Objectives of GROVEWELL's Team Process Facilitation

GROVEWELL's overall objectives for the internal development and increased productivity & performance of a virtual or remote team are...

• To enable the team to clarify roles, address interpersonal conflict issues, develop protocols for optimal communication, and resolve other barriers to productivity; 
• To enable the team to work strategically & effectively with stakeholders (clients, other teams, peers, customers), developing strategies and protocols as needed; 
• To enable members to develop their own "Third Way" of operating, distinct from each team member’s national culture, thus constructing a unique team culture;
• To coach and advise the team leader in order to identify and develop the competencies he or she needs to guide this team to ever-higher team performance.

• they face significantly greater hurdles than co-located teams;
• more than 50% of all such teams fail to attain their objectives;
• human relationship breakdowns and lack of trust are key problems;
• electronic communication actually helps to create these problems;
• one type of global virtual team does well -- that in which members consciously focus not only on their tasks, but also on their relationships.

• in general, the difficulties of building trusting, positive relationships across the three boundaries of distance, time zones, and cultures, and
• specifically, the complications arising from constant use of electronic means of communication, which team leaders and members mistakenly believe will bridge the three boundaries.

An additional question. . .was examined:  Would members of productive global business teams enjoy working with the members of their team on another project?  Data for this question ["yes" being answered by members of productive teams] were statistically significant at p<.05. The fact that this simple question statistically correlated with a team's productivity is striking: if generalizable, it would indeed be a simple indicator of a team's success.

Dianne M. Hofner Saphiere, "Productive Behaviors of Global Business
Teams," International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 20/2, 1996

Interventions characteristic of our comprehensive services include...

• Review the team’s work processes for effectiveness with respect to the business model.
• Create a comprehensive stakeholder map including analysis and strategies for working effectively with the team’s internal and external stakeholders.
• Improve client and value-chain relationships, correcting for national/cultural differences.
• Develop a strategic plan, as needed, including clarifying appropriate roles and goals for the various nations and cultures with which the team comes into contact.
• Clarify roles and accountabilities in the context of the business mission and work process.
• Determine and practice a decision-making style effective for this team; adjust it as needed.
• Facilitate open addressing, as appropriate, of interpersonal conflicts within the team.
• Develop a structured process so that team members can understand and learn to leverage individual and cultural styles of processing information, solving problems, making decisions, and communicating day-to-day with clarity and acceptance.
• Guide that making of judicious choices among the various team communications media: face-to-face, phone calls, voicemail, e-mail, tele- and video-conferencing, and posted mail. 
• Facilitate development of, and consensus around, a unique set of team operating values.
• Train in ways of giving feedback and managing performance within and across cultures.

• Trust among team members increases; productive collaboration is enhanced.
• The effectiveness of and respect for the team leader visibly improve.
• Value chain frictions and incidents of human error are greatly reduced.
• Cross-cultural conflicts gradually transform into intercultural synergy.
• Electronic communication media are used wisely and effectively.
• Productivity increases; quality improves; on-time delivery becomes normative.
• The profit-oriented motives for the team's creation come to be consistently realized.

• The team leader's input to our lead trainer is limited to one long phone conversation.
• Standardized GROVEWELL manuals and materials are used without customization.
• Two on-site workshops are each delivered by two trainers.
• Schedules permitting, the first workshop can occur days after our services are engaged.
• For the first 2-day on-site workshop, all team members must be present.
• Members leave the first workshop with action-assignments for trying out new behaviors.
• The second on-site workshop occurs six to twelve weeks following the first workshop.
• For the second 1-day on-site workshop, all team members must be present.
• Members review and fine-tune action-assignment behaviors during the second workshop.
• Team-leader coaching occurs only on-site, during and after the two workshops.

Testimonials for GROVEWELL's ComprehensiveTeam Services

GROVEWELL has enjoyed many notable success in facilitating global virtual teams:

"I manage a highly diverse, global team with complex organizational deliverables.  Our success and the value we can add to our organization is dependent upon our ability to come together as a high-performing team. GROVEWELL has been an excellent resource for my organization. Through a series of coaching and training sessions with GROVEWELL, we laid the framework for my team's direction and operating guidelines. Since these interactions, my team continues to strengthen not only the delivery of our results but also the way the team provides them."

Suzanne K. Brown, Johnson & Johnson
-

"It is approximately one year since GROVEWELL's team provided coaching and training for the then newly formed Global Task Force (GTF).  Looking back, it is obvious that GROVEWELL helped the GTF achieve great results.  John Incledon, SVP, Global New Products, stated, '...the training was excellent.  The excitement and enthusiasm conveyed by attendees was palpable.  Communication was open and frank.  My perspective on this is that objectives were exceeded, not simply met.'
    "GTF member survey results indicate Team Captains are demonstrating strong leadership and excellent teamwork, and that cross-cultural relationships within the GTF are thriving.  Our Team Captains attribute their success to the leadership coaching they received from your group and to GROVEWELL's Toolkit for Team Leaders."

John G. Nathan, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare