Objectives:
Learn the social and psychological aspects of team development.
Gain knowledge of different organization structures and their influence on the project team.
Analyze the impact of culture on team performance.
Explore generational differences and their influence on team communication.
Preview
The chapter begins by explaining the mind-sets behind team creation, and how to effectively motivate team members. This chapter succinctly advises that all situations are unique and that different techniques must be used to capitalize on the team’s strengths. Type of organization structure presents strengths and weaknesses to project teams, and project managers must be aware and capitalize on their strengths. Project managers must structure their teams to fully utilize individual abilities, and to avoid possible obstacles to team effectiveness. The social and psychological aspects of team development are adequately captured in visual models and accompanying discussion. Another recurring topic that is introduced in this chapter is the impact of cultural and generational groups on team performance. Cultural differences are explained on a variety of spectrums; so future project managers can better understand and empathize with their diversified teams.
As is true with any team that is formed and developed to accomplish a mission or task in organizations, project teams are essential in planning and executing projects by harnessing efforts of multiple disciplines. Ideally, project teams aim to realize unified and collective effort and wisdom through harmony and the presence of a healthy conflict that promotes innovation. However, it is not an easy goal to accomplish in an everincreasing diversity in workplace. As such, project teams are comprised of individuals with varying personality types, different skills and disciplines, experience, motivations, values, ethics, and attitudes. It is quite a challenge to develop effective and efficient project teams.
Motivation for Team Development
Motivation for a team’s effectiveness and efficiency comes from two distinct and different approaches: task related and people related. The task-related approach focuses on the purpose for which the project team is selected, that is, to complete the project scope within the specified cost and time while satisfying customer and end-user needs. The people-related approach develops a cohesive team by addressing behavioral issues in a manner such that project goals are accomplished. In other words:
If one manages task-related issues such as scope, cost, and schedule issues properly, the people-related issues will be taken care of themselves.
If one manages the people-related issues properly, the project objectives or task-related issues such as cost/schedule/scope/quality will be taken care of themselves.
These motivational approaches also underline the importance of both project planning and team development. In other words, both the project planning and team development should occur as an integrated process for project success. Needless to say, both the task-related and people-related approaches are equally important in developing project teams. Depending on the situation at hand, the emphasis on one approach or the other or a combination of both the approaches is likely to lead to team success and provide desired results.
Research studies have identified several characteristics of a team that can help us identify attributes of team structures. These characteristics, their descriptions, and recommendations for teams are captured in Table 2.1.
The team characteristics listed in Table 2.1 have diverging importance in team structure for traditional teams and virtual teams. Of the characteristics listed in Table 2.1, task interdependence encourages project teams to work together collaboratively. Distributed leadership assumes importance for mega projects, whereas focused leadership and directive role of the project manager are of great importance for global projects, specifically during the initial phase of the project.
Different concepts are needed in selecting, structuring, and developing project teams for traditional and global projects. Traditional teams will have plenty of opportunities for social and informal interactions to understand individual and team roles and responsibilities, and to develop cohesion and collaboration among the team members. Global and virtual project teams, on the other hand, depend on technology for their formal interactions, which are mostly task focused. One cannot help but notice that the emphasis is exclusively on people-related issues.
Teams in an enterprise, from the perspective of task-related project management issues, such as scope, quality, cost, and time, can be broadly divided into four types: the proposal team, proposal portfolio team, project team, and project portfolio team. Their purpose and performance measures are shown in Table 2.2.
Table 2.1 Team structure: people related
Characteristics |
Description |
Discrete category |
Task interdependence |
The extent to which tasks and outcomes of individuals’ tasks depend on actions of others |
|
Role structure |
The extent to which
|
|
Leadership structure |
The patters or distribution of leadership functions |
|
Communication structure |
Flow of communication and information sharing among the team members |
|
Physical dispersion |
Spatial location of team members with respect to others |
|
Team duration |
Time period of team’s existence |
|
Source: Adapted from Miloslavic, Wildman, and Thayer (2015); Wildman et al. (2012).
These four teams, with different success criteria, demand different team characteristics such as team structure, team size, team composition, and individual skills of team members. Nevertheless, team structure and team processes discussed in the chapter are relevant to a large extent for the entire project and proposal teams.
Project management literature and research have focused on task-related aspects from the beginning. It is possible that organizations can excel at achieving task-related project management issues by developing and applying sophisticated project management tools, techniques, procedures, and practices for requirement analysis and specifications, and development of scope, schedule, and cost of management plans. However, focus on people-related issues has been gaining importance in the last two decades and it presents greater challenges.
