At the project’s start, set up a strong communications plan. It should begin by thinking through who the stakeholders are. Whose ‘buy-in’ is critical to ensure change will be accepted by all of those impacted? Sometimes called a “Stakeholder Analysis”, it starts by identifying these key individuals. This is no different than what you should be doing with any project except in scope. Are you thinking beyond your office walls? Who globally needs to be aware of and committed to your project? For example, in doing an analysis of an Asian market, our team did miss involving a high level Asian executive. This misstep, though quickly corrected, did cause us some unnecessary turbulence. Be sure to think through the level of commitment you need from stakeholders, how the project impacts them and how they could positively or negatively impact the project, and what their key concerns about the project might be. From this, map out a communication plan.

A communication plan is another standard project management tool that requires broader considerations with a global team. It is used to proactively identify communication activities so the right people hear what they need, when they need it. Simply put, for each stakeholder it identifies what information they need to receive, how and how frequently they will receive it, and who owns sending it to them. For example, key executives may want a quarterly in-person briefing by the project manager. Mid-level managers may require a weekly status report via email from the project coordinator.

During the project, consider using two different media for important messages. For example, judiciously consider sending a voicemail to alert a team member to respond to an important email. ‘Judiciously’ is key, since you don’t want the team to only think those emails with corresponding voicemails need attention. And you don’t need that extra work.

Another tip is to avoid showing location preference in your communication by informing local team members first. Ensure that you inform everyone at the same time, or those not co-located with you will feel excluded. They could become resentful and disengage from the project.

Consider establishing a mechanism for information exchange, such as an internal website or electronic bulletin board. As scattered people in different time zones collaborate on documents, versions can quickly become fragmented and out of sync. Time is lost trying to consolidate and manage them.

Part 2 | Part 3

---