Overcoming barriers o collaboraion By Debbie Lawley, Willow Transformaions Trus is he foundaion for eamwork, wheher face-o face or in virual eams. Bu rus is hard o esablish, especially when eams are frequenly changing and eam members haven had long o gel. A Orange, a lack of rus among eams was proving a major hindrance o produc developmen and collaboraion was ofen non-exisen. Here, Debbie Lawley explains how he company overcame his problem and embedded rus a he very hear of is virual eam operaions. CREATING TRUST IN VIRTUAL TEAMS AT ORANGE Debbie Lawley is a specialis in knowledge and learning having been responsible for developing and implemening sraegy in hese fields for he Orange group of companies over he pas four years. Orange is a fas moving business in a dynamic marke and an unpredicable, compeiive environmen. Mobile handses no longer jus make calls bu can browse he inerne, make ransacions sream video and more. Wih changes in charging mechanisms oo, following he enry of players like Skype, he elecommunicaions field is paricularly demanding. A major difficuly is managing he balance beween cos compeiiveness, he need for excellence in delivery o mainain cusomer saisfacion and he drive for innovaion o susain long erm growh. Consequenly, produc developmen in his area is a considerable challenge. In addiion, he complexiies of working in a mulinaional environmen mean ha collaboraion is criical. Boosing collaboraion The focus of knowledge managemen in his area of Orange was on increasing collaboraion and recognizing ha improved performance here would be of subsanial benefi. More innovaion was he main objecive and he virual eam srucure was a key enabler. However, he issue of rus was causing less han effecive co-operaion across hese virual eams. The KM work had o focus on his issue, achieve insigh ino wha approaches work well here and embed hose approaches ino he collaboraive working Orange is he mobile communicaions branch of France Telecom. I ss one of he UK s leading mobile phone service providers and also provides services o 57 million cusomers across 17 counries. www.orange.com program. In his aricle, we ll look a exacly how his happened. A colorful background Orange launched in 1994, he fourh enran in he busy UK marke where is operaions were focused. Produc developmen a ha ime was largely focused in he delivery of calls and nework excellence. Many of he business demands revolved around meeing exponenial cusomer growh. Through advances in mobile echnology and, in 1999, a new owner in France Telecom, he landscape had changed for Orange. Produc developmen had been conduced in he operaing company in he UK. Now as a largely pan- European organizaion, ogeher wih presence in Africa and he Middle Eas, a differen approach was required. The srengh of he brand was a key aspec in he desirabiliy of Orange for France Telecom and ensuring he benefis of he brand were maximized in all he operaing companies was essenial in consolidaing he Orange Group. This mean ha he producs and services coming hrough o delivery in all he operaing companies needed consisency and ye local flavour appropriae o he marke concerned. The challenge was o execue his excepionally well. The KM eam was asked o assis he Orange produc markeing and developmen eams in enhancing produc delivery and innovaion. Working wih he process definiion eam, he KM eam developed several approaches o suppor his goal. 12
KEYPOINTS Virual eams Mos of he people working in produc developmen in Orange Group work in virual eams. The produc manager is usually he leader of he eam. Virual eams are flexible and versaile in many companies bu hey have heir challenges. Few people choose o work in virual eams and ofen, only a criical business issue will force people o collaborae in such a way. Upon analysis, he KM eam found ha he working life of many people in he Group funcion consised of working in several differen forms of srucures, in any one week. Someimes hey would be in heir funcional eams, someimes in colocaed projec work. Bu mos of he ime, people in he produc developmen funcion were working across boundaries, across physical srucures and across reporing lines in virual eams. This is an emerging feaure of global organizaions, especially hose in high ech indusries. The KM eam needed a framework for grea pracice in virual eam leadership. There was precious lile informaion around ha suied he conex a Orange. A he ime, Orange paricipaed in a nework of indusries on he subjec of knowledge and innovaion (KIN), overseen by Warwick Business School where a projec on virual eams was underway and Orange was aking par. The projec s oucome was a series of key poins ha summarized good pracice in his field. The KM eam ook hese poins and added Orange anecdoes and sories o make a source book. This was hen developed ino a collaboraive raining program o include familiariy on communicaion mehods as well as an acionlearning workshop on virual eam leadership. Furher work was underaken o assess specific virual eams using a quesionnaire mehod, repor and coaching. The pilos wen well and aced as an imporan ool in eam building. Trus is a fundamenal componen of eam working. A Orange, a lack of rus hindered produc developmen and collaboraion among virual projec eams. I s beer o form small virual eams wih well defined scope raher han large virual eams wih complex inerrelaionships. Wha you migh aemp wih a co-locaed eam should be simpler and more conained wih a