Table 2.2 Team structure: task related
Team |
Purpose |
Success criteria |
Proposal team |
Responsible for drafting a compelling proposal for a forthcoming externally funded project |
|
Proposal portfolio team |
Responsible for having the most relevant suite of proposals in the proposal pipeline |
|
Project team |
Responsible for implementing the project’s deliverable in line with its specifications for scope, cost, and time |
|
Project portfolio team |
Responsible for having the most relevant suite of projects in the project pipeline |
|
Furthermore, project planning for a specific project often involves work with no precedence or previous experience that one can refer to, whereas team development is an ongoing activity that can be continuously addressed and managed using the organization’s team structures and processes to facilitate performance excellence. This chapter primarily emphasizes people-related issues in developing effective project teams.
Past studies on project management underline the value of a committed and effective project team, and presence of organizational processes and structures for making them effective and committed. The research has also highlighted the necessity to continue team building throughout the project, as project teams are transient.
Organization Structure and Its Impact on Project Teams
Organizational structure1 is the sum total of the ways in which the organization divides its people into distinct tasks and then achieves coordination among them. In a similar vein, the project team structure represents a mechanism to assign project tasks to project team members and define interdependency among the task and team members to achieve collaborative and coordinated effort to meet project objectives.
The structure of the project team impacts performance and teamwork. Team structural characteristics include the number of team members, the status hierarchy, roles and responsibilities, and accepted norms for behaviors of the project team members. Some of these factors may vary based on the project size, complexity, and the context in which it operates, and its influence on team cohesion.
Project teams perform in organization structures that can be broadly classified as functional, projectized, and matrix structures. However, recent studies have added more variations to these three basis types of structures.
Functional Structure
In functional structures, each department maintains a strong concentration of technical or discipline-specific expertise. Since all projects must flow through the functional departments, each project can benefit from the most advanced knowledge, thereby making this organizational structure best suited for mass production. However, functional managers maintain absolute control over the budget; as they have flexibility with people and a broad base from which to work, many projects are likely to be completed within budget. Both the formal and informal organizations are well established and levels of authority and responsibility are clearly defined. Because each person reports to only one individual, communication channels are also structured well.
One of the disadvantages is that there is no strong central authority or individual responsible for the total project. As a result, integration of activities that cross functional lines is difficult, and top-level executives must get involved in resolving conflict and making important decisions. Due to power struggles among various functional groups, functional managers tend to support what is best for their functional group or division rather than for the project. The decision-making process is slow and tedious, and many times, ideas will remain functionally oriented with little regard for ongoing projects.
Projectized Structure
In a functional structure, the projects are subordinate to divisional or functional managers. However, in projectized structure, divisions or functions are subordinate to projects.
A projectized structure (Table 2.3) is useful as long as there is a steady stream of projects, work is stable, and conflicts are at a minimum. The main advantage of this structure is that the project manager maintains complete line authority over the entire project. Furthermore, the project manager assigns work and conducts performance reviews. Strong communication channels can be developed that would result in rapid response time.
Table 2.3 Projectized organization
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Project manager has the authority |
The structure might cause replication of efforts |
Team members report to the project manager |
Team members may be retained after the project is complete |
Structure provides strong communication channels |
Discipline-specific competency suffers |
Opportunity to maintain expertise on a given project |
Lack of opportunity for interaction with functional groups |
Decision-making process could be efficient |
Lack of professional growth for project team |
Source: Adapted from Kerzner (2009).
The major disadvantage is the cost of maintaining the organizational structure. Individuals cannot be shared with another project to reduce costs. Personnel then are attached to their projects longer than they are needed because once an employee is given up, the project manager may not be able to get the employee back. At project completion, people do not have a home to return to in the organization. Motivating people is another problem. Equipment and facilities also present concerns and conflicts.
Matrix Structure
The matrix structure is a blend of both functional and projectized structures to varying degrees and the relation between projects and divisions would depend on the dominance or balance of projectized and functional structures. Therefore, the matrix structure can be better or worse in comparison to the other two structures.
Obviously, the matrix structure is the most complex of all organizational forms. Careful consideration must be given to where and how the organization fits in the total organization. Consider the matrix where complex, short-run projects are the organization’s primary output; when a complicated design calls for both innovation and timely completion; where several sophisticated skills are needed; and when there is a rapidly changing marketplace.
No one has a single organizational authority—and yet it works (Table 2.4). There is dual accountability. The project environment and the functional environment cannot be separated; they must interact. Individuals must take direction from both the project manager and the functional manager. Performance reviews generally remain with the functional manager.
