SOCIAL+SUPPORT

media type="file" key="07 Siempre Así.m4a" width="300" height="50" Challenges you may face leading, managing, and contributing to a virtual team are intensified when team members come from different cultural backgrounds. It can be tricky to navigate as different cultures bring with them different languages, business practices, attitudes, and expectations.
 * STRATEGIES FOR SUPPORTING CULTURALLY DIVERSE GDT’s**

Team members may live in different time zones and experience totally different realities in their day-to-day lives. Meeting start times may vary from on time to hours late based on cultural norms. This may be due to relaxed attitudes about time and punctuality or attributed to a cultural reality of unreliable public transportation. Knowing whether to be early, late, or on time will be key as your team coalesces. Fortunately for you, in the virtual sphere, regardless of where you are, it is general practice to be on time! One less thing to worry about, right?

Team members may be socialized differently in terms of how they think about power. Some may be unaccustomed to taking orders from women while others may work in fully integrated, egalitarian organizations where gender is not an issue. Subtle racism or ethnic differences between team members may inexplicably impede communication and stymie progress. Some team members may value hierarchies and place distinction in authority, rank, and subordination. They may be used to operating in silos where they are responsible for their portion, and not expected to consider the broader whole. Others may come from flatter, matrix organizational systems with emphasis on dotted line reporting relationships and collaboration across functions and levels, with the expectation that independent discretion will be taken to make necessary changes should an obstacle impede progress.

Communication styles may be different for each of you. Introductions at a business meeting can say a lot about culture. Before attending important meetings, do some research to see what cultural norms for the people present may be (Trompenaars & Hampden-Turner, 1998). media type="youtube" key="DcuDT48_0qU" height="112" width="144" align="center"

Depending upon the society team members’ operate in, culturally, more value may be placed in listening over speaking, or withdrawing rather than direct confrontation. Some team members may have been taught to question authority and “think outside the box,” while to others, this may be seen as disrespectful, rude, and unacceptable. Some cultural models may defer to the eldest person in the room or the person with the most seniority, while others promote a free flowing forum where the loudest fist on the table may comfortably command the attention. Some cultures will rely heavily on agendas during meetings while others may encourage creative thinking to problem solve, and purposefully stray in the direction of an idea as opposed to being driven by the structure of an agenda (Kimball, 1997).

All of these factors and more may need to be recognized at different points during the teaming process. “Which way is right?” you may ask. The answer is easy. //**There is no single right way. There are only different ways.**// As a geographically dispersed team member, you are primarily responsible for contemplating and becoming cognizant of the cultural differences you bring to play in your team interactions. You are also responsible for being sensitive to other’s cultural backgrounds. A vital part of your team’s success depends on your ability to recognize and bridge any cultural gaps that may arise, beginning with your own self-awareness and balanced by your knowledge, interest, and understanding of cultures different from your own. You will all be critical contributors in laying out what the global expectations and team norms will be for your team, regardless of where you may come from or what cultural practices you’re accustomed to. While you can’t leave your culture behind, you can bring a careful consciousness to your daily interactions with team members operating from different times and places (Ford, 2001). There are any number of opportunities for misunderstandings and for things to go wrong given the tinder box that cultural differences can be. Several key things need to be addressed immediately during the formation of a new team to prepare for, mitigate, and positively channel potential cultural conflicts.
 * ** 1. ** ** Standard organizational processes ** : People, decisions and information are handled differently in multicultural environments. Rather than the focus being on narrow tasks, the focus needs to be broad. Speed is often an issue so the structure will be less hierarchical. Information should be widely distributed and available. A restructure around processes rather than functions is needed. ||
 * ** 2. ** ** Organizational culture: ** Values and norms need to focus on collaboration, respecting and working with people, constructive criticism, and sharing information. Norms should honor different ways of doing business in different cultures. ||
 * ** 3. ** ** Training and development: ** Training is needed for everyone in the skills needed to be successful in an environment with great depth and breadth of processes. ||
 * ** 4. ** ** Reward, recognition and promotions systems ** : These programs need to recognize the skills needed to operate in the new multi-cultural environment. Often times, a move to shared team rewards is needed (Earley & Gibson, 2002, pp.164-166). ||