virual eam. Good leadership will build rus hrough merging individual culures ino a eam culure. Preconceived frameworks abou he way a eam should work may ge in he way of aending o local obligaions and requess from disan colleagues a he same ime. Par of he issue was simply in he physical proximiy of virual eams or raher, he lack of i. When groups are colocaed hey inerac in an informal way, ge o know each oher and work up an idea of he repuaion of people, and esablish heir credibiliy or heir rusworhiness. Once dispersal creeps in his ges much harder. Projec eams sar o suffer a lile in his way as ofen some par of he conribuors are no locaed wih ohers and face o face eam meeings go o grea lenghs o ensure ha progress and communicaion are well undersood. Once a eam is compleely virual, all informal conac disappears and he credibiliy of he eam players has o be recognized in differen ways (see Figures 2 and 3, overpage). The role of he KM eam here was o provide specific advice on eam design, aciviies and approaches ha would overcome his issue. Quesions of rus In fac here were hree quesions on rus: Figure 1. The Orange framework for virual eam working The role of rus One of he aspecs ackled in he framework was ha of rus (see Figure 1, righ). The guide and he acion-learning workshop feaured specific advice on he subjec of rus including developing and susaining rus. Furher opics included invesing early in he eam and he role of informal conversaions. However, as more of he program rolled ou and more evidence emerged, i did seem ha his was sill a horny issue and one ha many virual eam leaders were sruggling wih. There was a real desire o learn more abou rus and undersand beer how rus operaes and wha a leader can do o make he difference. 13
CREATING TRUST WITHIN VIRTUAL TEAMS AT ORANGE PERCEIVING PEOPLE TO BE HIGH PERFORMERS REDUCES THE LIKELIHOOD THAT THEY WILL RENEGE ON TASKS AND SO INCREASES TRUST 1. To wha exen is rus imporan for virual eam performance? 2. Wha influences rus in virual eams? 3. How can rus be developed and mainained in virual eams? Happily, a very exhausive lieraure review had already been done by John Gill and David Birchall of Henley Managemen college, UK, in 2004. This provided a useful source of research maerial behind he case sudies and experience a Orange and a grea help in answering he firs quesion. The realiy of life in many complex mulinaional firms is ha mos work is fulfilled in virual eams of one ype or anoher. Many of hese are ransiory and dynamic, wih eam members spending shor periods working wih people where hey may or may no have any previous experience. This mehod of working leads o increased diversiy and poenially high levels of creaiviy and innovaion. On he downside, i can lead o less inerpersonal similariies and fewer common backgrounds and experiences. Frequenly, here are also global needs of he corporae in opposiion o he local needs of he revenue generaing local operaing uni. The fac remains ha rus is he foundaion for all eam Figure 2: Knowlege ransfer among virual eams work, virual or no. In virual eams here are no formal ies and wihou physical conrol of presence, rus is boh more imporan and harder. There s poenial o deliver unique sraegic flexibiliy bu hey have heir dark side in he form of low levels of rus and cooperaion which can impac performance. The research lieraure confirms ha virual eams ha have higher levels of rus ouperform hose wih lower levels of rus. Trus reduces he need o conracualize work or impose checks which slows down aciviy. Increased rus allows as a consequence for work o be organized more quickly, wih more creaiviy and more belief. When hings go wrong, i allows higher levels of empahy in ackling co-operaional problems. In summary, rus reduces coss in working ogeher eiher hrough increased creaiviy or he need for reduced conrol which hen impacs produciviy, while disrus is one of he major coss involved in ransacing across boundaries. (Zucker e al 1996). To counerac his, he job wihin companies is o reduce he perceived disances beween people in virual eams by aligning houghs and acions so we undersand each oher beer, are beer able o use complimenary skills and have common goals. To do his, you need o ask: wha influences rus in virual eams? Vial componens o rus in virual eams Trus is buil upon: perceived abiliy; benevolence; and feeling posiive abou oher people in he group and he group s inegriy. In virual eams, he above can be he produc of sereoypical views of how effecive ha uni is, buil upon hearsay and subjecive criicism raher han fac based or hrough insigh. The condiions ha will affec his foundaion are he qualiy of ineracions beween eam members, he level of inerdependence and he degree of paricipaion and influence. All of his is harder in virual eams and face o face conac remains he mos effecive way of building rus. Being like each oher raises he degree of rus alhough his reduces diversiy (which is he subjec of a differen debae alogeher). Being conneced o each oher and being relian on each oher increases rus bu can impac when ha s a source of sress. The higher he degree of social change in he eam, he lower he levels of rus. Perceiving people o be high performers reduces he likelihood ha hey will renege on 14
