course material

1. (Mt) – Wk6&7 Group – 3 Questions
Semester Global Framework Portfolio Group Project SCENARIO AgileHoya, a local
Washington DC software development firm has made plans to expand as a global
organization and will set up project and development teams in England, Brazil, India, South
Africa and Australia. You and your group are the Project Managers who are tasked with the
job to implement this global expansion project. The Global Project Management Framework,
as shown below, suggests good practices required for global projects. Your group must
develop a global project management framework plan as well as an implementation plan
that you will recommend to the CEO. Organizations may need to adapt their cultures,
procedures and technological environment when moving from co-located to virtual and
global project management. 1 Week 1: Research and Study Meet your group members, then
research and study the Global Project Management Framework and prepare to develop
plans and proposals for the AgileHoya expansion. Week 2: Setting Up Global Teams
Overview When forming a cross-cultural team, you must understand the differences in
culture, language and time zones and develop a plan to transform these differences from
challenges into opportunities. Address these considerations in your written proposal: ● ●
● ● ● ● ● ● The outcomes from a 360o analysis of the cultural dimensions on your
project team Do you hire? Plans to set up local leadership and how to deal with challenges
you would encounter with local leadership that is distributed globally? o Comment on
developing local leadership Commitment Motivation Identify the level of trust required
Establishing and maintaining trust and moving towards long-term trust Identify global
sources of conflict Elaborate on relevant global management conflict resolution issues
Leadership coaching and development plan Are management and leadership theories valid
across different countries or should they be validated and customized to consider cultural
dimensions? Deliverable Write a 2-3 page proposal on how you will set up your global
teams. Add mind maps, charts, tables and illustrations to support your proposal. 2 Week 3:
Global communication Overview Global project managers must know the communication
channels between stakeholders and define a communication strategy. Address these
considerations in your written proposal: ● ● ● ● ● ● Identify and analyze the global key
stakeholders Ascertain the global communication channels Guidelines for Meetings and
communication templates Strategies and techniques for exchanging project information Can
the use of communication techniques change the commitment levels of global stakeholders?
How? Can internal politics and social networking be more important than communication?
Deliverable Write a 2-3 page proposal on how you will develop a global communications

2. strategy along with processes and methods. Add mind maps, charts, tables and illustrations
to support your proposal. Week 4: Global organizations Overview International projects can
be structured in different ways. The project manager will have to choose a relevant project
structure based on several complexities. Address these considerations in your written
proposal: ● Identify the project structure and elaborate on the additional benefits this
structure will bring to your global project. ● Main challenges of this structure to your
project and strategies to overcome them ● Recruiting and selecting personnel processes ●
Features of global project offices ● Developing and promoting global project management
methodology ● Design of performance appraisals ● Benefits of the implementation of a
PMO, PSO. What are the negative sides of these structures? ● Evaluation of the use of
telephone and video conferencing to interview and hire candidates. Other alternatives to
select global resources? 3 Deliverable Write a 2-3 page proposal on how you will develop an
international project structure for AgileHoya, along with processes and methods. Add mind
maps, charts, tables and illustrations to support your proposal. Week 5: Collaborative tools
Overview As Global project managers, you must be able to determine which types of tools
are required in your company to foster collaboration on global projects. Address these
considerations in your written proposal: ● ● ● ● ● ● Recommendations for the
evaluation and deployment of hardware and software to facilitate communication over
distance, covering the central implementation of tools within the company and their
installation and setup by project managers and team members. Identification of basic
criteria for evaluating products and services for virtual teams or globally dispersed projects.
Methods and procedures to increase adoption of new technologies Evaluation of the
implementation of selected tools and technologies. Evaluate efficiency of collaborative
project management software, if any. Problem solving when technology does not work.
Deliverable Write a 2-3 page proposal on how you will select, evaluate, test and deploy
collaborative technologies and tools. Add mind maps, charts, tables and illustrations to
support your proposal. Week 6: Collaborative techniques Overview It is important to
understand how the employees perceive the use of various technologies to collaborate and
to identify and evaluate different pain points in the process. 4 Address these considerations
in your written proposal: ● ● ● ● ● In order to achieve efficiency, what practical
recommendations are to be followed when employing the tools? For example, the
establishment of common rules and tips for emails. Identify areas of improvement and
detecting areas of good practices. Troubleshooting techniques when technologies are not
used correctly. Strategies to build constructive behaviors and how they help to increase
collaboration and understanding. What collaborative recommendations are hardest to
implement in which countries and why? Deliverable Write a 2-3 page proposal on how you
will put processes in place to assist employees to adopt global collaboration. Describe how
you will help the global employees adapt their communication style to the different
technologies made available to them. Add mind maps, charts, tables and illustrations to
support your proposal. Week 7: Implementing the Global Project Framework Overview The
implementation of the Global Project Management Framework is most likely to succeed
when implemented in a collaborative and phased manner. Address these considerations in
your written proposal: ● ● ● ● ● Scope of the implementation Implementation strategy

3. selection process and rationale. Advantages and limitations of this selected method. What
can you change? Ways to communicate and enumerate the benefits of the implementation
of this framework to global employees. Recommendations for the next implementation –
lessons learned. Deliverable Write a 2-3 page proposal on how you will implement the
global project framework strategy for AgileHoya, along with the processes and methods.
Add mind maps, charts, tables and illustrations to support your proposal. 5 Week 8:
Semester Project Portfolio Submission Deliverable Assemble your Project Submissions
Deliverables from Weeks 2 to 7 along with all associated tables, charts, graphs and mind
maps into a Project Portfolio Word document to be submitted for grading. This will be your
Global Project Management Framework Portfolio. Week 8: Individual Reflection Paper
Deliverable As an individual, write a 1-2 page reflection on the team project by focusing on
lessons learned through the exercise. ● ● ● ● ● What did you learn? Were you surprised
by anything that you did not expect? What is the biggest challenge that you encountered?
How do you expect that challenge to be magnified in a real-life scenario where personnel
are located all over the globe? Any other deep thoughts that you want to share? Every group
member will need to complete and submit the reflection paper individually. This is not a
collaborative assignment. 6 SCENARIO AgileHoya, a local Washington DC software
development firm has made plans to expand as a global organization and will set up project
and development teams in England, Brazil, India, South Africa and Australia. You and your
group are the Project Managers who are tasked with the job to implement this global
expansion project. The Global Project Management Framework, as shown below, suggests
good practices required for global projects. Your group must develop a global project
management framework plan as well as an implementation plan that you will recommend
to the CEO. Organizations may need to adapt their cultures, procedures and technological
environment when moving from co-located to virtual and global project management.
Please use the Book for Cite
https://books.google.com/books?id=8o1xCMaW6nMC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_g
e_summary_ r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false ● ● ———QUESTION’s (only 2) ———–Can
the use of communication techniques change the commitment levels of global stakeholders?
How? Can internal politics and social networking be more important than communication?
Understanding of Topics and Issues (How the global team was put together) – 25 of 25
points Analysis of All Issues Identified (Critical trap to avoid) — 25 of 25 points Evaluation
(opinions, arguments, evidence in the form of critical success factors) – 25 of 25 points
Recommendations (What would you have done differently?) — 25 of 25 points Please refer
to the Rubric for more detailed descriptions on requirements. Required Headers: Write a
critical analysis on how the global team was put together. Which trap is the most critical to
avoid? Why? What critical success factors were present? What would you have done
differently? Weekly Project Submission Rubric Criterion Score: Excellent (100-90), Good
(89-80), Adequate (79-70), Not Good Enough (69-0) Criterion Description Score Weight (1-
100) Depth of Study Gathered information includes the basics of the topic and an in-depth
study of the topic. Information is organized in a logical manner to support the conclusions. X
0.25 Project Analysis and Application X 0.25 The deliverable demonstrated knowledge of
the course content by integrating major and minor concepts into the response. The

4. deliverable also demonstrated evidence of extensive research effort and a depth of thinking
about the topic. Shows insight from drawing conclusions from information gathered.
Required Components Response includes all components and meets or exceeds all
requirements indicated in the instructions. Each question or part of the assignment is
addressed thoroughly. All s and/or additional documents are included, as required. X 0.25
Supporting Diagrams Diagrams (referenced if necessary) are included that aid in the
communication of gathered information. X 0.25 Maximum Points: 100 THESE ARE
EXAMPLES FROM LAST YEAR PLEASE DON’T COPY BUT SHOULD HELP YOU KNOW WHAT
THEY WANT FOR ANSWER: THEY LIKE CHARTS AND VISUAL GRAPHICS EXAMPLES
Communication techniques change the commitment levels of global stakeholder We believe
that communication techniques can change the commitment levels of global stakeholders
for several reasons. If there are established communication techniques for the entire project
from the beginning this will ensure that the stakeholders are informed and know what to
expect when communicating scope, cost and performance metrics to the team. “Global
projects will benefit from a standard method, to be used by all project team members”
(Binder, 2007, p. 109). It is important to standardize this from the beginning of the project
because it allows all project team members to understand how to communicate and what
communication channels to use as they are working through issues on the project. When the
communication channels are not clear, stakeholders may not feel as engaged with the
project and feel as if they are operating alone. In a global environment where everyone is
geographically separated utilizing video or when conferencing technologies as the
communication technique is preferred. “The main objective of video conferencing is to
improve trust on global projects by allowing a visual contact among the participants”
(Binder, 2007, p. 192). Utilizing these web conferencing tools and established channels will
increase trust amongst global stakeholders and build that commitment that is necessary for
a successful project. One strategy we feel is effective is a project status dashboard that
outlines an overall status, time/schedule, costs/budget and resource status of the project
(see figure below). This type of slide can be used to start every project meeting to ensure all
global stakeholders understand the status of the project and how their role in the project is
developing over the course of the project. Displaying information about the project in this
manner requires input from all stakeholders which increases that commitment because
individuals on the project would not want to start a meeting in a negative manner because
their segment of the project is behind. Can internal politics and social networking be more
important than communication? At AgilaHoya, we believe that internal politics and social
networking play an important role in analyzing stakeholders and understanding how to
communicate with the right stakeholders on a global project. We believe that internal
politics and social networking are of equal importance when it comes to global project
managers understanding of communication channels with these stakeholders. Identifying
stakeholders at the beginning of the project and having global team members in different
countries provide additional information on these stakeholders is key for establishing these
proper channels (Binder, 2007). Once these stakeholders are identified, as the project
manager we must learn how to communicate with these stakeholders. “The project
manager can build on the local knowledge of the participants of the brainstorming session

5. to identify and document the stakeholders’ characteristics that depend on their status and
geographical location, and can determine their expected behavior” (Binder, 2007, p. 83).
Once this is completed we can decide on if internal politics is more important than
communication because in some countries this may be true but in others it may not be. As
with all activities in a global project, there is not one right answer for each country. Every
culture and every country bring their own level of uniqueness to the project and project
managers must understand this in order to effectively communicate with all stakeholders
involved. AgileHoya Effectively Forming a Global Company: United States, Brazil, United
Kingdom, South Africa, India and Australia Contents Executive Summary Presented by:
Melissa , George Ty Mayberry and AJ Team Building, Avoiding Ethnocentrism 4 6 Global
management conflict resolution issues 6 Level of trust required 7 Establishing and
maintaining trust 7 Global sources of conflict 8 Global management conflict resolution
issues 9 Leadership coaching and development plan 9 Global or customized management
and leadership theories 9 Global Key Stakeholders 10 Global Communication Channels 11
Meeting and Communication Templates 12 Strategies and Techniques for Exchanging
Project Information 13 Project Virtual Room 13 Communication techniques change the
commitment levels of global stakeholder 14 Can internal politics and social networking be
more important than communication? 15 Identify the project structure and elaborate on the
additional benefits this structure will bring to your global project. 15 Main challenges of this
structure to your project and strategies to overcome them 16 Recruiting and selecting
personnel processes 16 Features of global project offices 17 Global Project Management
Methodology 18 Design of performance appraisals 18 2 PMO and PSO, Benefits and
Challenges 19 Visual Conferencing Interviews v. Traditional Face to Face 20 Evaluation and
Implementation of Unified Communications 21 Prior to cloud technologies a typical
engagement may follow these steps: 22 Cloud Technology has simplified the deployment:
22 Basic criteria for evaluating products and services for virtual teams or globally dispersed
projects 24 Methods and procedures to increase adoption of new technologies 25
Evaluation of the implementation of selected tools and technologies 27 Evaluate efficiency
of collaborative project management software, if any. 27 Problem solving when technology
does not work. 28 Practical recommendations to be followed when employing the tools 28
Areas of improvement and detecting areas of good practices 30 Troubleshooting techniques
when technologies are not used correctly 31 Collaborative recommendations and Difficult
Implementations 34 Global Project Framework 34 Implementation strategy selection
process and rationale. 35 Advantages and limitations of this selected method. What can you
change? 36 Ways to communicate and enumerate the benefits of the implementation of this
framework to global employees 36 Recommendations for the next implementation –
lessons learned 37 Conclusion 39 References 40 3 Executive Summary As AgileHoya moves
forward with our plan to become a global company with newly formed offices in Brazil, the
United Kingdom, South Africa, India and Australia, we must establish a plan for managing
our worldwide expansion that considers all of the factors that will contribute to making it a
success. When we consider that according to the Project Management Institute, 122 million
per 1 billion dollars spent by companies on project implementation are wasted because of
poor project management, AgilaHoya will need to commit to a very thoughtful and strategic

6. project plan for our worldwide corporate development (PMI, 2016). Further, a global
expansion of this magnitude will require that the project implementation team consider
several additional factors, which differ from other projects that we have undertaken, to
include; organizations, locations, languages, cultures and time zones. For this reason, the
project management team proposes the use of the Global Project Management Framework
(see figure below) as the method for managing our global expansion to ensure that it is
completed in a holistic manner which accounts for all of the challenges that come with
forming a worldwide team (Binder, 2009). To provide some background, the proposed
framework of best practices for global project management considers five strategic areas
that should be considered to help with the creation and management of multicultural,
multilingual, and geographically dispersed teams like we are charged with creating for
AgileHoya. While the Global Project Management Framework consists of 25 different
knowledge areas that should be considered by the project team and while we may not apply
all of them to AgileHoya’s expansion, the project team should reflect on all of the areas to
determine where our greatest risks lie and look to mitigating them from the very start
(Binder, 2009). Firstly, we will need to build our global teams, by understanding how we
want to develop them. For example, we will need to be cognizant of the cultural nuances of
our team members, and the dynamics between how cross-cultural teams will work
together. This will certainly involve our project management team needing to utilize
standard or develop customized approaches to conflict management and resolution, trust
building and coaching and mentoring (Binder, 2009). Secondly, we will need to think
creatively about our global communication strategy (Binder, 2009). We will need to better
understand our internal and external stakeholder communities, establish rules, guidelines
and templates for best communication practices, master techniques for global team
engagement, strategize on relevant information sharing across team and stakeholder
groups, and be creative about brainstorming sessions and idea generation (Binder, 2009).
The team will also need to think of the challenges and opportunities for our newly formed
global organization from the structural and human resources prospective. We must
consider how we want our global teams to be structured, and understand what challenges
we will face when building our 4 global networks (Binder, 2009). Additionally, we will need
to adapt our internal processes to account for differences in issues such as human resource
management, performance appraisals, consistency across business units, and the
availability of training and coaching (Binder, 2009). Finally, the last two categories on the
Global Project Management Framework, which are interrelated, are collaborative tools and
techniques (Binder, 2009). Our AgileHoya project team will need “to evaluate the
requirements, investigate different solutions to satisfy these needs, and then select,
implement, and provide basic training on the chosen technologies” (Binder, 2009). We will
for example need to decide which technologies will work best for effective collaboration
and also be the most likely to be adopted and used by our teams. For example, we should
investigate audio, video and web conferencing tools. Additionally, we should consider
project management and knowledge sharing tools to inform the project teams and organize
the implementation and find ways to encourage their use (Binder, 2009). Finally, we should
create best practices and rules around their implementation to ascertain that they are used

7. efficiently and effectively (Binder, 2009). The scope of AgileHoya’s global expansion is quite
large and potentially very complicated, but if we use the holistic approach that we are
proposing, we will be in a better position to mitigate the risks associated with a project of
this scale. We will need to assess our progress throughout the implementation and plan on
using a maturity model to track our progress. Finally, we will need to underscore the
importance of self-evaluation and reflection and include lessons learned as a key
component of the project. Our complete proposal addresses the Global Project Management
Framework in great detail, and illustrates why AgilaHoya should follow this methodology to
ensure that our global expansion will be a success. 5 Team Building, Avoiding
Ethnocentrism Building a global project team will be challenging from both a human capital
and logistical view. A full view of the project reveals we have five countries around the
globe including England, Brazil, India, South Africa and Australia. As the project team
leaders, we have deployed five team members to each location. The goal is to gather in
person data and get a better understanding of the ethnocentricity towards our corporation,
community and team members. Ethnocentrism defined by Webster’s Dictionary as the
evaluation of other cultures per the preconceptions originating in the standards and
customs of one’s own culture is a human capital factor that needs to be addressed to open to
doors to trust. Trust will not be gained from being on the ground, but it removes obstacles
that could cause issues later in the project. Obtaining information from each of the countries
allows us to set a normalized list of expected outcomes and timelines for all team members
to follow. This also provides a standard to be measured against for performance
evaluations. The standard is the standard, if we can find a common language of expectations
across the globe that will remove another obstacle towards trust. Trust needs to be
developed over time with focus on the three pillars of trust: Ability, Integrity and
Benevolence (Blakey, 2015). No matter the region the goal will remain understanding what
makes our team members feel empowered and productive. Understanding Power Distance,
individualism, community and other cultural differences will be critical to building the
criteria for the perfect candidates we will interview. India for example views the family and
community is more important than the individual compared to the United States where our
culture celebrates individuals who rise above the crowd (community) and “stand out.”
Leaders in the United States may misunderstand silence for weakness which is not what
may have been intended by our Indian counterparts. In India the best mode of
communication may be through the most senior leader on the team, as team members may
feel better communicating through their direct superiors versus speaking to senior
leadership (Schuler, et al, 2011). Considering the “Dimensions of global projects”
represented in the graphic below, will be a key component for AgileHoya’s development
into a multi-national company (Binder, 2009). Global management conflict resolution issues
This challenge makes the choice of local leadership the most critical hire. The leader in each
country will need to have a blend of autocratic and democratic leadership qualities. The
goal is to get the most out of the talent we have in market, so understanding what motivates
our team members and providing them a voice or a conduit to a place to voice their opinion.
Autocratic leadership is needed when setting the pace and communicating the project plans,
but democratic leadership is needed to garner feedback on the plan and timelines for the