Similar to democracy being considered the worst form of government and yet being better than anything else, many consider the matrix organization better than other forms or organization structures. Research results and opinions vary as to which is the best organizational structure for project teams to perform optimally. Under conditions of high uncertainty, a more decentralized structure such as project matrix or projectized structure is preferred and the project team (projectized structure) is the most effective, followed by project matrix and the functional organization is considered least effective.2 Obviously, a projectized structure is the most preferred organization structure because projects are often associated with uncertainty and unknowns. Project managers seeking efficient use of resources and benefit from inter-project cooperation prefer functional matrix.3
Table 2.4 Matrix organization
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
Project manager has maximum project control |
Multidimensional information flow |
Policies and procedures can be set up for each project separately |
Dual reporting |
Project manager has authority to commit resources |
Continuously changing priorities |
Rapid response to changes, conflicts, and project needs |
Management goals are different from project goals |
Each team member has “home” after project completion |
Balance of time, cost, and performance must be monitored |
Source: Adapted from Kerzner (2009).
Individual Roles in Project Teams
Often project teams present different values and expectations of behaviors to complete assigned project tasks. Individual roles—that of a leader, planner, communicator, scheduler, executioner, coordinator, risk analyst, and the like—should be assigned based on strengths of individuals. Personality types and individual strengths such as attention to details, ability to see the big picture, need for success, and fear of failure help us to assign team roles. Individuals can assume more than one role but workload balance is necessary and one has to be careful in avoiding conflicting roles. All the while, it is good to remember that individual roles and responsibilities are assigned for the purpose of meeting project objectives and outcomes successfully.
It is important to define roles and responsibilities of project team members without ambiguity as it would encourage teamwork and reduce conflict. Clear assignments of roles and responsibilities without ambiguity or overlapping responsibilities are important for avoiding conflicts, conflict resolution, and achieving productivity gains. Matching skills and expertise with roles and responsibilities would lead to effective use of project team members and their expertise. It also helps functional managers to understand the project requirements and provide support. Clear definition of roles and responsibilities will also help in establishing an environment of trust among the project team members. A research study4 showed that defining project processes and roles is the first and most important step for managing and leading project teams and projects successfully.
With a primary focus on hard project-management tools and techniques to meet project goals such as schedule, budget, and scope, which is often the case, it is likely that the project manager may lose the sight of a more subjective aspect of managing projects—the team member. Each person brings a unique set of experiences and knowledge to the project team. Equally important are the social and behavioral skills that each individual uses to interact with other team members in forming a cohesive and productive team. A project manager may spend significant effort and funds on team building, only to find that his team still does not reach its full potential due to one or more team members who, either consciously or unconsciously, do not integrate with the team.5 Ultimately, one must remember that project team members must handle people issues well, while crafting/managing the technical issues and project outcomes skillfully.
Social and Behavioral Issues of Teams
Social psychology consents that people have the propensity to categorize other people and things into either same or different.6 Furthermore, our innate tendency to interpret unfamiliarity (difference) as a threat may affect collaboration as unfamiliarity leads to a chain reaction of undesirable attitudes and behaviors. This is an important challenge in managing teams, specifically global project teams, where diversity and cultural differences assume importance in team learning and effectiveness.
The idea of the same and difference concept is prevalent in many aspects of our lives. We look for and align with people of similar age group, same language, same geographical location, similar profession, fans of sports teams, and so on. It is a natural phenomenon and we are generally more comfortable with familiarity and tend to be on a quest for familiarity in unfamiliar situations and places. With many languages, customs, and diverse cultures, Indians demonstrate the same and difference concept in India and abroad by forming associations and networks based on language and region.
When you are in a country that speaks a different language and when you are noticed as a foreign person, by speaking a word or two in their native language could bring a smile and warm response to your question or greeting.
As a project manager, one should recognize and address unfamiliar issues during the initial stages of team development. By identifying and nurturing the same aspect among the team members, project managers can speed up the process of team cohesion and coordination. Needless to say, understanding the social and behavioral skills that each individual employs is critical in developing a productive team. During the forming or initial stages of team, individuals do not instantly become cohesive and unified. Each person’s personal history dictates one’s self-perceptions and exhibited behaviors in social settings. Individuals use these learned behaviors to influence others and to be influenced as well. As teams mature, the emotional reactions of team members tend to synchronize eventually.
The project manager must recognize and appreciate the individual’s social and behavioral journey to develop effective teams. It starts with the development of a unique self-identity and ends with full team integration in a state of emotional intelligence (Figure 2.1).
