In today's global business environment, your key working relationships, encompassing projects, team members, clients, and stakeholders, may span multiple continents. Effective and clear communication is more critical than ever in this complex and constantly changing world, as it helps transcend geographical boundaries.

Navigating the global business landscape from a managerial perspective of a relationship-oriented (collectivistic) culture, where group interests prevail over individual, group harmony and tacit agreement are valued, you might find it challenging and frustrating to lead team members from task-oriented (individualistic) cultures that prioritise the importance of  individual perspectives and outspokenness:

Team meetings may often feel like a storm of differing opinions and loud voices. 

As a leader, you may think that open disagreements and asserting individual ideas are self-promotion, disrespectful or defiant. 

You might feel your team members lack respect and are co...

When conversations about the need for better analytical and creative thinking in your team evolve, the predominant thought that emerges for you as a manager can be, "Who could best bring these skills to the table?'" 

Instead of looking outward for fresh faces with better thinking skills, turning inward to nurture the critical thinking and problem-solving abilities of your existing team can yield significant rewards. Like any professional skill, cognitive skills can be nurtured and developed. Prioritising creating an environment that fosters the development of each member's analytical and creative capacities is essential.

A recent survey by the World Economic Forum highlights the paramount importance of cognitive skills. In the Future of Jobs Report 2023, analytical thinking and creative thinking topped the list of skills judged to be of the most significant importance to workers right now. They are also at the top of the list of skills needed in the future between now and the year 20...

“Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships”.

 -Steven Covey

All businesses and teams need trust to work effectively and, especially when expected to deliver outstanding results and creative problem-solving. As a global team leader, you know how important trust is, but do you know where your team stands and what steps to take to improve things?

According to PwC’s Trust Survey 2023, 79% of executives say their employees highly trust their company, but only 65% of the employees agreed.

Leaders were also asked about the top challenges in building trust. This year, "current company culture" took the first place on that list. Hybrid and remote work seem to play a part in this but there are plenty of tools that will help you overcome these challenges. 

So,what is that process like when you want to build trust within your global team (or company)? 

Building interperso...

 

"Great things in business are never done by one person; they're done by a team of people."

– Steve Jobs

Collaboration is a unique process for each group of people, and as a team manager, you can take steps to foster it so it becomes more effective. 

These steps can look markedly different for groups, teams, high-performing teams, and global high-performing teams. For high performance, your team’s collaboration needs to evolve. It involves a) understanding the differences and recognising where your team is right now and b) moving through each stage. 

This blog post will explore the distinctions between the four stages: what exactly is a group, team, high-performing team, or global high-performing team? Once you understand them, you can better appreciate their value and importance in the evolution of collaboration as you develop practices for your team.

Groups:

"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships."

– Michael Jordan

A group is ...