8. project. We will have challenges we cannot overcome with time zones and work schedules
so our plan is to make the work schedule equally bad for all. Every week we will rotate to
ensure one team in not disadvantage with work time and that will mean each team member
6 can experience what it means to sacrifice time after normal business hours, but also make
sure that each team member can also take the time needed after business hours to recharge.
Our goal is to motivate our team, celebrate the small victories and look at the final deadline
as a finish line Level of trust required Since AgileHoya plans to globalize, the need to gain a
deeper understanding and to identify the level of trust that will be required to build a
successful global team should be a consideration from the very beginning. Best practice tell
us that there are several factors that we should consider when determining how much trust
will need to be built between the key stakeholders. First we must look at the complexity of
our mission and how much risk is involved in developing the global presence that we desire
(Binder, 2007, p. 52). The more complex, the broader the scope and the greater the risk to
the company, the more trust we will need build between our global units and teams.
Secondly, we must understand how AgileHoya hopes to operate in the global environment
(Binder, 2007, p. 52). If we are planning for projects to cross international boundaries, than
we must work to establish trust between teams despite potential cultural, linguistic or
geographic difference. Since our strategy is to build our global team across five nations, we
must work to incorporate “team-building exercises” in lieu of the traditional social
interactions and activities that are a natural part of single-location working environments
to bridge the social divides and foster trust (Binder, 2007, p. 52). Additionally, we need to
consider the cultural difference that may exists between the countries involved, and find
ways to remediate them through diversity training and fostering cross-cultural
understanding (Binder, 2007, p. 52). Finally, it is important for us to remember that newly
formed teams make take more time to fall into a rhythm than teams in our Washington DC
office, who have worked together on other projects (Binder, 2007, p. 52). Establishing and
maintaining trust Since establishing and maintaining trust in such a widespread global
organization can be challenging, key stakeholders from across the globe will need to
institute a plan for bridging these gaps. As one of the 7 first steps towards building trust, we
should host a face-to-face or virtual meeting for all of our teams to establish the goals and
mission of AgileHoya (Binder, 2007, p. 55-59). From the beginning, frequent communication
should be established between the teams, and a schedule of standing meetings determined
to help keep them synchronized and abreast of what questions, issues or progress are being
seen throughout the organization (Binder, 2007, p. 55-59). Maintaining open lines of
communication will foster trust between the different branches of the company. In the long-
term, we should continue to find ways to bridge gaps that can occur, such as teams feeling
or seeming more powerful or important than others to the rest of organization (Binder,
2007, p. 55-59). Our managers will need to find ways to encourage open discourse, healthy
disagreement, a fostering of ideas, cultural understanding and an overall sense of belonging
for all teams regardless of their location. Promoting a culture of respect, inclusion and trust
can be accomplished, through methods such as standing meetings, brainstorming, frequent
training opportunities and mentoring (Binder, 2007, p. 55-59). Global sources of conflict In
global projects and teams, conflict can come from a number of sources such as location,

9. organization, language, time zone and differences in culture (Binder, 2007, p. 62). Although
this list is far from conclusive, one or more of these sources of conflict will likely impact the
culture of a team and ultimately the project. Cultural differences impacting global teams
tend to amplify differences in points of views and/or perspectives. It can be difficult
mediating such conflicts as language barriers often cause misunderstandings which in
themselves have to be resolved. For example, time zone differences oftentimes cause
meeting times to be scheduled outside normal workings hours (for a least part of a team or
group). A lack of consideration for the difference in time zones can cause an impact to a
team or individual’s work-life balance causing inefficiencies and ultimately, conflict.
Compromise or the alternating of meeting times between time zones can help to share the
potential burden and alleviate such a problem. Additionally, Project teams working in
foreign countries may be impacted by ethnocentrism, which is the evaluation of other
people and teams based on standards established by their own culture (Binder, 2007, p.
62). This can be a specific source of conflict as the consideration and appreciation of the
differences in cultural perspective are often overlooked. To overcome this, the project
manager (or other responsible party) must make a point to establish common criteria that
includes cultural differences for the purpose of project reviews and evaluations. Power
Index by country (Binder, 2007): 8 Global management conflict resolution issues Sources of
conflict can vary drastically from team to team and by location. The resolution for such
conflicts can vary as much and can often cause issues of their own. It is well known that
teams go through several stages as they form and mature. Conflict resolution is dynamic
and situational and will likely transition through stages as well. Global conflicts can cause
risks and issues in a project and must be tracked accordingly. Conflict mitigation plans must
be executed in the same way as other risks and issues. They must be managed at the right
level frequently reviewed for effectiveness. Global project teams are more commonplace
today, and therefore, effective global conflict management and resolution is critically
important to a project’s progress and its success. Including risks and issues derived from
these global sources in the project’s risk register will help to ensure they are realized,
monitored, remediated or resolved. Recognizing and appreciating the value of
multinational/cultural teams is paramount but the true value isn’t realized until all facets of
global team are able to contribute in effective and beneficial ways. The team and project’s
success are dependent on it. Leadership coaching and development plan “Global project
managers can improve the performance of distant team members by adopting a coaching
style and encouraging them to think for themselves” (Binder, 2007, p. 69). In order to
establish this type of culture we must set up efficient and useful tools to support this
coaching across geographical boundaries. One of the first things we will establish is a
knowledge exchange, as the coach we will teach our coaches about project management
tools and techniques and use our expertise to help increase their knowledge. In turn, they
can provide us some contextual knowledge on the local culture, languages and working
practices (Binder, 2007). Once we understand the methodologies we will be using and the
local culture, we can coach these individuals to utilize their knowledge of the local
environment to fit into the project management frameworks we have taught them. This is a
critical aspect of the leadership coaching and development plan in that we should assist

10. these leaders to adapt the project management framework to fit their local environment. It
may not be ideal to attend planning and collaboration sessions in person with these leaders
but the meeting and collaborative tools we establish will allow us to observe these leaders
in action with their local employees. This will serve as an opportunity to provide feedback
on the techniques these leaders are using and how they can improve or sustain it. Our
coaching plan will follow the four stages of effective coaching, “the establishment of the
context for coaching, the creation of understanding and direction, review of learning and
completion” (Binder, 2007, p. 71). Global or customized management and leadership
theories Management and leadership theories should be validated and customized to
consider cultural dimensions. Our text states, “The main characteristics of a good leader are
valid for most countries and cultures” (Binder, 2007, p. 48). This sentiment is true however,
we should adapt some of these characteristics to fit the global environment we are
operating in. The way a leader operates in India is not the same we should expect in South
Africa or here in the United States. The biggest thing to consider here is the different
cultures across these different countries involved in this project. The diversity on this
project can be an asset but also can be a pitfall we must acknowledge and prepare for. “This
diversity can sometimes be the source of conflicts and misunderstandings, and project
managers must apply some basic rules and practices to take advantage of the cross-cultural
communication, and 9 to avoid its pitfalls” (Binder, 2007, p. 2). This is why we believe that
validating and customizing management and leadership theories to fit cultural dimensions
is critical to the success of the project. One management theory will not be effective in all
these different countries, we must establish a baseline or foundation of our leadership
styles but once that is established each leader in the different countries must build on that
to fit their respective country. Global Key Stakeholders As a global company, AgileHoya will
need to look beyond our traditional borders to understand who are stakeholders are in our
new multinational organization. It will be the job of our Global Team Leader to identify our
key stakeholders and to ascertain their roles and levels of commitment to making our global
expansion work. Best practice for developing a stakeholder list would be for the Global
Team Leader to gather information from our Senior Management Team, to rely on feedback
from our local team members in each of the countries, to potentially regional specialists
who know the local business climate and cultures, to consult with documentation,
publications or other written materials about the communities, to review other global team
implementations in these countries to learn what will work and what will not work, and
finally to gain an understanding of the organizational structures that are in place that may
have an interest in the success or failure of our venture (Binder, 2007, p. 82). Brainstorming
sessions with local team leaders will also help our team leaders better understand the
climate and power structure and to better assess and document perceived stakeholder
behaviors. Our Global Team Leader should use this information to: 1. Determine the types
and levels of political, social, economic or organizational power for each stakeholder
(Binder, 2007, p. 83). 10 2. 83). Understand and find ways to measure the influence level of
each stakeholder (Binder, 2007, p. 3. Define how stakeholders fit into the different cultural
dimensions (Binder, 2007, p. 83). Once this is achieved, our Global Team Leader will need to
analyze stakeholder feelings about the project to better be able to manage our relationship

11. with them. This can be accomplished by having brainstorming sessions with the key project
constituents such as local team leaders, senior managers or outside consultants/specialists
(Binder, 2007, p. 83). The information collected in this session will enable our Global Team
Leader to understand how each stakeholder feels about the project and work to manage
and/or balance their reactions. Finally, once our team leader understands the stakeholders
and their positions relative to the project, interviews should be conducted to substantiate
these facts. It is at this point that a Global Stakeholder Registry can be created for the
project (Binder, 2007, p. 87). Global Communication Channels The PMBOK® Guide suggests
that, “the project manager should consider the number of potential communication
channels or paths as an indicator of the complexity of a project’s communications” (PMI,
2004). Because our team will be working with a global team stationed across six countries,
that will likely only meet face-to-face one or two times a year, it is extremely important to
understand how these teams communicate and establish best practice for ensuring that
communication happens in the most productive and comprehensive way. First we must
work to understand the various and numerous communication channels that will exist for
our global community. The more locations and stakeholders involved the more complex our
communication plan will be (Binder 2007, p. 87). Finding ways to reduce the number of
communication channels that are open, by perhaps assigning projects to certain teams
versus expanding them globally, can help eliminate some of the back and forth that will
occur between locations (Binder 2007, p. 87). While the teams will still be responsible for
communicating their progress to the entire global team, the day to day interactions can be
limited to that segment of the organizational structure. Once we better understand the
complexity and breadth of our global stakeholders, we will be able to better assess how our
communication channels should be managed. The figure below illustrates how complex
communications channels can be across multiple locations (Binder 2007, p.88, figure 6.3).
11 Meeting and Communication Templates Meetings with our global team will be
challenging due to the physical distance, time zone differences and workday challenges. In
addition, religious holidays, personal time off and as we are learning here in the United
States this winter 2018, sick days are causing collaboration to be difficult. Due to the
challenges meeting in real time may be difficult so there are communication techniques and
templates that will allow the global team to collaborate in the time when an all hands
meeting opportunity is not available. Our minimum requirement is a live all hands meeting
at least once per week at 8:00 AM local time across our team members’ countries on a
rotating schedule. This meeting will occur on Wednesdays and will ensure no one is
working on a non-business days, but every team member will have to work at some point in
the rotation after business hours. Creating a project virtual room and publishing project
information, key milestones, outstanding items and overall project performance will help to
keep team members informed. Team members will also know what their tasks are in the
outstanding items section. Like the time zone challenges in the United States, global visual
and collaborative tools help keep data flowing in real-time and allow each member to meet
anywhere, anytime. One of the most important and critical items that should be addressed
in the meeting and communication templates is security. Secure space to collaborate openly
without the threat of ideas or designs being stolen is paramount. As the team searches for

12. meeting templates we must only consider tools that have native encryption, Cloud Access
Security Broker (CASB) and behavioral analytics. AgileHoya’s software is the lifeline of the
company, protection of intellectual property and human capital collaboration with the most
secure application tools available is critical. BlueJeans, Zoom or iMeet from Premiere Global
are tools that address the concerns for the challenges using multiple endpoints in a visual
conference. The technology adjusts the video codec to ensure a 12 clear video signal
without interruption. These tools allow content to be shared as well as a visual of each team
member. Having a shared space for the project template or the living and breathing
document that lets everyone see the progress of the project and the timeline for completion
of tasks. Strategies and Techniques for Exchanging Project Information One of the biggest
challenges with project teams (especially those that span the globe) is being able to
effectively communicate project information. Almost every facet of a project needs to be
shared with at least one other person or team. A project can consist of thousands of pieces
of information and tasks. Building and maintaining a project management information
system that is capable of managing the vast amount of project information, restricting
access to sensitive information (when necessary), and open to cross-border data
restrictions can be quite a feat. Software licenses, system and hardware requirements must
also be considered. Depending on the type and size of the project, it must be determined to
what extent project information must be collected and shared. A Global Project Binder could
be created to hold vital project information (Binder, 2007). In some organizations, project
information must be maintained or archived for some period of time based on regulatory
requirements. Larger projects will require collaboration systems like Microsoft Project
Server, SharePoint, or perhaps Atlassian’s Confluence software suite to manage project
information. The project plan and charter, risk/change management plan, communication
plan, and work breakdown structure (WBS) are just a few of the artifacts that need to be
managed and shared. Having the appropriate system (based on the needs of the project)
capable of exchanging critical project information when and where it is needed is
paramount. Having the right level of detail and the ability to retrieve a consistent and timely
audit trail is vitally important. Based on the stakeholder/communication plans, routines
must be established to ensure the right people get the right information (to the right
degree) when and where desired. A robust project information management system can
help to automate these tasks. The overall project’s success is dependent on getting this
right. Project Virtual Room The Project Virtual Room must have the following tools and
access to these tools for every team member as there may be 24 hours of work being done
by team members across the globe: 1. Visual Conferencing Tools 2. Collaborative Tools 3.
Real-Time Interaction tools like Google Documents allow teams to work simultaneously in
shared resources Folders from Enterprise Box.com or SharePoint allow for a collaborative
folder to avoid hitting email sizing quotas and keeping documents secure. 13
Communication techniques change the commitment levels of global stakeholder We believe
that communication techniques can change the commitment levels of global stakeholders
for several reasons. If there are established communication techniques for the entire project
from the beginning this will ensure that the stakeholders are informed and know what to
expect when communicating scope, cost and performance metrics to the team. “Global

13. projects will benefit from a standard method, to be used by all project team members”
(Binder, 2007, p. 109). It is important to standardize this from the beginning of the project
because it allows all project team members to understand how to communicate and what
communication channels to use as they are working through issues on the project. When the
communication channels are not clear, stakeholders may not feel as engaged with the
project and feel as if they are operating alone. In a global environment where everyone is
geographically separated utilizing video or when conferencing technologies as the
communication technique is preferred. “The main objective of video conferencing is to
improve trust on global projects by allowing a visual contact among the participants”
(Binder, 2007, p. 192). Utilizing these web conferencing tools and established channels will
increase trust amongst global stakeholders and build that commitment that is necessary for
a successful project. One strategy we feel is effective is a project status dashboard that
outlines an overall status, time/schedule, costs/budget and resource status of the project
(see figure below). This type of slide can be used to start every project meeting to ensure all
global stakeholders understand the status of the project and how their role in the project is
developing over the course of the project. Displaying information about the project in this
manner requires input from all stakeholders which increases that commitment because
individuals on the project would not want to start a meeting in a negative manner because
their segment of the project is behind. 14 Can internal politics and social networking be
more important than communication? At AgilaHoya, we believe that internal politics and
social networking play an important role in analyzing stakeholders and understanding how
to communicate with the right stakeholders on a global project. We believe that internal
politics and social networking are of equal importance when it comes to global project
managers understanding of communication channels with these stakeholders. Identifying
stakeholders at the beginning of the project and having global team members in different
countries provide additional information on these stakeholders is key for establishing these
proper channels (Binder, 2007). Once these stakeholders are identified, as the project
manager we must learn how to communicate with these stakeholders. “The project
manager can build on the local knowledge of the participants of the brainstorming session
to identify and document the stakeholders’ characteristics that depend on their status and
geographical location, and can determine their expected behavior” (Binder, 2007, p. 83).
Once this is completed we can decide on if internal politics is more important than
communication because in some countries this may be true but in others it may not be. As
with all activities in a global project, there is not one right answer for each country. Every
culture and every country bring their own level of uniqueness to the project and project
managers must understand this in order to effectively communicate with all stakeholders
involved. Identify the project structure and elaborate on the additional benefits this
structure will bring to your global project. Determining the right structure for project
management will be critical to the project’s overall success. Considering the global and
multi-cultural nature of this project, special consideration will need to be given to
requirements gathering and their interpretations. It has been decided by our project team
to use a methodology our text describes as distributed project management with local
coordinators (Binder, 2007). 15 This structure tends to be the most effective for global

