Working with Offshore Teams: Tips from the Trenches

I’ve had the opportunity to work with a variety of offshore teams on various projects. While very challenging these relationships can indeed be valuable. So how do you make the most of these partnerships? Here are a few observations.

Language

The most challenging piece of an offshore partnership is the language differences. While most business people around the world speak English, it will typically be a British version and/or be accompanied by a heavy accent. This all becomes more difficult when trying to communicate on a conference call with a choppy reception and the other end sounding like they’re in an auditorium.

How to deal with it. There is no good answer here. Two approaches seem to help, first have someone onsite to act as a translator. This is typically someone from the same vendor, who has been assigned onsite. Ultimately though you need to become accustom to the language, this only comes with time. Surround yourself with people who speak the language. Don’t be afraid to say you don’t understand. When on the phone be sure you’re able to concentrate on the call with little background noise or distractions. Overtime the accents will become more understandable and the language gaps will be clearer.

Communication

Surprisingly talking does not equal communication. When dealing with any remote team, clear communication is critical. To frequently conference calls are stressful and where in a normal situation you would ask for more information, on a call you may feel it’s too difficult and you’ll just send an email. Conference calls are critical for a project. Don’t let them go to waste. Ask questions be sure that your question was understood correctly. I’ve found it’s difficult to get participation from an offshore team on a conference call. Typically one individual will do all the talking. Work to get more than yes and no answers and more participation from the whole team. Also in these calls try to encourage conversation outside the simple status updates, you might find out important information.

Beyond the conference call its important to follow up with a clear recap of what occurred on the call. This helps make sure everyone on the call is on the same page and all action items are assigned. With any remote team, following the activates between discussions is difficult. Use email frequently. Insist on a formal agenda and meeting minutes. Clarify action items and blocking issues. If a blocking issue does arise take care of it immediately.

Culture

There are significant culture differences that come into play when dealing with international vendors. These culture differences are stem from national/ethnic traits, to corporate/vendor culture. There are traits that surface simply due to the continued relocation of team members.

My experience has been that Indians don’t tend to question authority.  I’m not saying challenge authority, but rather look for clarification and understanding. What seems to happen is that individuals will take a message from a higher-up or client that may not be clear, and instead of working with the source to understand it, they will go to their peers to help understand the message. While this may work in some situations, often times it takes much longer to get the right information. When this works the best is when there are a series of mentors available to the offshore team. A series of experienced individuals various team members can turn to. To help this process, try to keep one vendor and one team as long as possible. Inevitably the vendor will swap out resources on you but hopefully you can hang on to a few key resources that can fill this mentor role. When working one-on-one with an offshore resource be sure you have been understood clearly, ask them to repeat what needs to be done, not simply do you understand.

Working culture. These guys work hard, really really hard. They work nights and weekends, often they work far from their families. Even in India they will travel to different cities to work in  central location for a client. It is so important to realize these guys a working really hard for you. Take time to make that personal connection with them (if they let you). Get to know your offshore team by name. Express your gratitude to them individually for their effort. A note about working habits, since these folks don’t technically work for you, they may not tell you when they’re going on vacation. Ask regularly when upcoming holidays are and what vacations are planned so you don’t end up with a skeleton crew right before a huge deployment. If you have on site resources realize when they take vacation it’s typically for a month so they can get back to India.

Conclusion

Offshore and outsource projects can be highly effective if leaders take the time to consider the variety of challenges the show up in these situations. Communication is always a critical component of any business initiative. In an offshore model communication is more important than ever. Leaders are dealing time zone changes, language differences, and cultural differences. All these challenges can be overcome with increased and clear communication.

Consumers are Spoiled Rotten

What I want, When I want it, How I want it

That’s how to grow your business these days. Give people what they want when they want it and how they want it. This really isn’t a new thing in business, after all isn’t that the basis of fast food? The difference is this trend is moving to almost every element of life. The culture in business is changing from a world where we all attend meeting at the same place and time to one where decisions are made with people in different locations and contributions coming at different times of the day. Phone calls have been replaced by emails and text messages. This is all old news.

