Collaboration, Communication, and Culture
Tips for getting the best results out of global teams
By Jack Keogh, Managing Director, Keogh & Associates Consulting, LLC
Doing business in global locations can be a jarring experience – akin to trying to find your seat in a dark cinema or trying to assemble the right pieces in a puzzle. Today, international virtual teams are increasingly large and complex. and are separated geographically. How big can a team be before it can no longer be considered a team? My own experience suggest that the effectiveness of a team drops when the membership goes past 20. To manage a bigger team requires very specific conditions for effective collaboration. One of the key conditions, especially for geographically dispersed teams is face-to-face contact.
In order to form relationships, people need to get together in order to become acquainted with each other. Without some minimum face-to-face contact, it is difficult to foster genuine collaboration. Teams that capitalize on pre-existing relationships have a greater chance of success…