14. projects. In this methodology, local coordinators manage teams with planning and
execution responsibilities and are the central points for local reporting. Each of the
countries in our project will have a local coordinator responsible for their respective work
packages and deliverables. These local coordinators will report to the project manager as
defined in the project communication plan. Managing project teams in this way can be very
beneficial. It allows multi-country/cultural teams to work globally yet have the benefit of
working collocated with other team members building a sense of camaraderie. Additionally,
project teams can express themselves and their cultural diversities in the work they do as
long as project requirements and expectations continue to be met. Main challenges of this
structure to your project and strategies to overcome them Although the distributed project
management with local coordinators structure is most ideal for most global projects (and in
particular, our project), it is not without challenges. Considering the number of countries
and their global positions, it will be critical to implement a unified collaboration system for
timely, consistent, effective communications. The project’s success will be dependent on
getting this right. Training among the project team will be paramount. Understanding and
appreciating each other’s culture will be of utmost importance. Cultural training (to
included diversity and inclusion) must be given the attention it deserves. For some, this will
be the only experience one team gets or learns about another. There is no room for
misinterpretation among the teams. Each location will have to be empowered to deliver
their respective part of the project with the same expectations across the teams.
Collaboration (both formal and informal) will make the difference in this project’s success.
It will be a challenge to construct a single system that is capable of supporting all the
distinctive and diverse requirements from all the country’s project teams, but it will be
necessary to do so. Understanding the project’s expectations and requirements, knowing
the progress of project deliverables, knowing who to communicate a report to, or where to
log project risks are all part of this collaboration system. Not only will it have to be
developed, but it will have to be trained to across the globe and maintained globally. This
may be the toughest challenge yet. Recruiting and selecting personnel processes Our
recruitment process will follow a standard process to ensure we attract the right candidates
for any open positions. We will examine candidates both internally and externally, striving
to avoid having insider bias for any one position. Our job descriptions will cover the
necessary information such as “the mor responsibilities of each team member or project
manager, the specification of the professional experience and skills required by their roles,
the potential sources of candidates, reporting positions, salary and grade levels” (Binder,
2007, p. 143). Once the job description is developed we will move to the recruitment of
internal and external employees. As mentioned above, the focus here will be to find the best
candidate for the personnel regardless if they are internal or external. Key factors will be
determined based on the position and the need for local resources or if the position can be
filled by 16 someone working remotely. As we move into selection, the nature of a global
project will require us to conduct interviews remotely in most situations. We will use audio
and video collaboration tools in order to obtain as close to a face to face interview feel as
possible. All personnel involved in the interview will complete an interview assessment
form (see figure below). All members of the interview team will share the results of the

15. assessment form with each other and make a collaborative decision on the candidate. We
will identify some key topics that are important to the position prior to the interview to
ensure these questions are addressed during the interview. Our goal of this recruitment and
selection process is to ensure we find qualified individuals in a fair and efficient manner.
Features of global project offices There are a plethora of features of global project offices
that provide strategic control of global project and programs. The four major features are
“knowledge management, management of portfolios, management of programs and projects
and support to program and project managers” (Binder, 2007, p. 157). The knowledge
management services of the global project office are the centralized consolidation of
documentation, resources, and issue tracking. We will utilize our global project office to
support a standardization of knowledge to track the time, budget, and quality and customer
satisfaction of projects in different countries. I think out of the other features the other
major feature we will take advantage of is the support the global project office can provide
to other program and project managers. Since we are operating in a distributed with local
coordinators project structure, it is important this feature of the global project office is
taken seriously and cultivated correctly. We will engage in monitoring and health checks,
coaching and mentoring, training, corporate project management methodology, good
practices and standards and instruction on collaborative tools and techniques (Binder,
2007). This will all be conducted to ensure that the different countries and personnel
operating on this project are prepared to face any challenges they may face and understand
where to receive assistance from a centralized location and centralized group of individuals.
17 Global Project Management Methodology As a newly expanded global organization,
AgilaHoya will need to develop and promote a global management methodology that helps
to guarantee that our team members across the globe share and “collaborate using
compatible methods, techniques and procedures” (Binder, 2007 p. 167). Without a global
management methodology in place, AgileHoya runs the risk that we are unsuccessful in
coordinating and synchronizing our projects across our worldwide enterprise. Because are
teams are located throughout the globe and will be required to work together on projects,
our project management team will benefit most from our leadership establishing and
distributing the standard methodology throughout all branches of the organization. To
establish our best practices and institute our approach to global management, we should
begin by creating a task force under the direction of our PMO and include local or regional
experts to highlight cultural or other differences that need to be considered as part of the
established methodology (Binder, 2007 p. 167). Additionally, we should look to our newly
developed locations to see what practices are already in use and understand if any can be
incorporated into AgileHoya’s overarching methodology (Binder, 2007 p. 167). Because our
expansion is in its infancy, we should also look towards other global companies to
understand what established practices have worked for them. Our methodology must be
defined and promoted throughout the organization, by creating a website and other
documentation that considers things like language differences, creating training and
coaching sessions and usable templates for the project teams (Binder, 2007 p. 168). Finally,
to ensure worldwide adoption of our global management methodology, managers from the
PMO should immediately begin using it and promoting its use throughout the organization

16. (Binder, 2007 p. 168). The mind map below illustrates the factors that will go into
developing our methodology. Design of performance appraisals In order for AgileHoya to
“to promote equal evaluations and opportunities” for our employees working throughout
the world, we should adopt a 360G performance appraisal model (Binder, 2007 p. 168).
This 18 type of appraisal model will promote equity within the organization and allow for
feedback from various stakeholders across the organization. For instance, an employee
working on a project for AgilaHoya that crosses global locations, will have the benefit of not
only having insight from their direct supervisor, but also the project manager who is
heading the project in the other site. We will need to institute an evaluation format that
includes feedback collected via emails, text appraisals, or more complex survey formats to
better collect feedback from our stakeholders across the globe (Binder, 2007 p. 168). We
must decide which stakeholders will be included and whether we wish to include a self-
assessment component in our evaluation structure. While often times beneficial to the
evaluation process, selfevaluations may be more difficult for members of some cultures
than others. Some examples of areas we may include in our assessments to assess employee
skills, knowledge and performance can be: cross-cultural or team leadership skills, conflict
management and coaching skills and techniques, and participation in knowledge sharing
and brainstorming events or meetings (Binder, 2007 p. 168). Moreover, we will need to
evaluate employees, adherence to the company’s policies and procedures and their skills
working with global teams (Binder, 2007 p. 168). Below please find an example
performance survey questionnaire. In addition to setting up our 360G performance
assessment model, we will need to institute a global rewards initiative to compensate
individuals or teams for strong performance appraisals or for the successful completion of a
team project (Binder, 2007 p. 171). Besides annual raises, we will need to determine
whether additional compensation should be awarded in the form of monetary payment,
such as bonuses, or more responsibility or participation in higher-level projects. In order to
successful institute a rewards initiative, we will need to continue to consider local laws or
customs, cultural differences and power distance before deciding on a one-policy fits all
approach (Binder, 2007 p. 171). PMO and PSO, Benefits and Challenges Project Management
Office (PMO) and Project Support Offices are used in corporations without clearly knowing
what these offices do or what the benefits are. PMO is an entity that is involved in the
creation 19 of the business strategy and portfolio of its organization, while PSO is meant to
support the project team members in their daily work onsite where they are operating
(Soulard, 2008). PMO aims at supporting the project managers to develop themselves and
to meet the strategic objectives of their organization. The Project Support Office will
facilitate the daily work of the project team members so they comply with the requirements
of the environment (Soulard, 2008). The benefits of implementing a PMO for a large
organization is developing a universal standard process and language for all project team
members to execute against. The PMO is the source of documentation, guidance and metrics
on the practice of project management (Binder, 2007). The central command center for all
projects will ensure that all every enterprise modernization project has the same project
management standards, steps and order that can be repeated. There is a significant startup
cost when investing in launching a PMO, so from a cost perspective PMO only makes sense

17. for large global organizations. PMO is also building a standardized universal set of
steps/language, so the best return on investment is for large complex projects. The
drawback with these structures are they are expensive, time consuming and very complex
to launch. This combination has some large organizations shy away from this structure.
Additionally, the resources required to keep a successful PMO are some of the most
technical and certified project management professionals in the industry which drive wages
up. Project Support Offices (PSO) is one of a central pool of skilled resources to provide the
roles of Project Support such as clerical support configuration and continuity of standards
across all projects. A successful PSO does not exist without a PMO in place. PSO require
boots on the ground in the local offices to remain close to the project team and
stakeholders. This makes the PSO cost prohibitive for smaller organizations. The PSO
Manager should be PMP Certified, and the PMO Manager at the very least should be PMI
certified (Soulard, 2008). The benefits of a PMO/PSO will pay immediate returns on
investment for complex global enterprise modernization projects. Visual Conferencing
Interviews v. Traditional Face to Face In the fast-paced global economy things move quickly,
the need to connect with potential employee candidates require nontraditional methods to
interview. Expatriates are on the rise and interviewing these candidates mean finding video
conference rooms, mobile connections and audio conference 20 bridges to get through the
interview process. The average interview process requires three meetings before a decision
is made, for executives and highly technical roles the number of interviews increase.
Interviewing a candidate half a globe away requires visual and audio collaboration for the
early part of the process and in-person interviews to finalize the process with an offer of
employment. The Visual Conferencing tools have improved over the years which can be a
great replacement for in person interviews. Visual collaboration tools like Training Center
allow for pre-interview testing with real-time results for the interviewer to have during the
interview. Visual tools can bring a new wrinkle to the interview as these web tools are how
the new employee will likely interact with the global team. Using these tools will show how
proficient the candidate is with the applications they will use daily. Visual interviews also
allow for easier scheduling of executives, as they only need to be near a device to connect in
via video or audio conference. The alternative to using visual tools is the traditional in-
person interview which could require mobilization of resources and realistically will slow
down the process or worse shorten the pool of candidates to a region or country. Trying to
get candidates to a company headquarters will be costly and can eat into the budget quickly.
Using visual tools allow an interviewer to talk with candidates anywhere in the world so
long as they have an endpoint device with a camera and internet connectivity. Evaluation
and Implementation of Unified Communications The ability, or inability to communicate is
an important factor in project success or failure in global projects. Organizations are
challenged with finding the best solutions for their global teams that work on different
continents, speak different languages and have different obstacles to overcome due to their
21 countries infrastructure. The ultimate goals of the hardware and software deployment is
to increase productivity and security, reduce costs and minimize risks. The costs are
sometimes confused with pricing, but they are two different arguments when trying to
increase productivity; the need to invest wisely in emerging technologies is not always

