CHAPTER 6
Igniting Creativity in Complex Distributed Teams

The boundaries of today’s organizations are permeable. Organizations are fielding teams comprising elaborate networks of suppliers, contractors, migrant employees, customers, and even competitors. A number of drivers are pushing organizations to significantly change the way they do work. Global integration and the Internet have greatly expanded our ability to reach across the globe. New technologies, like cloud computing and social media, and the new technically savvy generation of workers are key drivers. Business analysts who combine their technical prowess with a broad, enterprise-wide business perspective have the opportunity to lead their organizations to use distributed teams as a competitive advantage.¹

Business analysts are learning they must continually adapt their leadership style when working with large, geographically dispersed, diverse teams involving complex contractual agreements and using multiple methodologies. We use very large dispersed teams to expand our access to the talent we need. However, it is more important than ever to foster creativity and innovation to get the best possible return on project investments. We have learned from new product development efforts and research and development initiatives that innovation teams have unique complexities that require sophisticated team-leadership techniques. In this chapter, we recommend team-leadership practices that can help the complex project leadership team manage the complexities of distributed teams while establishing an environment of adaptability, innovation, and creativity.

WHAT MAKES LARGE, DISTRIBUTED TEAMS COMPLEX?

Complex projects almost always involve multiple layers and types of teams. We are currently seeing an explosion in the use of virtual workers; it is estimated that 70 percent of employees work in locations different from their supervisors. This exponential increase in itinerant workers around the globe has imposed immense complexity onto already stretched team leaders. While virtual work makes a wider pool of talent available to us, it also adds complexity to team interactions and leadership. Complicating factors include unpredictable interactions with team members, integration issues, and leadership and coordination challenges. Some of the other factors that work to increase uncertainty, ambiguity, and complexity in large distributed teams are shown in the right-hand column of Figure 6-1, which describes typical teams and performance factors for projects of different sizes.

On top of these factors, because we need to foster creativity and innovation to survive, leading these teams is more challenging than ever. How can we spark creativity in a team we can’t see? Choosing the most appropriate practices, tools, and techniques when working with multiple contributors who are scattered in different locations across the planet, at the right time, is in itself a complex endeavor. Successful teams are the result of many elements coming together, including team structure, composition, culture, location, collaboration, communication, coordination, and evolution—and most of all, team leadership.

FIGURE 6-1. Project Complexity: Team and Performance Factors

© 2011 by Kathleen B. Hass and Associates, Inc.

It is the job of the business analyst to collaborate with the project manager and other key project leaders to establish the appropriate team-leadership approach. This involves developing a complex and rich assortment of relationships, integrating information in real time, and at the same time, bringing about innovation.

TEAMS ARE ALWAYS COMPLEX

All human groups and organizations are complex adaptive systems; teams are complex adaptive systems within a larger organization (which is also a complex adaptive system operating within the global economy). Leaders of a complex team cannot predict how their team members will react to each other, to the project requirements, to the call for creativity, and to their place within the team and the organization. Team members who have worked together in the past may bring biases or resentments toward one another. Team members who have not yet worked together are likely to reserve judgment and hold back interactions until they learn about each other. This concept, referred to as interactional uncertainty,² theorizes that if there is uncertainty in a relationship, the participants will tend to withhold information and calculate the effects of sharing information. The business analyst must guide the team members through the inevitable early stages of team growth discussed in Chapter 5 toward the certainty that leads to trust and transparency. Then, team members can focus their energies on positive interactions.

THE INEVITABLE INTEGRATION CHALLENGES

In addition to team dynamics, working with many disparate teams almost always leads to integration issues, which make it difficult to integrate interdependent solution components that have been designed and constructed by different teams. This issue is particularly common on innovation teams; different teams use dissimilar protocols, procedures, practices, and tools, which results in work products of varying quality and consistency.

LEADERSHIP AND COORDINATION CHALLENGES

In recent years, national responses to devastating natural disasters, including a large earthquake in Haiti and a massive oil spill and a ruinous hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, have starkly illustrated the consequences of ineffective leadership and poor coordination of large, disparate teams. In the business world, deficiencies in team leadership can lead to rework to resolve integration issues.

FOSTERING CREATIVITY WHEN LEADING DISTRIBUTED TEAMS

To lead multilayered teams, project leaders must understand the potential power of teams, team leadership, and team collaboration, communication, and coordination.

