· Consultancy: Processes of Transformation
· Coaching and Teambuilding
· Cultural Integration
Increasing the Success of International Projects
with Project Coaching
The
initial situation: International projects are increasing in number – and
becoming more demanding.
International projects are increasing in number and becoming
more demanding for companies that take up the challenges of globalisation. This
is not only the case for big multinational organisations, but also for smaller
organisations with international locations and partners. More and more
executives are involved in joint ventures, M&A-Projects, Market
introductions, IT-Projects or set-ups of production sites.
The importance of international projects for company
success is increasing. The financial and technical pressure is rising, the
complexity is growing.
International projects bring not only greater
challenges than purely national enterprises, but also very different ones. An
example: cultural factors in personnel- and organisational development are
little known, but must be taken into consideration.
Why
many international projects fail?
(Some
as early as the launch–without anyone noticing)
·
At the beginning a lot of internal
and external knowhow is applied for the definition of very ambitious technical aims
as well as legal constructions and financial agreements between partners. The
construction of a productive project architecture takes place late or not at
all. Project steering is a secondary discipline for which little time and
energy remain.
·
Due to increasing internal and
external participants, decision- and communication paths are complex. New
rivalries, competitions and loyalties emerge: who belongs? Who leads? Who
supports whom? Where is the centre and where is the periphery? Often the time
and energy necessary for the management of this new deal is not allowed for:
the top management is overtaxed with this additional task and the executives
receive little orientation, although they want to, and should, get started at
last.
·
The demands on a project
architecture are very challenging – where are the suitable personnel to come
from? There are few concrete concepts but many fantasies with regard to the
development of occupational challenges and roles.
”Our greatest problem are not the
Chinese but the frustrated German” Hans-Joachim Paul, technical
Director Volkswagen Shanghai
·
There is no planning or
action in the development processes, but people rather rummage around in
individual pigeonholes. Central questions are addressed in isolated training courses and are not the object of continuous
attentive development. Key elements for success are delegated in-house again
and again or contracted out.
·
The concentration
of the management on the current day-to-day activities and the reactions to the
many “surprises” leads to management issues that can prove to be time bombs
being neglected.“
„When any of us acts in a state of fear or anxiety, our actions are
likely reduced to fight-or-flight” Peter M. Senge/C. Otto Scharmer
·
Nobody wants to send “the best” to
foreign deployment, but it is here in particular that they are needed.
”Coaching ability is the most important selection criterion in the
personnel search for
·
The decisive question, “how do we
work together?“ is always shunted to the back.
”80% of all problems do not arise from technical issues, but fail in the
cooperation between people” Martin Posth, Commercial Director Volkswagen
Shanghai.
One can also
say with Amitav Ghosh (slightly modified): „Everyone lives in his own story and
project, Lenin, Einstein, my father…. and every project member. It was just a
question of which one you chose.”
·
The time planning is unrealistic,
e.g. international processes (including “simple” meetings and postal
communication) require exponentially more effort than comparable processes in a
national framework. Nobody takes this into consideration when planning the time
budget. Working in virtual international teams is an expertise that must often
be established.
·
Cheap solutions are sought due to
cost concerns, that later waste a lot of time and energy – and therewith money.
Project
coaching has many advantages …
·
The consultants help the senior
executive to keep an eye on the overall steering of the project. They accompany
as partners; they give food for thought and security.
·
Project coaches know the pressure
that those responsible are subject to and which often leads them assert
themselves with the sentence, “I have everything under control”. Project coaches generate protected room for
honest reflection, in which uncertainty and doubts can be dealt with.
·
The aim is not to lose sight of
basic essentials in the great number of pressing, urgent questions and
decisions.
An
integrated approach instead of working in small corners
The project coaches contribute their experience so
that an integrated approach, over and above the functional-technical
challenges, to the following topics is effective during the course of the project.
The
result: the chances of success for the project and its actors increase
drastically:
·
There is an integrated approach of
project architecture, technical and management design – and practice.
·
Risks appear earlier and the leaders
can concentrate on essential issues.
·
Members develop a shared vision of
the primary task of the project.
·
Members set and meet mutual
expectations and contributions to success.
·
Members develop an appreciation of
cultural standards that enables them to:
o
correctly interpret and anticipate
the approaches of each cooperation partner
o
recognise areas of conflict and
constructively handle them
o
accept different forms of motivation
and commitment
o
exercise power in the complex hierarchy
of the project.
·
All the project members feel much
more comfortable with their challenges on the level of profession, role and
person.
·
For everybody the chance to fulfil
new challenges grows. Why should they repeat all the mistakes of their predecessors
in other projects?
·
Transparency and mutual
understanding become a daily principle.
·
The project is seen by everybody as
an opportunity for professional and personal learning.
·
There are more candidates for the
jobs in the project: the chance to recruit the best increases.
Steps
and Addressees-Groups of the Project coaching
In the first phase:
Ø
The Project Leaders in charge of the
Launch:
on the basis of the Management System and their experience they will develop a
specific answer to their new challenges. They need to think and act for example
in a triangle of Chinese, German and French communication, leadership,
decisions processes …..
We propose continuous accompaniment for the team composed of the project leader
and managers of Operation, Quality, Finance, Human Resources, Technical Support
- and their deputies.
Ø The
Human Resources in
On the basis of the targets of the project launch they have to steer the
national and international mobility within the framework of personnel
development.
In the second phase:
Ø
Accompaniment of the mixed teams in
Ø
Support to the project management to
reflect the experience (the project as a learning organisation)
Ø
Individual coaching and if necessary
specific support in crisis situations
Ø
Continuous loops for the leaders and
employees that join after the project launch
How
learning from experience and guided exchange leads to success and the
contribution of project coaches
Becoming an international
leader or manager is largely a process of learning from experience. We focus
primarily on individual and group experience and expectations. To work better
in an international project does not mean the accumulation of new knowledge but
rather a transformation of the identity, role, attitudes and way of acting. At
the beginning there can be some training and transfer of knowledge to the
project members, but it is most important to support the various levels in an
international project in their exchange. Learning loops for all project members
for example “peer learning groups” are offered. The primary job of the
consultants is to support the leaders in their organisation of the learning
processes along the different phases. The consultants help the leaders to focus
on the management of tasks and of the relationships in the project.
Practical alternatives based
upon the consultant’s experience with similar situations may serve as useful
references. Information about different business cultures will be provided.
Input to topics that arise can be provided by the consultants.
Pfinztal, 14.9.2007
Frühlingstrasse 4 ● D 76327 Pfinztal ●
Tel: +49 – (0) 7240 - 20 66 30
● Fax: +49 – (0) 7240 - 20
66 56
info@holzhauser-partner.com ● www.holzhauser-partner.com
VAT-number: DE
138162916 ● IBAN: DE97 5902 0090 0001 6800 80, SWIFT
(BIC): HYVEDEMM432