18. inexpensive. Measuring a company’s return on the investments should always be part of the
evaluation of services. Cloud technology has been a disruptive force in the hardware and
software industry by creating a new and innovative way to unify a global communications
team for a lower cost of deployment and lowering the total cost of ownership. Prior to cloud
technologies a typical engagement may follow these steps: · Choose an office location for
workers to share space and resources locally · Find connectivity options for data and
internet connectivity · Select a phone system, handsets and voice provider · Select hardware
and software options for computers, networking, file sharing and storage · Select a
Professional Services organization to install the physical services (1990s office -left;
powered by wires and cables from a telecom closet – right) Cloud Technology has simplified
the deployment: · End user receives a mobile device, notebook or tablet with Login
credentials · A hosted, managed or virtual desktop is loaded with all necessary applications ·
Voice services are delivered via an application downloaded from Google Play or the Apple
Store · No professional services needed 22 (Virtual Desktops that run on any endpoint
device that has internet connectivity; apps fully loaded) (Virtual Office Mobile, the ability to
have an enterprise voice system on a mobile device) Evaluating options requires an
agnostic consultant, resource or advisor to provide the organization with access to critical
information about the options available and the ability to ethically compare the options
against each other. Is cloud the best option for the organization or do they use traditional
methods to deliver their technology? Is the company focused on Capital Expenditures or
Operational Expenditures? What are the infrastructure and connectivity challenges in the
countries being deployed? The case(s) for cloud services are customers looking for
scalability, remote managed services or the ability to manage infrastructure from remote
locations and flexibility. If the project fails, cloud services can be “spun” down and
organizations only pay for what they use. In contrast traditional on premise services that
are paid for in capital expenditures will need to be moved and the costs are sunken. Does
the organization have the capital to survive an investment that does not work out? These
are additional questions that need to be asked. Ease of use is one that is overlooked, but it
critical in evaluating and ultimately implementing a solution. Cloud has transformed end
user expectations, the need for in depth training is replaced with the need to spin up
applications/resources quickly so a project can run. They 23 expect the office to run like
their mobile phone asking questions “I can share my photos and files with friends using
box.com, why is there not a version I can use at work?” Cloud brings the bleeding edge into
an enterprise environment that is safe, scalable and cost effective, but evaluation
requirements will tell an organization if they need bleeding edge or slow and steady. (The
office of the future, no need for phones or tower computers just a desk and port to plug in
endpoint devices) Basic criteria for evaluating products and services for virtual teams or
globally dispersed projects To successfully become a global company, AgileHoya will need
to identify basic criteria for evaluating products and services to manage our projects and
teams dispersed throughout the world. Our basic criteria will obviously include
“functionality and stability” as key factors for any product that we look to employ as a
management, communications and/or knowledge sharing tool (Goncalves, 2005).
Additionally, we should consider the following elements: 1. Cost of the product should be

19. investigated and reviewed for things such as licensing, maintenance fees, and support
(Goncalves, 2005). 2. Ease of use for stakeholders, which should include how easy it is to
use, install and support should be evaluated. Additionally, the product will need to be
flexible enough to deal with different languages, time zone and cultural considerations
(Goncalves, 2005). 3. Security will need to be considered. We will want a product that
ascertains our data is secure, and our systems require user authentication, have
transmission security, and auditing capabilities (Goncalves, 2005) 24 4. Strong
administration capabilities for data backups and recovery, data updates, version control,
and to be location specific (Goncalves, 2005). 5. Flexible technical integration for either
other internal (accounting, billing, etc) or external systems (suppliers or customers) must
be investigated. We should also ascertain that we have access to the published APIs, that the
system is scriptable and will allow us to make modifications, that it will interface with other
standard products and that it is modular (Goncalves, 2005) 6. Being a fit for our
organizational needs is of the utmost importance. While we should flexible enough to
change our processes when it makes sense, we should not need to rework our entire
organization based on our software choice. Some key considerations would be can we
model our organization with the tool, can we easily build and assign stakeholders rights and
permissions within the system, are there templates available to make the process standard
across the organization and finally is there the ability to create workflows (Goncalves,
2005). 7. Distribution will be a core element of the systems that we choose. We must make
sure that the software is compatible for use by all of the branches of the organization, and
will the system architecture support our global distribution. Finally, there will need to
sufficient channels available for communication and data transfer within our global
organization (Goncalves, 2005) Finally, we must work to be an organization that places
communication of individuals at the highest possible level of consideration as we build our
global company (Goncalves, 2005). Facilitating the ability for our dispersed teams to
communicate and work together effectively will mean the difference for us between success
and possible failure of our organization. Methods and procedures to increase adoption of
new technologies While it is important to select the best technologies possible for our
company, AgileHoya will need to make sure that these technologies are adopted across our
global organization (Knight, 2015). It is not enough for us to select what we consider to be
user friendly technologies to support our organization, but we must find ways to promote
their use by our global teams and key stakeholders. Perhaps one of our most important
steps towards getting our global teams to adopt our chose technology, will be to
communicate why it is important to the organization to do so. Educating users about where
the points of failure can happen if important discussions or development are happening
outside of the system will help to gain their acceptance of the importance of using the
product to manage our projects and operations (Knight, 2015). Additionally, creating an
influencer working group of enthusiastic team members who are interested in promoting
the new systems and would like to share ideas about ways to encourage its usage would be
a way of finding more creative ways of institutionalizing the new software (Knight, 2015).
Key influencers may be able to imagine methods for not only promoting the usefulness of
the new system, but also find ways to make it more fun or interesting for employees

20. (Knight, 2015). Training will also be a key component of promoting the adoption of our new
technologies within the organization (Knight, 2015). At first we should arrange frequent
training sessions for users throughout the various branches of the company until all users
feel comfortable with the new systems. We will 25 need to keep at least one training session
a month on the calendar for any new hires as well as for any updates to the system that will
affect user behavior or interaction with it. We may also depending on our user population
need to adopt one-on-one training for key stakeholders warranting more individualized
attention. Once we are ready to begin using the new system, we should work to
institutionalize its use among our groups and teams across the world (Knight, 2015). Local
project managers should be required to use the software and insist on the adoption of the
new system by their teams. Additionally, we should find ways to highlight teams that are
successfully using the system and we may consider a rewards system for groups or teams
that fully begin using the new software to manage their projects (Knight, 2015). In a further
effort to institutionalize the use of the new software, we should establish cut-offs for using
the old methods and perhaps if necessary consider penalties for users who are refusing to
adopt the new system as the way that AgileHoya conducts business on a global level
(Knight, 2015). While this is not the preferred method of the company, we must impress
upon our employees that failure to use the system could cause negative consequences for
the organization as a whole. Finally, as the product is rolled-out and adopted by user
communities, user evaluations can be key to gaining an understanding of how users feel
about the new system and what leadership can do throughout the organization to improve
upon certain features to make them more user friendly. By soliciting user feedback, we are
establishing an additional open channel of communication and helping building trust within
our organization (Binder, 2007). The following is a mind map of the possible activities
involved with adopting of new technologies: 26 Evaluation of the implementation of
selected tools and technologies Identifying the right set of tools and technologies to support
global project and program management can be tremendous task. There are a lot of criteria
to consider and a lot of options to choose from. Determining the right fit does not have to be
a guessing game; rather, using a systematic process for evaluating collaborative project
management software tools can help get closer to an ideal solution. However, once a system
(or systems) are implemented, an additional evaluation will be necessary to measure its
performance against expectations. Using the same criteria and assessment survey that was
used in determining the collaborative project management software to use for our project,
we can measure its progress and success. Considering the global nature of this project, it is
likely there will be glitches and setbacks as part of the system implementation. Executing
the implementation plan and having a solid training program will help to minimize such
impacts. Using the results from post-implementation survey will help to determine if course
corrections are necessary. One of the biggest challenges in this area is actually conducting -
implementation evaluation in the first place. Oftentimes, projects teams get caught up in the
timeline (and the work) and neglect to take time to evaluate how things are going. Being
able to use concrete data to demonstrate before and after survey results may help to prove
such an evaluation is not only necessary but can be helpful (and perhaps healthy) for the
project’s success. It takes a commitment for success to truly benefit from a post-

