Global Project Management

April 23, 2008

Challenges and Opportunities

By Wafa Bunney

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Global Project ManagementAgenda

Definition and Drivers• What is a Global Project?• Drivers for Global Projects

Attributes of Global Projects(challenges and opportunities)• Governmental/Economical – legal, Regulatory, political, financial, • Infrastructure/Environmental – technology, physical conditions, weather, availability• People/Society – culture, communication, language, competency

Considerations in Managing a Global Project• Governance• Principles• Charter• Organizational Change Management

Recap

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Global Project Management

Definition

What is a global project?

• A ‘global project’ can be defined as a project whose activities (e.g. requirements, usage, delivery…etc) are performed in more than one region/brand.

• Examples:– A project requiring expertise/activities from NA and Europe – A project consolidating work in India from NA, Europe, & APA– A project affecting Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, & Volvo brands

Regions = NA, SA, Europe & APA Brands = Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Mazda

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Global Project Management

Drivers for Global Projects:

• Company growth and business expansion

• Acquisitions, mergers, and joint ventures

• Supply chain, dealers, and customers

• Technology trends and changes

• Cost pressures

• Regulations, legal requirements, trade barriers…etc

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Global Project Management

Global Project Attributes(Attribute diversity represent both challenges and opportunities)

Attribute Description Challenge Opportunity

Governmental/

Economical

Regulatory and legal requirements, limitations, economical restrictions or growth

Impact of governmental regulations and legal requirements on projects

Leveraging knowledge of governmental or economical situation to advance the project or gain a lever to help overall team

Infrastructure/

Environmental

Technology or physical infrastructure status of the country

Both technology limitations and lack of physical infrastructure can affect project cost, scope and time.

Strong advancement in technology and transportation capability will accelerate project delivery.

People/Society Culture, language, dress, business, communication, organization, value systems, equality or inequality…etc

Lack of knowledge for cultural diversity can delay project delivery.

Understanding of cultural diversity and leveraging differences can accelerate project delivery.

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Global Project Management

Governmental/Economical

Attribute Description Challenge Opportunity

Political Country political stability or instability

Traveling to politically unstable country present a risk to you and project team

Leverage team in country by engaging communication channels and collaboration tools.

Financial Cost of travel and project expense

High cost of business travel, too many countries in scope add cost to project expenses

Leverage talent from low cost countries (or build competency over time). Requires long lead project planning and setting stakeholder expectations

Legal and Regulatory Governmental requirements for what you can/can’t bring to country, use in country, and take out of country.

Restrictions on what a project needs lead to delays and added costs.

Research in advance and leverage in country knowledge and available resources

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Global Project Management

Infrastructure/Environmental

Attribute Description Challenge Opportunity

Technology Emerging technologies and investment trends

Tracking and researching technology trends and fast changes in this area require investment in research and monitoring. Need to know limitations of technology in countries doing business.

Availability..

Early adoption of technology enables business growth and rapid change. Leveraging mobile technology as needed and planning in advance for better time utilization.

Physical Conditions Road conditions, available flights, weather, food….etc

Being surprised with unexpected conditions can affect project delivery as well as the team

Research country conditions, leverage in-country employees and plan ahead of the trip. Add expected delays to project plans.

Availability Time differences, business office hours, and holidays

Countries business hours have no overlap with others (e.g. US and AP)

Find best possible days/hours in a week and alternate week to week or month to month

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Global Project Management

People/Society

Attribute Description Challenge Opportunity

Culture Cognitive styles: processing and organizing information, negotiation strategies, value systems, decision making, equality/inequality, gifts, dress, being early or late to meetings..etc

Not being knowledgeable of these differences present delays and challenges to global projects:

•East and west differences

•Subjective vs. objective use of information

•Use of gifts and dress code

•Gender differences

•Organizational ranking

Knowing in advance these differences is an opportunity to:

•Select the right project team members

•Build relationships

•Help accelerate projects

Language Primary and secondary language as well as company language

Language barriers cause misunderstanding delaying project deliverables

Use written communication in the common company language, frequent communication, many levels and teams.

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Global Project Management

People/Society (Continue)

Attribute Description Challenge Opportunity

Communication Written, verbal, and non-verbal (i.e. gestures)

Not knowing what specific gestures mean cause misunderstanding

Use written language, slow down verbal, be aware of non-verbal gestures, leverage in-country company employees to support project plans.

Competency Technical capability, education, history and future educational plans in the country

Doing business in a country with limited competency in certain technical area will delay project progress

Select team members based on your research of technical knowledge and availability. Be aware of support activities after project launch and available in-country resources

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Global Project Management

Other Considerations in Managing a Global Project• Governance

– Decision making authority– Subject matter expertise– Project managers– Cadence for status, escalation of issues/risks

• Principles– Common way of operating – Provide direction and consistency across the board and country boundaries

• Chartering– Roles and Responsibilities– Objectives and Scope– Temporal Scope– Cost

• Organizational Change Management– Organizational readiness for the change– Communicate, communicate, communicate…..

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Global Project Management

Recap

(how to turn challenges to opportunities)

• Research country and region specifics when managing global projects (e.g. culture, language, infrastructure…etc)

• Leverage country specific knowledge to support the project (e.g. time difference can mean 24X7 work activities for a global project)

• Build relationship first and execute projects second by knowing more about your colleagues in other countries

• Know your team members strengths (e.g. language, experience…etc)

• Use common PM processes and leverage best practices

• Communicate, communicate, communicate