At the end of April 2017, I moved to Atyrau, Kazakhstan, to work on the Future Growth Project, a $40 billion joint venture with Worley-Parsons, KING and KGNT for our Client Tengizchevroil (TCO). As the senior project manager for the Gathering Team, I lead a scope of work that crosses several different areas of the overall project. Due to the heavy brownfield component of our scope, we require close interaction with TCO base business, as well as the Power and Infrastructure project teams. My project team members conduct work across several different offices: Farnborough, United Kingdom; Houston, United States; New Delhi, India; Atyrau and Almaty, Kazakhstan; and of course the project site. With the wide variety of touch points this dispersed team has to navigate, inclusion is not an option – it is an imperative.
We must share information with all of our stakeholders in order to execute and deliver successfully.
One of my first tasks as a leader on the project was to discover ways to help people interface with one another. My goal was to help bridge any divides that might exist between those who are working offshore and those who are working in Kazakhstan in the office or on the project site. This led me to think more deeply about what inclusion might look like for this team and how I might support it.
When I think about inclusion, I think about relationships. I think about making sure everyone on a team can contribute to the conversation, but I know that won’t happen unless we’ve taken time to build trust, the foundation of all successful relationships. This is a challenge when people work in the same location or when a group is fairly homogenous, so imagine how difficult it is when people come from at least seven different countries and are scattered around the world working on their part of a very complex project.
I’m a big believer in making sure my reports have what they need to do their jobs, and that includes helping them build relationships. To foster this, I identified three principles I use to encourage the team to get to know one another.
Bring out the human side of person who is behind the job. I asked my direct reports to introduce themselves. They each provided brief information about their personal and business backgrounds, as well as some insight about what they like to do, such as spending time with family activities, perfecting a hobby, participating in a sport or volunteering for a cause. When we did our new organizational rollout, I used these short bios to show the human behind the title and position on the org chart. This is just one tool that can help people learn more about their colleagues and connect on a personal level beyond the scope of the work they perform for the company. Click here to read the presentation our team created.
Provide technology that encourages people to connect. I think it is smart to use technology to help build relationships. I encourage everybody to use a video collaboration tool such as MOVI because we want to collaborate by seeing another human being rather than just hearing a voice on the phone or being the recipient of a typed email. Connectivity at remote sites might be an issue, but it’s worth a try.
Encourage and model behavior that builds bridges not barriers. As a leader, the scope of my job goes beyond just making sure the work gets done. It includes helping people grow their knowledge and skills. It encompasses coaching them through difficult conversations. And, it means setting the tone for inclusive behavior.
As a leader, it is my job to make sure the work gets done, and it’s also my responsibility to create an environment where relationships can flourish. Like others, I often prefer to work with people who share my same work style and personality characteristics. I’ll be the first to admit I am a big picture thinker, a quick decision maker and an outspoken person. But in order to be successful, I have to rely on people who align and work closely with the details. I have to slow down and patiently collect the facts I need to make the best decisions. And I have to be quiet enough to listen, encouraging people to share what they know when they may not be inclined to speak up. All of this forces me to make a conscious effort to behave differently than what comes naturally based on my personality, and many times that’s not such an easy thing to actually do.
Yet, I’m a firm believer we all can do it. I know we can bridge cultural divides and virtual barriers. We can build collaborative teams who seamlessly communicate with one another. We will find new ways of thinking and working when we engage and interact with different points of view. Finally, we’ve all heard that inclusion is the right thing to do, and that is true. But in today’s complex and competitive business landscape, it is what we all must do to successfully build global teams who can communicate and collaborate with one another across any divides they might face. When you no longer hear, “them and us,” but instead you hear people say, “we are working on this,” you have one team that works towards one vision and one goal.
We must share information with all of our stakeholders in order to execute and deliver successfully.
One of my first tasks as a leader on the project was to discover ways to help people interface with one another. My goal was to help bridge any divides that might exist between those who are working offshore and those who are working in Kazakhstan in the office or on the project site. This led me to think more deeply about what inclusion might look like for this team and how I might support it.
When I think about inclusion, I think about relationships. I think about making sure everyone on a team can contribute to the conversation, but I know that won’t happen unless we’ve taken time to build trust, the foundation of all successful relationships. This is a challenge when people work in the same location or when a group is fairly homogenous, so imagine how difficult it is when people come from at least seven different countries and are scattered around the world working on their part of a very complex project.
I’m a big believer in making sure my reports have what they need to do their jobs, and that includes helping them build relationships. To foster this, I identified three principles I use to encourage the team to get to know one another.
Bring out the human side of person who is behind the job. I asked my direct reports to introduce themselves. They each provided brief information about their personal and business backgrounds, as well as some insight about what they like to do, such as spending time with family activities, perfecting a hobby, participating in a sport or volunteering for a cause. When we did our new organizational rollout, I used these short bios to show the human behind the title and position on the org chart. This is just one tool that can help people learn more about their colleagues and connect on a personal level beyond the scope of the work they perform for the company. Click here to read the presentation our team created.
Provide technology that encourages people to connect. I think it is smart to use technology to help build relationships. I encourage everybody to use a video collaboration tool such as MOVI because we want to collaborate by seeing another human being rather than just hearing a voice on the phone or being the recipient of a typed email. Connectivity at remote sites might be an issue, but it’s worth a try.
Encourage and model behavior that builds bridges not barriers. As a leader, the scope of my job goes beyond just making sure the work gets done. It includes helping people grow their knowledge and skills. It encompasses coaching them through difficult conversations. And, it means setting the tone for inclusive behavior.
As a leader, it is my job to make sure the work gets done, and it’s also my responsibility to create an environment where relationships can flourish. Like others, I often prefer to work with people who share my same work style and personality characteristics. I’ll be the first to admit I am a big picture thinker, a quick decision maker and an outspoken person. But in order to be successful, I have to rely on people who align and work closely with the details. I have to slow down and patiently collect the facts I need to make the best decisions. And I have to be quiet enough to listen, encouraging people to share what they know when they may not be inclined to speak up. All of this forces me to make a conscious effort to behave differently than what comes naturally based on my personality, and many times that’s not such an easy thing to actually do.
Yet, I’m a firm believer we all can do it. I know we can bridge cultural divides and virtual barriers. We can build collaborative teams who seamlessly communicate with one another. We will find new ways of thinking and working when we engage and interact with different points of view. Finally, we’ve all heard that inclusion is the right thing to do, and that is true. But in today’s complex and competitive business landscape, it is what we all must do to successfully build global teams who can communicate and collaborate with one another across any divides they might face. When you no longer hear, “them and us,” but instead you hear people say, “we are working on this,” you have one team that works towards one vision and one goal.
皇妃