21. implementation evaluation. The data may show that significant (and often costly) changes
are necessary. Here is where the “commitment” will be tested. Will the project team do what
is right and make the necessary changes? Or will it take the easy route and continue
business as usual? Hopefully, the recommended changes won’t require a significant shift
and will be easy to implement. If at first we don’t succeed, try, and try again. We can’t be
afraid to change. Evaluate efficiency of collaborative project management software, if any.
Once we select and implement our project management software it is imperative that we
evaluate its effectiveness and make improvements as needed. Collaborative tools and
software are not things that you can implement and then leave without considering post-
implementation activities. It is highly likely that on a global project there will be changes to
the project, turnover of personnel and perhaps an entire scope change. This will ostensibly
impact the tools we use and possibly force us to change the software. Even if the drastic
situation as described in the previous sentence does not happen, we still must continually
evaluate the tools we are using as the project progresses. We will evaluate the effectiveness
of our tools by conducting a survey (similar to the survey we conducted to implement the
tool) and assess the results (see Figure 1.1). “The results will serve as a basis for the
preparation of a strategy to correct the problems, improve the usability and increase
adoption” (Binder, 2007, p. 214). It is important to consider two important factors when
evaluating the effectiveness of our tools. We must ensure that when assessing the
effectiveness of these tools that we are doing so at all levels of the project team. This cannot
be an exercise that only involves project team leadership, we must ensure the 27 tools are
effective for everyone involved in the delivery of the project. Secondly, the usability factor is
an important aspect to consider and possibly the most important factor. This is why when
assessing our tools we must understand why users are not using certain aspects of the tool
and if it is because of usability we must work to improve that so we are getting the most out
of the software. Problem solving when technology does not work. Technology is not perfect,
there will always be potential issues and situations may come up where the system will not
work. Systems failing are not the fault of an individual or the team. We must have systems
in place to help project team members troubleshoot their issues at the individual user level.
In order to ensure team members can react accordingly to issues we must create
troubleshooting guides for individuals to use when common issues arise. We will develop
this guide through multiple members of the team developing mini guides for potential
issues they experience with the system. We will consolidate these individual guides into one
large guide and distribute to the team on our knowledge sharing tool. This will serve as a
single hub for troubleshooting the tool and also a knowledge repository where individuals
can contribute and add information on how they fixed potential issues. This will facilitate
group think and ensure that issues are not systemic across the project team, if one team
member experiences an issue with the technology they should add to the troubleshooting
knowledge sharing repository so that other team members do not experience the same
problems. Practical recommendations to be followed when employing the tools As
AgileHoya expands throughout the globe, we will need to create and promote guidelines
and best practices for our teams when using collaborative tools to mitigate any possible
“misunderstandings and conflicts” that can arise from poor communication (Binder, 2007,

22. p. 219). For this reason, AgileHoya will need to consider how to best facilitate
communication and establish a framework around our 28 collaborative tools. We must
consider all forms of communication such as email, telephone, audio, video and web
conferencing, knowledge sharing and collaborative tools to construct our best practices
going forward. The following list of best practices, while not exhaustive will provide a
starting point for our leadership in building a communications framework which will lead
to increased efficiency in our communication. 1. Email communications: Common rules and
tips for email communications must be established. For example, encouraging employees
not use slang or difficult to translate idiomatic expressions in their written communication
will promote better understanding across multi-lingual global teams (Binder, 2007).
Additionally, we should encourage team members to pay attention to time differences when
sending emails, use out of office messaging when appropriate, and acknowledge or respond
to messages within 24 to 48 hours (Binder, 2007). Finally, email should not be used to
transfer large files or sensitive information (Binder, 2007). 2. Telephone communications:
Communication by telephone should be used to “replace emails on quick and timely
communications, to understand concerns, feelings and motivations of global project team
members, to discuss sensitive matters, to solve conflicts and to build trust” (Binder, 2007 p.
222). Best practice would suggest only using telephone communications when a quick or
urgent matter needs to be addressed (Binder, 2007). Team members should pay attention
to the schedules of the people they are calling, time differences, and etc. before placing a call
(Binder, 2007). Leave voicemail messages when appropriate (Binder, 2007). Finally, if
sensitive matters will need to be discussed over the phone, then the caller should confirm
that their colleague understands the nature of the call and is able to speak freely (Binder,
2007). 3. Audio, Video and Web Conferencing: Many of the best practices surrounding all of
these types of conferencing will be fairly similar with slight variations depending on the
media being used. In general, to have successful virtual meeting, the meeting should be
scheduled with advanced notice with invitations sent to participants, the meeting host will
need to set a reasonable time expectation for the meeting (2 hours audio, 3 hours video),
provide the agenda beforehand and then stick to the meeting topics, and set-up the
necessary technology needed for the session in advance of the meeting (Binder, 2007). This
may require additional testing sessions in advance of video and web conferencing (Binder,
2007). Additionally, there will be additional requirements for host and attendees, such as
introductions of meeting attendees, speaking slowly and clearly and avoiding topics that are
not on the agenda (Binder, 2007). If using video or web conferencing particular attention
should be paid to the location of the camera and making sure all video participants are
visible (Binder, 2007). All of these tools will require that a meeting host and participants
know how to use them in advance so that meetings can be productive and without users
fumbling around trying to understand how the technology works (Binder, 2007). The below
image explores some of these best practices for conferencing success. 29 4. Knowledge
Sharing Tools: There will also need to be defined rules for knowledge sharing tools that will
help enable users to work efficiently and productively. Once the tool is deployed, a virtual
project room should be established and defined as “the basis for project development”
(Binder, 2004 p. 240). We should work to achieve the same or very similar structure for all

23. of our projects to make it easier for team members to use knowledge sharing tools across
the organization and across different projects (Binder, 2007). Project managers should be
involved in defining the rules for knowledge sharing, rules should be widely distributed and
reinforced, team members should be free to voice opinions or concerns regarding the
established rules and rules should be evaluated periodically by management to make sure
that the are effective. As a general practice, AgileHoya should work to educate, train and
reinforce these policies with all of our team members to ascertain that we are working
collaboratively and productively (Binder, 2007). 5. Collaborative Tools: In terms of project
management software, our leadership should formulate best practice for their adoption and
use throughout the project teams. For example, activities must be marked complete as soon
as they are accomplished so that the project manager and team members are aware of
changes or variances when they occur (Binder, 2007). The software should also be updated
when and if responsibilities change from one team member to another, and be able to
identify risks as they are noted (Binder, 2007). If we are able to establish guidelines for all
of our collaborations and tools, AgileHoya will become the productive global organization
that we hope to be with this expansion. Areas of improvement and detecting areas of good
practices In global projects there must be a culture of consistent feedback and evaluation of
the various technologies used to collaborate. It is imperative that the project manager and
project leadership team 30 identify areas of improvement and detect areas of good
practices. In any collaborative tools we must initially understand how the global teams
utilize these tools. This can be done via a variety of means but the way we will identify these
areas of improvement will be via structured interviews. These interviews will be focused on
individual segments of the collaborative tools used on our global team such as effective
audio and video conferences, coordinating and attending online meetings, and collaborative
project management. A key activity we will have to conduct to ensure we receive feedback
on these tools from all stakeholders on our global team is to translate these interview
questions into the local languages of our team. Once we receive the answers to these
questions on how the global teams are utilizing these tools we can consolidate these
answers to identify areas of improvement. One important thing that can come out of this is
we can also develop a list of good practices for these tools. If a couple teams in two different
countries are utilizing additional features on our audio/video conferencing tool, we could
identify this and make these features apart of normal operations for the entire team. Once
these good practices are developed we can create a good practice guide and distribute it to
the team. Troubleshooting techniques when technologies are not used correctly It is
inevitable, the use of any technology sometimes (or oftentimes) results in “technical
difficulties”. No matter the care used in the implementation of a technology solution,
something will go wrong. It is important to include redundancy and/or a fallback plan when
setting up collaborative tools (particularly in global environments). There’s nothing more
frustrating than to spend countless hours preparing for and setting up a global town hall
event, only to realize that a technical issue prevented it from being shared with the rest of
the team. Troubleshooting such technologies when they fail is very dependent on the
technology and service agreement in place. Considering the global nature of this project,
there are likely to be several technologies and several service level agreements. The

