. Establish team norms and team learning.

Set expectations for working together, defining collaboration and clarifying when
teammates should consult instead of acting on their own. The norms of successful teams
often include mutual respect, alertness to differences, full and equal participation of all
members, reliable inclusion, and frequent phone conferences with full attendance.

5. Get the maximum benefit from technology.

Speaker phones, groupware, the Internet, and video conferencing are examples of
technology that support virtual teams. But they are only as good as their application.
Unless expectations for using the technology are discussed, the technology won’t bridge
distances.

6. Clarify the team’s mission and sponsorship.

Make sure the team sponsors and members understand why the team exists. Examine the
team’s purpose and discuss whether working across distances is achieving that purpose.
Keep executives informed, involved, and committed to the team’s efforts. Support and a
focused vision help the team compete with other demands on people’s time, attention,
and resources. Organizations that execute team projects quickly across distances have a
competitive advantage.

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