Managing Global Projects: Easier Said Than Done

Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.

  Communications Management   Diversity   Governance   Organizational Culture   Risk Management   Talent Management  

Managing projects that span countries and cultures brings with it its own set of challenges, not the least of which is a greater risk of failure. This article explores some of the challenges and complexities that are unique and or amplified when managing global projects.

Andy Jordan, one of gantthead’s stellar Subject Matter Experts, wrote in his article entitled “Global PM: Sweat the Details“:

“Global projects are different from all other projects. The normal rules might still apply, but you need to confirm that very carefully. You need to consider whether the multiple locations/cultures/languages/experiences/etc. change anything about the way that the project needs to be managed, and then you need to plan for those differences.”

Andy identifies a number of key factors that can influence and impact the success of a global project. Cultural diversity is perhaps the biggest challenge to overcome when it comes to managing global projects. Underestimating this area can increase the risk of failure many times over. Even if the cultures share the same language (e.g. English, as would be found in a project that was being conducted in countries like the United States, Canada, the U.K., India, Australia and New Zealand), the values, beliefs and world views can vary vastly. The savvy project manager takes special care and effort to study the …

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