Figure 2.1 Team behavioral development process
Table 2.5 Team structure and characteristics
Characteristics |
Description |
Self-identity |
Self-identity is a person’s way of defining who he or she is as a unique individual in relationship to the rest of the world. |
Social identity |
Social identity is developed from interactions with a team, wherein both individuals and the team influence each other. |
Group emotion |
Personal emotions can be elevated to a group level to become group emotion. Individuals may perceive the group emotions as being larger and more important than their individual emotions. |
Group mood |
Group mood is a natural extension of group emotion. Emotions are temporary, quick, and reactive, whereas moods last for an extended period of time. |
Emotional intelligence |
Emotional intelligence is a state in which individuals learn not only to observe and to mimic but also to harness and control the team’s emotions to aid in their thought processes. Complete trust is established at this stage. |
Self-identity of a person and the development of social skills begin at birth with family interactions (Table 2.5). The individual strives to learn acceptable social skills, which are unique to his family structure, ethnic culture, and socioeconomic situation. In addition to family influences, an individual’s innate needs can influence his interactions with the team. They are the need for affiliation and the need for achievement. Furthermore, birth order within the family can also predict need tendencies and how much effort an individual will expend to fit into a team. However, as part of a group in adulthood, one may unconsciously revert to the role held within the family group, if group norms are at odds with the self-identity.
Social identity is the process of deriving one’s self-perceptions from an affiliation with a group. An individual, who is associated with a strong and positive group, would internalize the positive attributes of the group as part of his self-identity. However, if the group with which the individual affiliates is weak or has negative attributes, the individual will dis-associate from the group and will revert to one’s previous self-identity. Furthermore, team factors outside of an individual’s control, such as being a member of a minority group, can also influence social identity. Prior relationships between team members, such as acquaintances and friends, can predict team success and team member satisfaction with the team process. Although the team influences the individual, research studies prove that the individual can also consciously modify verbal and non-verbal behaviors in social settings to influence the team. This two-way exchange begins the real process of team building and cohesion.
Group emotion: Personal emotions can be elevated to a group level to transform into group emotion. Positive emotions—such as happiness and compassion—will lead to group closeness and bind the group together. Negative emotions, such as anger and jealousy, will increase anxiety and fear and lead to a desire for avoidance and a disassociation from the group identity. Individuals may perceive the group emotion as being larger and more important than their individual emotions. This sense of shared importance can inspire an individual to take action on behalf of the group that, otherwise, would not be attempted by the individual. Positive group emotions often lead to beneficial results for teams. As a leader, one must display positive emotion not only to influence others in the team but also to elevate one’s status in the team.
Group mood is a natural extension of group emotion that moves teams to the next level. Emotions are temporary, quick, and reactive, whereas moods last for an extended period of time. As an established member of a team, an individual will, over time, detect subtle changes in nonverbal expressions, gestures, or speech of other team members. When a team works together for a period of time, the individual learns to interpret expressions of fellow team members and associates them with feelings or emotions. The individual will then unconsciously mimic expressions in an effort to maintain his or her status within the team. As team members continue to develop and mimic this awareness of each other, the team develops a group mood. Verbal and nonverbal cues are emphasized, recognized, and acted upon similarly by each team member. When teams reach a state of group mood, the members surpass the temporary and fleeting state of emotions. As the team member unconsciously synchronizes self and social behaviors with those of teammates, the focus shifts from the self to the team. At this stage in the team process life cycle, team cohesion is fully functional.
Emotional intelligence: As teams continue to mature, group mood can be elevated even further to the level of emotional intelligence. When a team reaches a state of emotional intelligence, individuals learn not only to observe and mimic but also to harness and control the team’s emotions to influence their thought processes. In this elevated social state, the team, feeling safety and trust among the members, is comfortable in setting standards on positive and negative behaviors. Also, the team as a unit will react to emotional stress easily. The focus of the team is turned back to the individual’s perspective, interpreting and reacting to the individual’s behaviors while maintaining emotional balance. A team that is able to achieve this level becomes self-managed and highly productive. Team members work more efficiently together as a group than as individuals while being acutely aware of individual needs.
Emotional intelligence is considered as the ability to perceive emotions, to access and generate emotions so as to assist thought, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, and to reflectively regulate emotions so as to promote emotional and intellectual growth.7 In other words, emotional intelligence encompasses your ability to recognize how you and those around you are feeling, ability to generate emotion, and then reason with this emotion, ability to understand complex emotions and how emotions transition from one stage to another, and the ability to manage emotions in yourself and in others.