Figure 3. The ease of knowledge ransfer On he lef, groups ha are consisen wih members and locaion have less difficuly in collaboraion and knowledge is ransferred wih lile difficuly. On he righ, compleely virual eams and projecs mus be suppored by good managemen, leadership and suppor sysems. Knowledge ransfer can prove very difficul in hese cirumsances. asks and so increases rus. This is a good lesson for all of us if we rea people as hough hey will do a good job, he likelihood is ha hey will. These facs confirmed hree principles o he KM eam keep small virual eams, develop good leadership wihin a eam culure and esablish a common framework for all eam members. Each principle is described below. Principle 1 small virual eams I s beer o form small virual eams wih well defined scope raher han large virual eams wih complex inerrelaionships. Wha you migh aemp wih a co-locaed eam should be simpler and more conained wih a virual eam. A Orange, here were a number of imes where we were aemping very ambiious, corporaewide programs, which were generally very complicaed and we didn necessarily recognize cerain aspecs of he complexiies, because you end only o hink abou he echnical complexiies. Wha you migh no end o hink abou is he complexiies of implemenaion in differen local environmens, wih differen eams and differen infrasrucures all wih a differen way of undersanding. I s only really when you ve hough ha hrough in erms of he levels of complicaion, ha you realize ha wha we inended o embark upon were really very difficul and challenging programs. Of course, he bigger he program, he longer hey las and he more likely i is ha he environmen around you will change. Following a review of a series of large viral eam projecs, i was decided we would aemp o do hings in a much igher scope. I means fewer relaionships o handle and i works on many differen levels. When you look a rus, he more complex he program, he more likelihood is ha you re going o be dealing wih a wider range of people and ha in iself is hard o handle when you re aim is o ge good foundaions of rus. Therefore i s much beer o keep i igher, wih fewer relaionships o handle, and a far greaer likelihood ha you ll be able o develop good, rusing relaionships. The perfec number for eam sizes A good number for a ighly kni virual eam and you have o remember hey end o flex anyway over he lengh of projec so he size of a eam can be differen as he projec progresses bu if you hink in erms of having a hard core of individuals who re conribuors, if you can keep ha o under 10 ha s ideal o keep i nice and igh. When you re dealing wih very large virual eams of over 30 or 40, managing he relaionships can be an unwarraned nighmare. Principle 2 leadership doesn deermine rus from he ouse. Good leadership will build rus hrough merging individual culures ino a eam culure. There are many of insances in virual eams where he level of rus has been poor and because individuals are working only on a local prioriies. There s no sense 15
CREATING TRUST WITHIN VIRTUAL TEAMS AT ORANGE IN VIRTUAL TEAMS, THE WORK REALLY ONLY STARTS AFTER THE FIRST FACE TO FACE MEETING BETWEEN ALL MEMBERS OF TEAM. of join engagemen because people hadn brough in anyhing oher han nodding assen (when people nod round a able in agreemen bu really here s been no engagemen a all). In his siuaion, here s barely any cooperaion and cerainly no collaboraion. As a consequence of ha, as soon as people leave ha able, he local prioriies are he only ones ha ake precedence. Subsequenly, you see behaviors including a lack of reurn e-mails and silence. I s usually silence no hosiliies breaking ou ha you ll find. One of he virual eam leaders a Orange said o me, work really only sars afer ha firs face-o-face meeing. Principle 3 he leader s job is o esablish a common eam framework Preconceived frameworks abou he way a eam should work may ge in he way of aending o local obligaions and requess from disan colleagues a he same ime. The leader s job is o esablish a common framework ha makes sense of all demands and shared objecives. A very good virual eam leader a Orange, who was very sensiive o he needs of how he worked as a leader, asked for his eam o be assessed and reviewed. One of he hings ha came up in he review was he relaions beween he UK secion of he virual eam and a par of he eam in Paris. The eam had conference calls wih he Parisians calling in. The Briish coningen ofen ended o ry and make i a beer meeing by using humor quie a lo. This migh sound like a good idea, bu acually i had a profoundly negaive effec and isolaed he eam members in Paris. This was for wo reasons. One hey couldn see he facial expressions and be par of he humor, bu second of course, Briish humor is very paricular and i s no well undersood by people from oher languages. This is an example where an approach ha seemed o be favorable in one culure had an isolaing effec in anoher. You wouldn necessarily have guessed ha and you only see ha when you ener discussions on how people feel hings are going and ask how engaged people feel, for ha sor of hing o be unearhed. Anoher hing hing is ha you don wan o disinfranchise peopl. In he previous example, i migh have been beer for all paries o be on audio and separae phones, raher han he Briish group ogeher and hen he Parisians separae i would have leveled he playing field. Developing and mainaining rus The las of he hree quesions, how can rus be developed and mainained in virual eams? Many facs emerge from he lieraure and from experience a Orange. For example, he syle of managemen mos likely o forge rus is one ha focuses on measuring oupus raher han managing he process. I s beer o concenrae on he