Business need to continue adapting to these changes. The success of iTunes music store is a prime example. Rather than purchasing an album full of music I don’t want just to get a single song I do, I can buy just the one song. Newspapers are feeling the strain as well. The challenge newspapers face is not the transfer to a digital medium, rather its the fact that people only want to see what they’re interested in. Why flip through 3/4 of the newspaper searching for the 1/4 of content I want to read. Look now to the video industry. Yes Tivo ushered in the ability to watch what I want when I want, oh and by the way skipping all those money making ads. Look further though and we see that stores like Blockbuster are suffering because it’s easier to go to my mailbox than a store. Its easier to stream Netflix movies than go to my mailbox. Look at Hulu, where its easier to watch an missed TV episode than try to record a rerun.

How will companies take advantage of selective satisfaction in the future? The magazine industry, led by Time, is looking to roll out a Hulu like online magazine distribution system. Cable companies are offering Video On Demand. Yet how do we deal with the money aspects of all this.

There are a couple of industries that still need to pick up on these new trends. The radio and advertising industries haven’t picked up on all this yet. Why isn’t there a RaDo for an audio version of TiVo. Advertising, too many times I’ve heard or seen and ad that actually peaked my interest but I had to act now to review more details. Why not allow me to have an option to review later. Let me click a button on a web page that adds the info to a folder I can review later, or hit a button on the radio to tag the ad as interesting so I can check it out when I have time. 

 

The world is spoiled. Rather than force customers to work your way, how are you transforming your business to provide what they want, when they want and how they want.

What is Architecture

The word architect, and architecture are thrown around a lot and are frequently misused. There a frameworks, methodologies, classifications that get into extreme detail on what architecture is.  Understanding what architecture means is valuable to excel in a current architect role or for use in career planning and development. The following distills a variety of sources such as Zachman and TOGAF into a more pragmatic summary of architecture.

Architecture (noun)

Units of technology have defined sets of architectural elements. These elements can be applied at any level from a macro / enterprise perspective, down to the view of a simple utility. All technology units contain the following architectural elements.

• Scope Vision Mission Purpose
• Business Process and Models
• Information Architecture (Applications)
• Technologies
• Operation

Architecture (verb)

The practice of architecture is applied with multiple perspectives. Each perspective takes into account the elements from the others, yet has a unique focus and function.

• Enterprise Architecture
  • Strategy & Direction
    • Mission / Vision
  • Guidance & Governance
    • Architectural Principles
    • Architectural Processes
• Domain Architecture
  • Knowledge Management
  • Run Time / Operation
• Solution Architecture
  • Tactical
  • Project

Team Conflict Resolution

Importance of conflict resolution strategies

Successful teams (and families) are the amalgamation of many different individuals into a cohesive unit. With this variety of personalities it is critical that team leaders understand how to effectively manage conflicts. While some may argue the best solution is prevention, others believe conflict is inevitable and can be healthy for a team. Regardless of philosophy successful teams will, at some point, be confronted with conflict within the group. “Conflicts are part of individual relationships and organizational development, and no relationship or organization can hope to mature to productivity and be successful without being able to resolve conflicts effectively” (Cottringer, 1997).

Facilitating conflict resolution is a skill all team leaders should understand. Various processes exist to manage these events and all forms the facilitator and team members must agree on the means for resolution. “In order for a team to be successful, it is essential that members know the basics of conflict resolution, delegation, and consensus building” (Convey, 1994). When the team members are unclear on the process or unable to implement an agreed upon resolution process, additional conflicts can arise from the mediation. One of the first steps, when brining a team together, is defining the team charter. It is within this charter that the process for conflict resolution should be noted. Additionally team members should be educated in the basics of the mediation process. With this foundational knowledge the team can effectively work through conflicts as they arise.