Importance of emotional intelligence for teams: Often perceived as an individual competency, emotional intelligence is necessary for project teams to improve performance and success. Three essential conditions are identified for a group’s effectiveness:8 trust among members, a sense of group identity, and a sense of group efficacy. Due to multiple interactions at different levels, team emotional intelligence is considered more intricate than individual emotional intelligence. Individual emotional intelligence focus is inward whereas a group emotional intelligence is outward, as one must pay attention to emotions of all the members of the group. Characteristics of a model emotional intelligence team are presented in Table 2.6.
Table 2.6 Emotional intelligence team
Team members are aware of other individual team members’ emotions and are adept at regulating them |
Team members do not hesitate to confront one another if norms are broken |
Demonstrate a high level of self-awareness by seeking feedback from within and outside the team |
Work very closely with clients and customers |
Aware of the needs and concerns of people outside the team and use them to develop relations |
Solve problems proactively |
Create resources and allocate time to work with emotions and related issues |
Source: Druskat and Wolff (2001).
In addition to the presence of characteristics listed in Table 2.6, project goals and project deliverables require a unified and collaborative effort from the project team and, consequently, a common commitment is natural to many project teams. Together, all these attributes lead to a self-managed and productive team.
Cultural Issues and Influence on Teams
Depending on the context, the word “culture” assumes different meanings. In the context of teams, culture denotes organizational behavior, social behavior, practices, beliefs, work ethics, and values of team members.
Managing cultural differences is challenging and if not managed well, teams will be dysfunctional. The corporate workforce is becoming increasingly dispersed and diverse, thereby posing challenges to sustain and promote organization culture. Several past studies identified culture as a cause of project failure. Specifically, global projects will have to deal with multiple cultures, and the role of culture in project performance assumes greater importance. The project manager needs to be aware of and understand how culture can and will impact the project performance.
It is common knowledge that culture begins in the family for generations to help create our values, perceptions, customs, and behaviors. For this reason, culture could be different within the same geographical region. Differences in race, religion, gender, and even age can create cultural differences, and such differences can be found within the family and among neighbors. A frequent discussion topic is the communication and cultural gap between Gen Y and Baby Boomers and the importance of addressing it in workplace. From this perspective, culture is defined as the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group. From project management perspective, there is concern about the work culture of an organization. The larger context and its culture are relevant, however. Various definitions of culture are presented in Table 2.7.
An organization culture (work culture) is shared beliefs, values, and practices of individuals or groups in an organization that influence norms and behavior of both individuals and groups of that organization. Development of an organizational culture is usually a slow process and, once developed, it is equally slow to change.
Table 2.7 Definitions of culture
Definition |
Source |
Shared motives, values, beliefs, identities, and interpretations or meanings of significant events that (cultures) result from common experiences of members of collectivities that are transmitted across generations. |
Gabrenya and Smith (2015) citing the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavioral Effectiveness project’s definition. |
“The collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another.” |
Hofstede (1997, 5) |
“... the shared ways groups of people understand and interpret the world.” |
Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1998, 3) |
The culture of a group is a set of shared basic assumptions based on learning by solving problems that proved to be valid over time and therefore, passed on to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems. |
Schein (1993) |
National culture is broadly defined as values, beliefs, norms, and behavioral patterns of a national group. |
Hofstede (1980) |
Shared values, beliefs, and behavioral norms assume importance at an individual level, whereas shared work practices, shared work ethics, processes, and work norms assume importance at the organizational level. Of these work culture elements, processes can be more easily manipulated to influence the work culture.
It is typical to stereotype people’s behavior, work ethics, and other work-related traits based on their native country and, to some extent, based on their geographical region if one is not knowledgeable about that specific country or region. In reality, the issue is more complex and culture varies with every nation in a geographic region such as Pacific Asia and Southeast Asia. Furthermore, one can observe subtle variances among regions within a nation such as South India and North India or Texas and California. There are even subtle differences among various states and among different regions within a nation, not to mention that every individual is different (Figure 2.2).
As can be seen from Figure 2.2, an individual’s culture has several layers of influence. Furthermore, differences among individuals and culture impact interactions among people. So, how realistic are the stereotype assumptions that are often made about an individual, a nation, and a region?
Figure 2.2 Culture—levels of difference among people
Figure 2.3 Culture—levels of difference based on association
There is a need to appreciate cultural differences and individual differences to work well in diverse teams. These differences are wrapped up with differences among professional practices, organizations, industries, and regions,9 and these invisible boundaries divide our world (Figure 2.3). The commonality reduces as you move from the inner circle to the outer circle.