CAPITALIZING ON TEAM POTENTIAL

As discussed in Chapter 5, the team is an essential configuration used to execute strategy, bring about innovation, and respond to crisis in all kinds of organizations. It is up the business analyst, in collaboration with the other team leaders, to exploit the potential of teams. We simply cannot meet the grand 21^st-century innovation challenge without understanding and leveraging the creative muscle of teams.

HARNESSING THE WISDOM OF TEAMS

As we have argued, a team is much more effective than a single person when an organization is navigating complexity and striving for creativity. According to Warren Bennis, “One is too small a number to produce greatness.” Bennis talks about teams as great groups, stating: “We must turn to Great Groups if we hope to begin to understand how that rarest of precious resources—genius—can be successfully combined with great effort to achieve results that enhance all our lives.”³ Along the way, members of these groups provide support and camaraderie for each other.

GREAT TEAMS: YOU’LL KNOW THEM WHEN YOU SEE THEM

In Organizing Genius: The Secrets of Creative Collaboration, Bennis and coauthor Patricia Ward Biederman examine seven “Great Groups” systematically to reveal the secrets of their collaborative genius. These groups include the creative team at the Walt Disney animation studio; the groups at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center and Apple that made computers suitable for home use; the 1992 Clinton campaign, which put the first Democrat in the White House in a decade; and the Manhattan Project, which brought us into the nuclear age.⁴ What did these seven great groups have in common? They were “vibrant with energy and ideas, full of colorful, talented people playing for high stakes and often racing against a deadline … organizations fully engaged in the thrilling process of discovery.” All great groups are engaged in creative problem solving.

A COMMON CAUSE

Bennis demonstrates that in a truly creative collaboration, “work is pleasure, and the only rules and procedures are those that advance the common cause.”⁵ Success is not about the heroics of the team leader, although all great groups have great leaders and often lose their way if they lose their leader. The leaders all seem to have an eye for talent, and the teams themselves seem to attract talent.

PASSION FIRST—GENIUS WILL FOLLOW

Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, suggests we look first for passion, and genius will follow. Recruiting the best talent is absolutely the first step in building a great team. Yes, the leader is essential, but greatness is really about the magic that happens within a group of talented individuals embarking on a critical problem that they are passionate about. An even better way to think of it, Bennis tells us, is that greatness is really a combination of great groups and great leaders. That is what we must learn to create in the business world: great groups and great leaders.

DECISION-MAKING ON DISTRIBUTED TEAMS

According to a host of studies, most successful 21^st century companies have separate new-product teams for design, development, and manufacturing, with members in multiple locations and often in different countries and continents. The proliferation of distributed teams indicates that the barrier of distance has been removed, mostly due to the Internet and the abundance of effective communication and collaboration tools.

According to the research of Mario Bourgault, Jaoaud Daoudi, Nathalie Drouin, and Emilie Hamel, the accomplishments of distributed project teams are closely correlated to the level of autonomy a team is permitted.⁶ However, since traditional models of corporate management are still prevalent and even dominant, it is the natural tendency of management to increase oversight as teams become more scattered. Since oversight reduces autonomy, it is likely to reduce creativity as well. Unfortunately, modern corporate management teams have not yet come to terms with the new management modes that are needed to build and sustain creative teams.

It should be noted, then, that the project manager and the business analyst are likely to disagree about how to manage geographically dispersed teams and how to make decisions within and across teams. The project manager is likely to want to impose a high degree of supervision and control, whereas the business analyst will argue for significant independence and self-sufficiency. To determine the appropriate balance, the business analyst’s negotiation and influence skills become critical for making a case for a management model that encourages a powerful creative climate.

WHEN TO MEET FACE-TO-FACE

Another consideration is when, if ever, distributed team members should meet face to face. People’s preferences about collocation differ. Some studies indicate that distributed teams value face-to-face interaction during the early and final phases of a project, while other studies show that team members prefer not to meet until the project is well underway and roles are more clearly defined. We seem to think that for important decisions, collocation is the ideal. The study by Bourgault et al., however, reveals that “distributed teams are more likely to make good decisions than face-to-face teams because of better communications and better objectivity.”⁷ To make good decisions, the project manager and business analyst must discuss and come to an agreement on how the project team will be organized (distributed or centrally located), whether to make decisions in a centralized or decentralized manner, and the appropriate decision-making processes.⁸

SOLVING PROBLEMS AS A DISTRIBUTED TEAM

The Bourgault et al. study on decision-making within distributed teams revealed that an effective structured decision-making process becomes more important as teams become more spread out. Although the global scale of business, the constant instability and volatility of the marketplace, and the integration of business relationships has led to a rapid increase in distributed teams, the optimal management techniques to oversee these teams have not yet been determined. There does seem to be consensus, however, that structured problem solving and decision-making, coupled with formal communication strategies, are critical for distributed teams. It is imperative that the business analyst and the project manager experiment with different management approaches until the most effective strategies are discovered. Chapter 7 discusses structured problem-solving and decision-making approaches in greater detail.