//Establishing Communication Norms and Relationship Building//** In North America, there is a higher tolerance for virtual communication, while in European and Eastern nations, virtual communication is increasingly common, but less appreciated than in-person meetings. Building relationships over the distance will be key to optimizing productivity across your new team. Cultural differences must be dealt with up front so dispersed members stay engaged and begin to develop meaningful ties with team members. Without coping strategies, team members can become isolated, and performance failure may result from exclusion from the process. Creating a supportive, trusting environment is a vital first step to successfully forming a cohesive team. How can you facilitate this? Some best practices are detailed below. Schedule a face-to-face meeting to kick off a new team formation, which will give initial inertia to the trust building process. If time or budgetary concerns don’t allow for an initial in person meeting, then a video-conference is recommended as the next best option. The key being that you want to have an opportunity to introduce yourself personally and share a smile and nod with new team members. || ** xxxxxxxxxxxxxx //SHARED TEAM CALENDAR// **  Construct a “comings and goings” billboard within the shared virtual workspace where team members can post their travel schedules and availability. || Appoint a team leader ahead of time to facilitate the meeting if there is no formal manager to lead the discussion. Share an agenda with the team so the general direction and goals of the meeting are clear. A team leader can establish communication protocols. A notetaker can take minutes and distribute after the meeting to all team members. || ** xxxxxxxxxxxxx //SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS// ** Share contact information including emails, phone numbers, instant messenger names, and time schedules. Have everyone articulate their personal communication preferences. You may prefer for team members to reach out to you by Skype, while other team members may prefer texts, email communications or conference calls (Kimball, 1997). || ** xxxxxxxxxxxxx //VERBAL COMMUNICATION// Establish a primary, common language for communication. If there are other shared languages, request that the common language always be used, with little exception. The team should avoid the use of colloquialisms or idioms if there are ESL speakers. Rate of speech should be modulated to accommodate non-native English speakers, and a good leader will summarize decisions and check frequently for understanding (Ford, 2001). ** || Clearly state team member roles and responsibilities. Develop and review the work plan and key deadlines and deliverables. || ** xxxxxxxxxxxxx //WRITTEN COMMUNICATION// ** Ensure written communications to team members clearly state: Rotate meeting times if team members are separated by time zones so the burden is not always falling on the same team member to be joining the meeting at an inopportune time. || ** xxxxxxxxxxxxxx //EMAIL COMMUNICATION// ** Make communications explicit. Help team members prioritize requests by clearly stating the subject in emails. To ensure engagement of members of less confident English speakers, team members should be called upon if they are not readily volunteering to ensure their voice is being heard. They may have the next big idea but culturally have been taught to not interject, or maybe don’t have the confidence in their language skills to properly express themselves. || ** xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx //ESCALATION PROCESS// ** Agree upon an escalation process should communication norms not be followed. ||
 * STANDARD ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESSES & ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
 * ** xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx //B////EST PRACTICES FOR SUPPORTING A GEOGRAPHICALLY DISPERSED TEAM (GDT)// ** ||
 * ** xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx //TEAM KICKOFF// ** 
 * ** xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx //TEAM LEADERSHIP// ** 
 * Agree upon informal Service Level Agreements (SLAs) to standardize turnaround time and manage expectations within the team. SLAs for dealing with partners and external clients should also be established. ** ||
 * ** xxxxxxxxxx //COMMUNICATION PREFERENCES// **
 * ** xxxxxxxxxxx //ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES// **
 * Intent/purpose of communication
 * Situation discussed, i.e. Project Backwash
 * Relevance of need and urgency of request ||
 * ** xxxxxxxxxxxx //TIME ZONE DIFFERENCES// **
 * Subject: [REQUEST] Review document by Friday, March 26 at 17:00 EST.
 * Subject: re: [REQUEST] Review complete - Document notes in red ||
 * ** xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx //ENGAGEMENT// **

To further support your team development and assimilation process, it's important that everyone has the training they need to succeed in a dispersed environment. It's also important to look at the structure of your pay programs and ensure that if working as a team is truly a core competency for your team's success, it will factor into individual performance appraisals. All too often, team work is praised but not rewarded with anything tangible. Consider implementing these techniques: ** **QUICK TIP #1** //Keep communication preferences in mind when: You’re in a crowded subway in Manhattan and you pick up your mobile to call your team mate in Bangalore, India (10 hours ahead). Rajesh requested Skype calls or email communications as his ill mother resides in the home and will be disturbed by a ringing cell phone, not to mention the cost incurred to the company to make the call in the first place. Quickly...Hang up the phone. Remind yourself that it is 5AM there, Rajesh has probably not had his chai yet, and you can easily make the free call later from the computer instead.//
 * TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT & REWARDS AND RECOGNITION
 * Team members can attend a brief orientation outlining accepted virtual teaming techniques. This will help set expectations and provide a forum for asking questions (Ford, 2001).
 * Performance objectives for team members can include a success measure for effective team work skills, so that "how" results are achieved is as important as "what" is achieved.
 * Celebrate successful completion of interdependent team goals and project milestones along the way! Give company-wide or departmental accolades to successful project teams in monthly newsletters or on team calls. Recognize individual team members with congratulatory phone calls from department heads. Institute monthly and annual awards for a job well done.
 * Formal incentives may be put in place for individual's at the compensation level to reward successful team performance (Bell, 2002).

**QUICK TIP #2** //Some small consideration should be given to the cost incurred to the company for communications; if Skype is an option, leverage that medium first as a cost free alternative to an expensive cell phone call. If the communication will be compromised by using a less expensive alternative, ALWAYS go with the more expensive option. In the end, the higher cost to the company will be if misunderstandings occur because of botched communications.//

**QUICK TIP #3** //REMEMBER: Cultures differ in the kind of social support that they provide. When interacting with your team, keep in mind that social support represents not only the resources provided BY others, like emotional reassurance, practical help, social reinforcement, and guidance, but also the need to give support TO others. Sometimes by graciously receiving and accepting support, you can strengthen a relationship. At other times, lend your expertise to a struggling team member. Rely on a team member for affirmation or to bounce an idea off of. Be helpful to others and allow others to help you too.//

**RESOURCES FOR THE ROAD** media type="youtube" key="8tIUilYX56E" height="108" width="141" align="center"
 * Kiss, Bow, and Shake Hands Website Link []
 * Examples of high and low context cultures - Youtube