Success in this global economy largely depends on how one navigates through drastically different cultural realities. If not managed well, these cultural variances could lead to failures due to major communication gaps and misunderstandings. It is apt for project teams that manage global projects and virtual teams.
An additional layer of complexity in dealing with multiple cultures is ethnocentrism. Individuals often fall into the trap of ethnocentrism,10 “the tendency for people to evaluate a foreigner’s behavior by the standards of their own culture, which they believe is superior to all others.” Although ethnocentrism can strengthen unity among groups with similar beliefs and cultural values, it can derail relations with people from other cultures. Managers must be aware of this tendency and make a conscious effort to recognize, understand, and address cultural differences in a cross-cultural work environment that is present in traditional projects, and specifically in international and global projects in which people from different countries work together toward a common project goal.
High-Context and Low-Context Cultures
An interesting and important research study has classified national cultures as high context and low context.11 In a high-context culture, contextual elements help people to understand the rules. One cannot take the literary meaning of what people from the high-context cultures say. You need to understand what is unspoken and what the unwritten rules are. Countries with a long history and traditions such as China, India, Japan, France, Germany, Spain, and France fall into this category. In a low-context culture, what you say is what you mean; there are no hidden messages and the chances of misunderstanding are less among people who belong to this culture. Countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, and Netherlands fall into this category (Table 2.8).
Table 2.8 High-context and low-context cultures
Factor |
High-context culture |
Low-context culture |
Openness of message |
Covert and implicit message |
Explicit, simple’ and clear message |
Attribution for failure |
Personal acceptance |
Blame others |
Nonverbal communication |
High |
Low |
Expression of reaction |
Reserved and inward |
Visible and outward |
Cohesion and groups |
Distinction of in-group and out-group. Strong sense of family |
Flexible and open groups. Changing as needed |
Bonding with people |
Strong bonds with affinity to family and community |
Fragile bonding with people with little sense of loyalty |
Commitment to relations |
High commitment to relationships. Relationships over tasks |
Low commitment to relationships. Tasks over relationships |
Flexibility with time |
Open and flexible. Process over product |
Organized and inflexible. Product over process |
One will find that contracts in France tend to be short and much of the information is drawn from the high-context culture. In the United States, contracts are written elaborately by taking into account each and every issue in detail and every possible scenario.
When managing a global project team of diverse cultures representing heterogeneity, it is safe to adapt low-context culture to avoid miscommunication. However, when managing a project team that is colocated and culturally homogeneous, you can adopt the resident culture that could be either high or low context.
Cultural Dimensions
The Global Leadership and Organizational Leadership Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) project, managed by a large group of psychologists and faculty, expanded Hofstede’s original definition of dimensions (Table 2.9).
Erin Meyer (2014) proposes an eight-scale model of cultural spectrum of one extreme to the other mentioned as follows:
Communicating: low context versus high context
Evaluating: direct negative feedback versus indirect negative feedback
Persuading: principles first versus applications first
Leading: egalitarian versus hierarchical
Deciding: consensual versus top-down
Trusting: task based versus relationship based
Disagreeing: confrontational versus avoids confrontation
Scheduling: linear time versus flexible time
Table 2.9 GLOBE’s definition of culture
Uncertainty avoidance: reliance on rules and norms to alleviate unpredictability |
Power distance: expectation for power to be distributed unequally |
Individualism and collectivism: organization and society encourage collective action (institutional collectivism); individuals are loyal to organizations and families (in-group collectivism) |
Gender egalitarianism: collectively minimized gender equality |
Future orientation: individuals delay gratification, plan, and invest in future |
Performance orientation: performance improvement and excellence is encouraged and rewarded |
Humane orientation: individuals are rewarded for being fair, altruistic, generous, caring, and kind |
Culture sets the range on the two extreme points of the scale for each of these eight dimensions, and an individual takes a position within that range. Another important aspect of these eight scales is how people from different cultures relate to one another, not with an absolute position but with a relative position of two cultures. For instance, the way Japanese people are perceived by India and the United States is different because of their relative positions on each of these eight scales. You may find similar differences within different regions of a country as well.
The language of a society and its history influence the communication style that might fall within the range of either explicit or implicit communication styles. People in the United States communicate explicitly, that is, characterized with low-context messages, whereas people from some of the ancient societies such as Spain, India, and Japan communicate implicitly, and messages are to be understood in context. Table 2.10 illustrates this aspect effectively.
