Virtual Teams Across Cultures

Foreword XI
Introduction XIII

PART ONE: Context and Cultural Diversity 1
1 CALDO & Configuration 3
CALDO Model 3
Team Configuration 7

2 Introduction to Cultural Diversity 17
What Is Culture? 20
The Pleasure and Pain of Cultural Diversity 24

3 Three Ways Culture Impacts Global Virtual Teams 29
I. Within the Team 30
How Often to Follow Up? 31
I’m Not Your Dear! 33
When Loud Is Too Loud, Quiet Too Quiet 35
What Do Words Mean? 37
Specific and Diffuse 41
Up and Down the Hierarchy 44
II. Between the Locations 46
III. Outside the Team 51
Developing Cultural Competence 59

PART TWO: Attitudes and Levers 71
4 Attitudes and Beliefs 73
Trust 75
Psychological Safety 82
Shared Team Identity 87
Leadership Levers 94

5 Eliminating Uncertainty 97
Roles and Responsibilities 98
Team Collaboration: How the Team Works Together 98
Knowing Each Other 101

6 Create the Team 105
Types of Virtual Teams 107
Shared Purpose and Goals 111
Knowledge Sharing 115
Virtual Team Building Exercises 118

7 Bring in the Humanity 123
Personal Attention from a Distance 124
Intellectual Stimulation 130
Recovery 131
Giving Feedback 133
Fairness 135
Perceived Proximity 136
Inclusion 139
Perspective Taking 142
Contents

8 Complete the Work 147
Structure to Leverage the Flexibility 147
Technology 149
Influencing Virtually 160
Conflict 164
Overlapping Time Zones 168

Conclusion 173
Acknowledgements 175
About the Author 177
Notes 178
Index 185