objecive raher han keeping an eye on wha people are up o. In virual eaming i s imporan o manage a wider range of sakeholders including he line managers of he people doing work for you. You need heir confidence and rus. Beer resuls in building rus come from eam se-up and he early sages of eam working focus on building common purpose. I s wise o selec saff ha have a higher capaciy o rus and prefer independen working. Leaders ha have higher capabiliies in communicaion, coaching and are beer faciliaors will do beer a building rus. A specific aciviy ha s required in a virual eam, is he role of he leader in building he credibiliy of he eam players. In oher words, he eam will no inherenly know people by repuaion. I s he role of he leader o esablish in a purposeful way, wha people are on he eam, heir rack records and he naure of heir experise. Gill and Birchall sum his up well: he need for swif rus is essenial his will be based in he firs insance on personal repuaion and credibiliy. Embedding pracice in building rus There were pleny of facs and approaches ha emerged from he research and from summarizing Orange experience. The need was o hen ensure ha hese approaches were embedded in such a way ha i changed habis and ways of working. The collaboraive program iself was easy o adjus, i was jus a quesion of insering maerial ino he workshops ha refleced he good pracice. In addiion o ha, he rus issue was also embedded ino he virual eam assessmens, eam coaching and eam building maerial. The oher key mehod of geing he message ou was o look a sories and case sudies ha refleced his way of working and ensure ha hese were endorsed and refleced upon wihin he company. This included he communiy syle of working, which used many of he echniques above and refleced he changing role of he produc 16
manager from he conroller of he produc roadmap o he faciliaor of he produc communiy. The final par of he rus sory The overall oucome of his approach has been o recognize ha innovaion is born from he qualiy of conversaions ha people are able o have and ha qualiy is impaced by difficulies in he collaboraive climae. An excellen mehod of ensuring ha he rus capabiliy is embedded and furher developed as close o he working area as possible and he overall approach has moved from a simple managemen process o a more cyclical approach wih he building of rus as a planned aciviy a he ouse hrough knowledge build and hen eam formaion. While he change process is sill ongoing, early resuls are encouraging. In an employee climae survey, 94 percen of respondens now agreed heir has been a grea improvemen in he way hey re working. I s difficul o convey how much of change his was. When compared o he siuaion before, which had become a lile bi anagonisic, o a siuaion where people are feeling far more up bea and far more posiive ha working a Orange was a rue collaboraive environmen. Tha was a real achievemen. The populariy of he collaboraive working program has led o a roll-ou o all operaing counries o se he conex for hem, even if hey hemselves are no leading virual eams. The aim is o increase he collaboraive capabiliy of he company as a whole, hrough increased awareness of he role of rus and he mehods available o achieve his. Orange case sudy: improving performance wih rus Karen Sinclair, produc manager for voice Voicemail (answerphone services), had been working wih he counries for six monhs on he voice acivaed services program (VAS). Having buil relaionships wih he counry produc managers (CPMs), i was clear he developmen of a communiy o discuss ho opics, share bes pracice and esablish a bes in class produc would be beneficial o for voicemail. We gain consensus by idenifying where value is added, says Sinclair. When we show by example and ell a sory, people respond o he advanage i gives hem. To build rus in each oher and he global produc manager, i comes from face-o-face ineracion and sharing and showing experise. Sinclair s aim was o ensure he conen of face o face workshops and oher ineracions was relevan and beneficial o heir local role. These evens were considered vial as, on an inerpersonal level, Karen fel i was imporan o esablish relaionships beween in-counry managers o: faciliae bes pracice sharing; and o build rus in he group role so ha hey fel he communiy and group suppored and added value o heir work. Subjec maer expers from design and usabiliy, research and echnical have been invied ino he communiy o provide experise o suppor specific projec work insigaed by he communiy. Resuls have included: moving cerain promps in he voicemail menu srucure delivered a 300 percen increase in voicemail revenue in wo counries, leading o all counries adoping he approach; made life easier for Orange and he cusomer sharing of double billing soluions whils roaming, hrough communiy members has mean ime and resources on implemenaion and huge savings o cusomer; he communiy has responded posiively o having reliable performance indicaors; counries are able o benchmark, he communiy members can idenify examples of good pracice and learn from ohers. In urn, hey can implemen improvemens ha have demonsraed increases in revenue, efficiency and cusomer saisfacion. Conac Debbie Lawley Willow Transformaions debbie.lawley@willowransformaions.com A Orange, he Voicemail case sudy is now he benchmark for his ype of learning and Karen Sinclair is now one of he firs recognized role models (expers) in he company, for collaboraion and eam developmen. 17