Table 2.10 Influence of context in communication
What the British say |
What the British mean |
What the Dutch understand |
I hear what you say |
I disagree completely |
He accepts my point of view |
Very interesting |
I do not agree |
He likes my idea |
I almost agree |
I do not agree |
He almost agrees |
I am sure it is my fault |
It is not my fault |
It is his fault |
This is an original point of view |
You must be crazy |
They like the idea |
With the greatest respect |
You must be a fool |
He respects me/my view |
I would suggest |
Do it as I want to |
An open suggestion |
Not bad |
(Very) good |
Average or poor |
By the way |
The primary purpose is |
Not very important |
Source: Adapted from Rottier, Ripmeester, and Bush (2011).
Culture and Communications
These cultural differences underline the importance of nonverbal communication and listening skills. Specifically, both play a key role when you communicate with a person from a different culture. To be an effective communicator or a successful project team leader in this global economy of diverse cultures and many languages, it is a good idea to learn about the context culture and how the message will be perceived. It is worth investing your time and effort in understanding cultural differences and communication styles when dealing with people from different countries. In some cases, as Erin Meyer points out, it is a good idea to build relations first.
A cardinal rule in communications is to ensure that the message is received as intended. Sometimes, one need not be candid if it adversely impacts the delivery and content of the message. It is not important what is said or how one acts; what matters the most is how others perceive your message. It becomes necessary to adjust the message content and delivery style in line with the culture and context of the receiver of the communication.
Culture and Time: Scheduling Challenges for Projects
Each of us is bound by time. Unquestionably, projects are also time bound. In the context of people adhering to schedules and punctuality, time aspect of cultural differences among countries and regions prompted in defining monochromic time (M-time) and polychromic time (P-time).12
M-time is about doing one thing at a time and requires careful planning and scheduling. Industrialized societies adapted to this time scale. For them, time is specific and real. People, who are accustomed to M-time, allow the time to control their lives. These individuals prefer to be on time for meetings and make their best effort to complete their work on time.
In P-time culture, human interactions and relations are valued over time and materialistic things. Work gets done at one’s own pace, which is often unpredictable. People may not take appointments seriously and often come late. When managing a team of diverse people from different cultures, you need to understand the cultural differences of M-time and P-time (Table 2.11).
Table 2.11 Scheduling challenges
Factor |
M-time action |
P-time action |
Actions |
Do one thing at a time |
Do many things at once |
Focus |
Concentrate on the job at hand |
Easily distracted from work |
Attention to time |
When things must be achieved |
What will be achieved |
Priority |
Put the job first |
Put relations first |
Respect for property |
Seldom borrow or lend things |
Borrow and lend things often and easily |
Timeliness |
Emphasize promptness |
Base promptness on relationship factors |
These differences would impact meetings, appointments, the value that you assign to your time, and daily work schedule, not to mention the project schedule being managed.
In M-time culture, meetings start on time, have a set agenda, and end at a preset time. If there is an attempt to hijack the meeting discussion in a tangential direction, the facilitator takes the responsibility of bringing it back to the issue at hand. Otherwise, the rest of the attendees may not cooperate with the initiator.
In P-time culture, meetings take impulsive directions with no attention to time. When managing the meeting in this culture, one needs to be adaptable and professional to get desired outcomes from these discussions and realize the meeting goals. One needs to be flexible with an open mind and should be an opportunist to steer the meeting in the right direction.
When managing projects, it is preferable to train and realign all the team members to M-time. The best way is to let the team participate in developing a team charter. This will be discussed later.
Culture and Trust
Trust is classified into affective trust and cognitive trust. Affective trust is based on relations in the workplace and is based on emotional closeness, empathy, or friendship. If trust is based on feeling comfortable and confident about a person based on accomplishments, skills, and reliability comprised of consistency and transparency, it is cognitive trust. These two trusts denote task-based and relation-based cultures respectively.
An environment of trust is influenced by the organizational culture that promotes transparency, collaboration, and openness. It ultimately leads to a cohesive project team.
Generational Bias
Generational differences and their consequences are rarely considered or discussed in the context of projects and project teams. More often than not, the current reality is that people from four generations work together in project teams and their work-related differences deserve attention. Given the importance of projects, it is critical that organizations engage people from different generations productively to complete projects.
The term generation is defined as an identifiable group that shares years of birth, location, and significant life events at critical stages of development.13 Different studies identified different time periods and characteristics. While differences exist among studies in the precise years of birth that define the different generations, it is generally agreed that there are four generations. These four generations, ranging from oldest to youngest, are the Veterans, Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y. Furthermore, the past research findings suggest that both similarities and differences exist among all these four groups (Table 2.12).