24. illustration below is an example of a global collaboration system implemented using
Hitachi’s Advanced Collaboration System. Having alternatives and backups will be critical to
ensuring the right level of service availability. Depending on the significance of an event or
collaborative effort, the terms and expectations will vary accordingly. Frequent and
routinely used collaboration tools that are commercially available off-the-shelf will have
different support structures than for those that are internally developed, maintained and
supported. 31 Setup and configuration procedures are very useful when working with
complex systems. These same procedures can be used to help identify ‘root cause’ when
something goes wrong. In fact, setup and configuration procedures often include
troubleshooting techniques and flowcharts to follow to help bring a system back online.
These procedures should be routinely tested to ensure they are accurate and that they
work. Software and firmware changes are very common in today’s technology solutions,
these same changes oftentimes cause systems to not work together as anticipated.
Technology can be our best friend, it can also be our worst enemy when it doesn’t work as
expected. In order to succeed, failure has to be considered as part of our implementation
plan. If it can happen, it will. And when it does, we have to be prepared to fix it. Effective
setup and configuration plans (with troubleshooting techniques and workflows) and
appropriate service level agreements will better position us to recover when the inevitable
“technical difficulties” bug hits us like the norovirus. Building Constructive Behaviors,
Collaboration and Understanding Constructive behaviors in an organization begins with
trust, faith and strong leadership. Conflicts can lead to quality improvement when the
project manager employs the right techniques, adopts constructive behavior and considers
the cultural differences as an important source of innovation (Binder, 2007). If the team
trusts the process and has faith in the goals the collaboration will increase natively.
Individuals fall along the five stages of Tribal Leadership (Logan & King, 2011): Stage 1: Life
Sucks Stage 2: My Life Sucks Stage 3: I’m Great (You’re Not) 32 Stage 4: We’re Great Stage 5:
Life is Great Collaborative teams need to reside in Stage 5, this stage allows everyone to be
themselves but contribute to the overall success of the team. The NFL’s New England
Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick has a famous saying he tells each individual player, “Do
YOUR job!” (Kerr, 2015). Teams that collaborate believe in the end goal, which must be
communicated by the leadership. If there is a lack of trust and collaboration, the autopsy of
the team may find the members are living in Stage 3 which defines the individual. I’m Great
(You’re Not) is a “me first” attitude that promotes individual achievements in the face of
other team member’s shortcomings. Increasing collaboration starts with changing the
culture of the team from a team of Lone Warriors to a team that feels empowered and proud
of Team Success. Team Success is rooted in each individual knowing their role, improving
productivity in their role and how their role contributes to the success of the team.
Improvement comes from exposure to new ideas and learning opportunities. Culturally we
teach and learn things based on the importance of how we live, as an example someone who
lives in a culture where automobiles are not practical or affordable they will likely not know
how to drive (New York City and Mumbai). If part of their role requires driving to meet
clients, the driving portion would require an adjustment. A person who grows up near
water may have an appreciation and skill for fishing versus someone who grows up in the

25. woods. In this political climate in the United States citizens are being defined by the
geography of their residence (North v. South) and their choice of residence (rural v. urban).
Understanding the culture of the team members and how that will contribute to how they
process the message of togetherness is a critical step in getting them to trust the team
process and have faith in sharing ideas in the team process. Changing 33 a team’s culture is
very challenging, but if a leader can identify what stage of tribal leadership each member is
in, they can provide guidance to have everyone land in Stage 5. Collaborative
recommendations and Difficult Implementations Countries that have Power Distance gaps
will be very difficult to implement collaboration, because collaboration means sharing ideas,
thoughts and challenging other’s thoughts/ideas. These discussions lead the team to find
new ideas and improve the quality of the output. Team members coming from countries
with larger Power Distance rates may find it more difficult to disagree with their project
managers in front of other people than members from countries with smaller power
distance rates (Binder, 2007). If a team member is submissive to the project managers, the
team is potentially missing valuable insight from everyone on the team. Countries like India
and Russia would pose a challenge to implement collaboration because of the high power
distance rates. Power Distance Index (PDI) below in the G8: Countries that avoid direct
discussions will struggle to collaborate. The greatest collaborative technologies will not
help remove this challenge and the project management team should be very aware of this
prior to launch. The high rate on the PDI does not mean mission impossible, but it poses
challenges that need to be addressed early. Each team member will want to contribute to
the team’s success, but each has different motivations, incentives and pride. Implementing a
successful collaboration strategy requires the leadership to identify the motivations,
incentives and pride of each team member to define their role so they can do their job.
Global Project Framework Implementing a Global Project Framework is a daunting task that
requires patience, diligence and perseverance. Defining the company culture, defining the
mission and vision statement plus challenging the project team to live that mission and
vision is critical to a successful implementation. Change is difficult, risky and scary for all
involved to properly build the framework that will define the project team moving forward.
The vision should have a standard to develop organizational culture that supports learning.
The atmosphere for learning requires support from stakeholders to value the practices of a
learning organization and safe atmosphere for experimentation (Binder, 2007).
Experimentation or 34 taking chances is risky, but necessary to trial run the new
framework in the company’s work culture. Some things will not work, so patience is
required along with diligent notes and feedback to notate what things are working and
what is not working to avoid repeating failed strategies. The team believes the Maturity
Model Approach is the best implementation strategy as AgileHoya will need a holistic
change in their Project Management Strategy. The maturity model such as the Software
Engineering Institute Capability Maturity Model (SEI-CMM) will allow a controlled
implementation that can measure the competency level and standard operating procedures
of the team before moving to the next level. This implementation will be difficult and time
consuming, but the end result is to be able to control and predict outcomes for improved
project results. The team will be able to alter steps in the process to ensure outcomes are

26. optimized. Meeting the needs of the organization and expectations will require leadership,
stakeholders and the project team to persevere in the face of doubts and failures along the
way to reaching Level 5. The Capability Maturity Model: Implementation strategy selection
process and rationale. There are key factors to focus on when selecting an implementation
strategy and it is important to understand the rationale behind our key selection criteria.
We will focus the decision on our implementation strategy on three key elements. The first
factor in our selection process will be based on effective communication across borders.
Communication is essential to the success of any project, especially when working on global
projects. By implementing a global project management framework such as the capability
maturity model will provide us with the opportunity to improve communication on projects
across borders. The second factor is focused on ensuring projects did not encounter scope
creep. “The lack of formalized and agreed procedures and documents across the companies
and locations can be the main reason for this problem” (Binder, 2007, p. 253). The problem
referenced in the quote above is scope creep. Our global project management framework
meets this criteria by us reaching level 3, defined (see graphic above), where standard
processes are defined and followed. The final factor in our selection process will be
determining how does this framework improves quality levels 35 within the organization.
Our global project management framework in level 5 (see graphic above), optimizing which
is the ability to alter processes to achieve improved results. Once we reach this level 5, we
will be at a level to improve quality of our projects through continuous feedback and
improvement. Advantages and limitations of this selected method. What can you change? It
is expected that the implementation of our global project framework will render some
advantages and perhaps some limitations. An advantage of using the Global Project
Management Framework© is that it is well documented for reference and has been
accepted to some degree by an international consortium (Binder, 2007). The fact that we do
not have to start from scratch and that many of the tips, tools, and techniques are largely
available for reuse, allows for an efficient and timelier development and implementation of
our global project plan. Additionally, the ability to measure and monitor our progress
through each of the project phases will help to understand where we are in the process
relative to where we think we should be. Documenting and storing these critical artifacts
will help with lessons learned and to develop our project management methodologies and
practices as we mature. There is much to gain from having a strong foundation from which
to begin; however, it will be how we apply course corrections as the need arises that will
truly mark our success. With all good things come potential limitations. Unfortunately, there
is no one single solution that will solve all our project needs and expectations. The global
nature of our project exacerbates this concern. We have done a careful job with
requirements gathering, planning, and tool selections; however, this type of project and its
scope is relatively new to our organization and project teams. We have limited experience
with the Global Project Management Framework ©. It will be through our existing
meticulous project management routines that we will implement this global framework and
our limitations will evolve into experience, and it will be this experience and our
determination that this project will be a success. Ways to communicate and enumerate the
benefits of the implementation of this framework to global employees As with any major (or

27. minor for that matter) program implementation, employee (team) buy-in is one of the most
critical factors to consider. For this to work, effective communications will be paramount.
Additionally, the enumeration of the expected benefits from the framework implementation
will also be critically important. Considering the global scope of this project, the medium
and frequency in which such communications will have to be carefully selected. Project
tools for global collaboration and their associated workflows and techniques have been
previously covered. One factor that was thoroughly covered was its ability to help facilitate
effective communications to each of the remote teams. Language barriers, time zones, and
the messages themselves have to be carefully crafted to ensure their receipt will be received
and interpreted most consistently. Transparency is key and will be very important as our
global framework is rolled out and implemented. Using these same tools to communicate to
our global team will help maintain this consistency. 36 Enumerating the benefits of the
global framework implementation can be considered as important as publishing the
company’s mission and vision. Global projects have unique challenges in themselves and
therefore special care must be given in communicating and expressing its benefits to the
company. By enumeration, each benefit will be made specific and therefore can be
measured against. To gain legit…