Develop a program for better global
teaming
Dear ________:
I decided to send this to you in an email because I am up here at
39,000 feet somewhere just past Iceland. Javier says you are the right
person to help us with this. Hope so.
As you know, I am the new head of Global Services. Sounds like a big
job. And it is. We have 8500 people in Global Services now and expect
to grow in the next quarters. Most folks work in Information Technology
planning and execution. My background is in Security/Encryption, so
I'm no training expert. Let's get that settled right up front. This is why
I'm contacting you.
In the past month since I took over, I've been touring the world talking
to our service professionals. Where do they think we are as an
organization?
How are they doing at keeping up with changes in the many fields in
which they work? How do we stand up to the competition? How can I
help them, no matter where they reside?
One theme was emergent. They are struggling with working on global
teams. They want help. They are asking for it.
I want to help them but I don't know how. Javier says you are an
incredible problem-solver, someone who can whip up great training,
but who realizes that not everything is fixed by training.
My charge to you: Tell me what we should do to figure out what to do. I
want to get this right, but haven't a clue what to do. How do I plan for
a program that will meet their needs, help them be more effective on
global and virtual teams?
Let's start with a detailed plan and then, if we're in sync, we'll probably
ask you to help us carry this out. Be clear because I need to see
exactly how it would work. There's this Dutch company that has a
multilingual course that they want to sell us. They have people who are
polyglot who would tour the world offering this course called
something like, "Getting the Most from Global Teaming." Easiest thing
to do would be to just buy it. But should we? Is it best for us to put
these folks in airplanes for a tour of the world?
One other thing: Dagmar, the new CFO, has a bee in her bonnet about
the impact of our efforts. Great if you would also suggest some ways
we could measure if our eventual teaming initiative is effective. If it's
great, we want kudos. If not, we want to improve it. I understand from
