How to manage an international project team

Johny Krahbichler — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 11:18:40 +0000

Soliton solutions PR - Tech trade show exhibition specialists

The world is getting smaller.

Well, it isn’t physically getting smaller but that is one way of saying that global communications have become so fast paced that the world is really one community in a lot of ways. With the advent of the internet, email, instant messaging and VOIP, it is entirely possible to do business with trading partners around the globe without ever leaving your office.

For many businesses who are on the cutting edge of new business paradigms, the concept of a geographically isolated business is becoming obsolete. It is entirely possible to put together a business consortium or a project team made of subject matter experts spread across all time zones and from around the world. In fact, this kind of decentralized management of business projects is becoming more of the norm than the exception in the twenty first century business environment.

So just as those in marketing, product development and investments have already learned how to maximize a project team that is separated by hundreds or thousands of miles, the project manager must also adapt the project management methodology to accommodate a similar approach to getting business done.

Conventional project management is a systematic approach to taking a project from scope to implementation that has proven successful in thousands of companies. We have no reason to abandon this well developed methodology. Be that as it may, as new business ideal models come to play, we need to adjust even a standard approach like task the board to fit the manner in which business is done in this century.

Communications is the key to any successful project. This is the challenge of utilizing a team from across a great geographical divide.

It is entirely possible you may execute the entire project with team members you never see. So to facilitate frequent and up to date communications, we must exploit the technology we have at our disposal such as…

Blogs, wiccis and shared working environments.

Group sharing environments on the web are becoming more and more common. By setting up a tool set on line in which team members can post status reports, leave emails, update the project management software, file expense reports and stay in touch with each other, you facilitate the kind of communication that keeps the team moving forward successfully. Blogs, private message boards and wiccis are also excellent means by which an ongoing “conversation” can be carried out between team members that anyone can check into and get caught up with the content of what has been done and what is being planned for the project.

Controlled email trees.

As the project manager, email is an obvious way to quickly stay in touch with team members. However, it can get chaotic trying to keep up on fast moving email trees. That may be a good reason to trap all emails trees within your online project management software so the contributions of everyone on the team can be captured for further review.

VOIP or IM staff meetings

IM can be expanded so it doesn’t just bring in two participants. You can schedule your weekly staff meetings using an IM conference room and capture the entire proceedings in the IM log thus assuring yourself that nothing that was said will “fall through the cracks.

By becoming adept at using cyberspace as the primary “location” of your project team’s interaction, you can literally create a team of highly specialized talent that can be located from anywhere in the world.

This vastly expands your ability to tap the best minds for your work and to streamline the project management process. It will take time to get used to and there will be some missteps along the way. But if you can conquer global team management using internet tools, it will be a valuable skill for successfully executing global projects for your business.

Managing a trade show exhibition team internationally

When managing a project team that has the mission to exhibit a product at a trade show this becomes even more important.

A trade show is the only place where you can engage a huge amount of press, customers and other businesses very personally over such a short time. It is probably the most cost effective marketing method out there.

But very few know how to make the most of its potential...

We will craft a unique strategy based on your product or service to make your exhibition the most memorable and attention grabbing one. We also make sure you’re exhibiting at the most relevant event or trade-show to make sure you reach the right demographic. We will design your booth and all accompanying accessories. We provide creative and unique solutions that help your product stand out in the crowd.

Our service is unique and arguably the most cost effective marketing method out there. However, it is definitely the most exciting one. Ask us about it!

Contact Soliton Solutions

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