Sources of conflict

The sources of conflict can be as varied as the individuals within the team. These sources can range from working style to personalities conflicts. Understanding the various sources of conflict enables the leader to work through the resolution process more effectively. For example, in a large organization nearby, a project team was experiencing a series of conflicts. Analysis of the sources indicated misunderstandings on what the problems were that the team was actually facing. A few individuals stated the team produced poor quality work while others stated the work was not being completed on time. As this team discussed the conflict a second source became evident. The organization and team had conflicting understanding of the goals the team was striving toward. Significant pressure was being placed on quantity while the core team was attempting to work on the quality of the solution. Even where the overall goals were agreed upon, there were additional conflicts regarding the on the strategies and tactics to achieve those goals. What we see on the surface of a conflict is only the tip of the iceberg (McDaniel & Carstarphen, Solving Conflicts – Building Trust!, 2004). Leaders and team members need to dig in and understand the true sources of the conflict in order to devise the appropriate solution. Approaching a conflict with partial information may result in a solution that address only part of the problem or maybe none at all.

The Conflict-Concerns-Goals-Actions (CCGA) Process

Various processes exist that enable the team to gain the required understanding of the conflict. Most successful processes follow a standard flow of conflict identification, understanding the various concerns, clarifying the goals, and identifying possible actions (McDaniel, Conflict to Cooperation, 2005). This flow is called the CCGA process, for Conflict, Concerns, Goals, Actions. “The value of the CCGA process is that it “short circuits” our tendency to simply jump from our personal understanding of the conflict directly into a solution before considering other worthy factors.” (McDaniel & Carstarphen, 2004).

The first stage of this process is agreeing on what the conflict is. This process accomplishes two key elements, first it calls out the fact that there is a conflict within the team and it clarifies what the conflict is. With the team members in agreement on the issue, the group can move on to the second phase, Concerns. In this second stage the facilitator work to uncover the issues and motivations that are driving the conflict from each party. This process requires the team have a level of trust to begin with. In the concerns phase the team members begin to use that trust when discussing their concerns. As the concerns are raised a variety of emotions can flood the discussion. The facilitator and team need to be able to trust each other enough and communicate effectively to work through this process. Once the individual’s concerns are understood, the group can move to clarifying the goals. In the third stage the team answers the question “what are we trying to accomplish”. Clarifying the objectives sets a flag for the team to use as a guide when determining a course of action. With the goals understood the team is now free to move on to discuss possible actions for resolving the conflict. While named CCGA, there is an additional “C” which truly enables the whole process. This process relies heavily on communication. The success of this process comes from the communication abilities of those involved. Being able to trust and communicate through the discussion without attacking or withdrawing is critical to successful resolution. These qualities need to be exhibited by both the facilitator, and team members.

Conclusion

“As a team leader, one must realize the paradox that surrounds conflict. The team needs to embrace conflict as a means of generating and evaluating ideas. While at the same time, it must shy away from it to prevent anger, frustration, or alienation. The biggest challenge for the team leader is figuring out how to balance these two forces” (Brockmann, 1996) Utilizing a standard process for conflict resolution provides the team with a basis for trust in discussing issues. Working through this process enables the team to understand all the elements creating the friction as well. The CCGA process also helps the team work through solutions that address not only the conflict itself but the underlying concerns the team members have. Working with the human side of teams can be difficult, but it can also be rewarding. Following an agreed upon process such as the CCGA enable teams to work through issues ranging from lunch plans to even the most emotionally charge conflicts, through a defined communication process.

References

Brockmann, E. (1996). Removing the paradox of conflict from group decisions. Academy of Management Executive , Vol 10 (Issue 2), p 61-62.

Convey, S. (1994). Performance measurement in cross-functional teams. CMA Magazine , Vol 68(Issue 8), p 13-15.

Cottringer, W. (1997). Conflict Management. Executive Excellence Magazine , Vol 14 (Issue 8), p 6.

McDaniel, G. (2005). Conflict to Cooperation. Austin: 1st World Library.

McDaniel, G., & Carstarphen, M. (2004, Apr). Solving Conflicts – Building Trust! Retrieved Jan 30, 2009, from Texasnonprofits: http://www.txnp.org/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=1482

Townsley, C. A. (2008). Resolving Conflict in Work Teams. Retrieved January 30, 2009, from Team Building Directory: http://www.innovativeteambuilding.co.uk/pages/articles/conflicts.htm