Veterans prefer job security and are loyal to organizations. They have a good work ethic and show respect to their leaders. Veterans are formal in their attire and use formal style of communication.
Baby Boomers are considered optimistic, team oriented, and willing to go the extra mile. They tend to have great communication skills in impacting organizational change and building consensus. Baby Boomers are often looked upon as mentors in the organization because of their interpersonal skills. However, they are often considered as workaholics and competitive.
Table 2.12 Generations at work
Factor |
Veterans |
Baby Boomers |
Generation X |
Generation Y |
Time period |
1922–1945 |
1946–1964 |
1965–1979 |
1980–2001 |
Generation |
Traditionals Matures Silent generation GI generation |
Boomers |
Post Boomers Baby Busters |
Millennials Nexters Me generation |
Workplace traits |
Strong work ethic Respect authority |
Team oriented Optimistic Value relationships Sacrifice Loyal Work hard |
Practical Pessimistic Maintain work–life balance Technical Independent Adaptable |
Ambitious Maintain self-esteem Narcissistic Technical Independent Multitasking |
Leadership style |
Military chain of command |
Influencing Having high expectations Mentoring |
Practical Goal oriented |
Flexible Adaptable Lack social grace Ambitious |
Motivation |
Value of experience Value of loyalty Value of perseverance |
Demonstration of their ability Bonus and other incentives Value of their contribution |
Work–life balance non-hierarchical structure Time-off as incentive Loyalty |
Higher position Monetary gains Lower need for social approval Innovation |
Learning style |
Classroom On-the-job training |
Classroom instructor focused |
Technology focus Mentors |
Creative thinking Visual |
Source: Adapted from Anantatmula and Shrivastav (2012).
Generation X people invest their efforts for their growth rather than their employers. They are highly adaptable to technology. Generation X people bring a realistic and practical approach to solving problems. They prefer working in organizations that are not very hierarchical in structure and are eager to add value.
Generation Y people are ethnically diverse, global, independent, confident, and adaptive to various situations and multitasking. They often lack loyalty toward their employers, and are prone to taking risks, and may easily switch to other jobs. Members of Generation Y demonstrate higher self-esteem, personal admiration, anxiety, depression, and lower need for social approval. They are technically savvy.
Research has shown that the generation gap is an issue and it is more significant between Generation Y and Baby Boomers.14 The research observed that Generation Y has fewer issues in dealing with Generation X. Specifically, Generation Y is viewed unfavorably and struggles in the workplace due to differences arising out of the generation gap.
Many generation-specific attributes—work values; traits and attitudes; preferences in workplace; communication styles; and attitude toward technology, leadership style, and motivation—will have an impact on multigenerational teams. For example, technology and preferences for the medium of communication are distinctly different for each generation. Specifically, Generation Y focuses on e-mailing or on texting while the other generations prefer phone or face-to-face interaction. Generation Y people are visual learners compared to other generations because they have had exposure or owned a computer at a young age, have had experience utilizing the Internet, and can retrieve any information from the vast and often intriguing sources of information on the Internet. Generation Y preference in using technology extends to the workplace. Thus, from a project manager’s perspective, the use of technology would entice the Generation Y to communicate, and to participate more actively.
In project management, the skills for working together are of very great importance. Therefore, project managers must be open to the concerns of Generation Y, as they learn the organizational culture, and as they improve their domain-specific knowledge. Assigning a mentor to assist the Generation Y in bridging the knowledge gap assumes importance in developing and managing project teams. Lastly, project managers need to address the potential issues associated with generational differences as part of the project charter, and the subsequent kickoff meeting. Clearly defining roles and honing people skills, inclusion, and recognition for younger generations would help in improving team cohesion.
When project managers start customizing the project tasks and goals for the project team by defining roles and responsibilities, it would be helpful to allow everyone to participate in the process. Involving Generation Y in decision making and aligning their professional goals with the project goals would lead to greater commitment to the project, and to the organization as well. It is desirable to incorporate participation, inclusion, and recognition throughout the project management life cycle, but more specifically in the project closeout phase in which lessons learned are captured and important achievements of the project are celebrated.
Questions:
Discuss different motivational techniques.
List the various characteristics of a team.
Explain how project teams interact to complete projects.
Give examples where the different organization structural approaches are appropriate.
Show how individual characteristics have an impact on team structure.
Explore behavioral issues and their impact on project performance.
Examine how generational differences in project teams have their impact on project performance.
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5 Adams and Anantatmula (2010).
6 Wildman and Griffith (2015).