STRATEGIES FOR DISTRIBUTED TEAM LEADERSHIP

Mario Bourgault and Nathalie Drouin authored a paper titled “How’s Your Distributed Team Doing?” that is well worth downloading and reviewing with the project manager early in a project.⁹ The paper proposes strategies to improve distributed team effectiveness. First and foremost, teams must communicate frequently, openly, and transparently. Because communication is widely viewed as the most important strategy for successful teams, whether they are distributed or collocated, the project manager and business analyst need to spend a great deal of time designing and executing the communication plan, taking into account the differing cultures and styles of the teams. Multiple rich communication channels are required; one size does not fit all.

The project manager and business analyst also must:

USING VIRTUAL TEAMS AS A STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE

Organizations that have adopted the virtual team model are experiencing increased innovation and competitiveness, which are vital benefits in today’s marketplace. Virtual teams do not rely on traditional hierarchies and communication channels. Special business operations teams reach across geographical boundaries, organizational barriers, and cultural differences to assemble a team of experts like no other. According to a report from Cognizant Business Consulting, published in collaboration with The Economist, “Collaborative virtual teams, when used effectively, combine diverse skills to quickly carry out complex tasks and address novel market challenges. They also have the potential to foster more productive relationships with internal and external partners.”¹¹

These virtual teams, whose members are geographically dispersed, often multicultural, and cross-functional, yet who work on highly interdependent tasks, present unique leadership challenges. Leaders of all teams, whether dispersed or collocated, have responsibilities they must fulfill, including communicating the vision, establishing expectations and an achievable strategy to reach the vision, and creating a positive team environment. It can be difficult to carry out these responsibilities at a distance. Arvind Malhotra, Ann Majchrzak, and Benson Rosen conducted research and identified six practices of effective leaders of virtual teams:

USE MULTIPLE COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES

For complex projects involving team members from around the globe, communication and collaboration are the lifeblood of the team. The manner, methods, and frequency of communication are crucial factors in determining the success or failure of virtual teams, so it is essential to develop a communication strategy early in the project. The cofounder and CEO of an Internet start-up in Shanghai suggests, “First identify natural social interactions. Then develop techniques and choose technologies that seem instinctual and comfortable for users.”¹³ Don’t make technology the defining feature of your virtual team management process; technology is simply part of your toolkit.

As the age-old adage suggests, a picture is worth a thousand words. When working virtually, depict your message visually whenever possible using rich modeling tools. Remember that there is no substitute for face-to-face sessions when the team is in the early formative stages or in crisis. Make the effort to travel to the virtual team location to collaborate and build strong relationships that can then be sustained virtually. If your sponsor indicates that travel is too expensive, explain that you can’t afford not to establish a trusting relationship—and it can only be done in person.

USE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION TOOLS

In today’s electronically borderless world, technology is an enabler for us to keep in close touch, manage interdependencies, and resolve issues. Audio conferencing, web meetings, testing, instant messaging, and email are the rule of the day for progress reporting and quick decision-making. Paper-based communication takes on enormous importance when virtual teams are involved since face-to-face communications is limited or nonexistent. Learn the art of keeping adequate documentation without overburdening the team. Formal procedures and processes for communications are necessary to set and maintain expectations.

FOCUS ON WORK CULTURE

According to Michelle LaBrosse, founder of Cheetah Learning, the challenge is not finding the right tools: “The biggest barriers are often around communications and work culture. Ground rules that focus on them can increase your team’s productivity and let you reap the rewards of the virtual workforce.” LaBrosse lists several best practices for working with virtual teams:

By implementing these commonsense practices, virtual teams can be more productive than traditional teams. Cultivate your virtual teams, and they will become a strategic advantage.

MANAGING DISTRIBUTED TEAMS WITH A LIGHT TOUCH

Business analysts and project managers need to develop new approaches to team leadership when using iterative and adaptive project management methodologies (detailed in Chapter 3). Sanjiv Augustine, a consultant, speaker, and trainer who helps companies implement agile management programs, offers several principles and practices for managing innovation project teams that are using iterative, incremental development and adaptable methods:

Agile project management practices include:

USE A STANDARD FORMAL METHODOLOGY

The Standish Group found that 46 percent of successful projects used a formal project management methodology.¹⁶ For complex projects, using a standard methodology while encouraging each team to tailor it as needed, goes a long way toward eliminating undiscovered cross-team dependencies.

Do not overly burden the various teams with standards, but do insist on those that are needed to provide a realistic view of the overall project and to manage cross-team dependencies. Enforce the use of standard collaboration procedures, practices, and tools. Be firm about establishing decision checkpoints that involve all core project team members at critical junctures.

INSIST ON COLLABORATIVE PLANNING AND REQUIREMENTS DEVELOPMENT

Involve all core team members in the planning and requirements processes and seek feedback often to continually improve the performance of the team. Hold face-to-face working sessions during planning and requirements meetings, especially for scoping, scheduling, identifying risks and dependencies, and conducting critical control-gate reviews. Be sure to include adequate time and budget to bring core team members together for these critical sessions.

ACQUIRE STATE-OF-THE-ART COLLABORATION TOOLS

Secure and make easily available the best-in-class mobile tools (cell phones, mobile computing platforms, social media websites, web conferencing, wikis, group chats and chat logs, instant messaging, and other tools that have not yet been invented or are not yet widely available) to enable collaboration and document sharing. It is often best to keep it simple, going with tools everyone knows and uses on a daily basis, as opposed to more sophisticated hardware or software. Two general types of collaboration tools are available: professional service automation (PSA), which is designed to optimize service engagements; and enterprise project management (EPM) tool suites, which are used to manage multiple projects. In addition, provide your team members with personal communication and telecommunications tools so that they feel closely tied and connected. If these tools are an unconventional expense item for projects in your organizational culture, educate your project sponsor on the criticality of collaboration, stressing the need to manage the cross-project interdependencies that are known at the start of the project as well as those that will emerge along the way.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER: WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO THE BUSINESS ANALYST?

Great teams do not happen by accident; rather, they require hard work, planning, a sense of urgency, and disciplined effort to convert a group of people into a high-performing team. For complex innovation projects, the effort is magnified because multiple large, geographically dispersed, and culturally diverse teams are often involved. Leaders of complex projects cease to be business analysts and project managers and become leaders of teams.

What are the elements of superior team leadership? We have discovered that it takes an understanding of the complexities of large, diverse teams as well as a keen realization of the power, wisdom, and potential of teams. To be a great team leader, you must:

NOTES

1. Cognizant, “Next-Generation CIOs: Change Agents for the Workplace,” October 2010: 5. Online at http://www.cognizant.com/futureofwork/assets/whitepapers/Next-Gen-CIOs.pdf (accessed May 2011).

2. Christian Jensen, Staffan Johansson, and Mikael Lofstrom, “Project Relationships—A Model for Analyzing Interactional Uncertainty,” International Journal of Project Management 24, no. 1 (2006): 4–12.

3. Ibid.

4. Bennis and Biederman, 3–4.

5. Bennis and Biederman, 8.

6. Mario Bourgault, Jaoaud Daoudi, Nathalie Drouin, and Emilie Hamel, Understanding Decision Making within Distributed Teams (Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute, 2009): 49.

7. Ibid.

8. Bourgault et al., 40.

9. Mario Bourgault and Nathalie Drouin, “How’s Your Distributed Team Doing? Ten Suggestions From the Field,” 2007. Online at http://students.depaul.edu/~skelly12/Distributed-Teams-Top-Ten.pdf (accessed August 2010).

10. The Teal Trust, “What makes a good team leader?” (undated). Online at http://www.teal.org.uk/et/page5.htm (accessed August 2010).

11. Cognizant, 3.

12. Arvind Malhotra, Ann Majchrzak, and Benson Rosen, “Leading Virtual Teams,” The Academy of Management Perspectives 21, no. 1 (2007): 60–69.

13. Manuela S. Zoninsein, “Less Is More,” PMNetwork 24, no. 10 (October 2010): 42–45.

14. Michelle LaBrosse, “Virtual Velocity: Effective Project Management Gives Virtual Teams the Edge,” February 4, 2008. Online at http://www.projecttimes.com/project-teams/virtual-velocity-effective-project-management-gives-virtual-teams-the-edge.html (accessed April 2011).

15. Sanjiv Augustine, Managing Agile Projects (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall Professional Technical Reference, 2005): 25, 43–186.

16. James H. Johnson, “Micro Projects Cause Constant Change,” Extreme CHAOS 2001 (West Yarmouth, MA: The Standish Group International, 2001): 134.