A Team Commitment Issue: The Need for More Human Process Expertise describes a common dilemma: HR focuses on hiring and compensating the best technically qualified people. But to succeed, teams need human process expertise, not just technical expertise. This ppt contains a scenario that dramatizes the need for human process expertise. It concludes by inviting readers to continue the discussion on: http://www.itapintl.com/index.php/about-us/itap-insights-blog/26-did-something-interesting/126-blog-entry-10

1. Catherine Mercer Bing
Managing Director,
ITAP Americas, Inc.
(w) 1.215.860.5640
http://www.itapintl.com
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©2015 ITAP International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
A Team Commitment Issue:
The Need for More Human
Process Expertise

2. Technical and Human Process
Expertise
• Companies strive to improve their global
reach through the use of teams
• To reach that goals, two factors are critical:
Technical expertise
Human process expertise
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3. Technical expertise can include:
– Research
– Finance
– Sales
– Marketing
– Project management
– General management
Technical Expertise
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4. 4
Human Process Expertise
Values
Human process expertise determines how
teams:
– Interact to establish goals
– Communicate across national and cultural
boundaries and time zones
– Solve problems, work together and
independently, and resolve differences
•
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5. The actions listed in
the previous slide are
determined by
culture…(how one
was socialized to
interact with others)
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Human Process Expertise and
Culture
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6. Value Is Placed Primarily on the
Team’s Technical Expertise
• Human Resource’s efforts focus on hiring
and compensating the best technically
qualified people, some of whom become
members of global teams.
• It’s too often assumed that technical
expertise is all that matters.
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7. Culture and Team Performance
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• Often enough, we observe teams that
miss milestones or deadlines, have
technically well-qualified employees.
• High performing teams need:
 High levels of human process expertise, and
 Deep understanding of cultural differences
and how to work across cultures
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8. Example: A Team with
Serious Challenges
You are a senior internal or external
consultant specializing in creating
effective team interventions. A client
comes to you and during the
conversation asks for team building
training for members of a globally
disbursed technology team.
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9. Example: A Team with
Serious Challenges
The client is convinced that the team
members are not committed to the work
of the team, even though the outcomes
are very important to the success of that
division of the company. He points to
missed milestones and a lack of urgency
about meeting deadlines.
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10. Example: A Team with
Serious Challenges
• The client observed that team members:
Lack motivation/initiative
Lack confidence
Do not work independently
Fail to take ownership
Have to little domain knowledge
Have inadequate technology skills
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11. Example: A Team with Serious
Challenges
• Team members complained that the team
leader:
Does not inform them of project updates
Is not available during their work hours (they
work in a different time zone)
Gives the interesting assignments to employees
who are close at hand
Has never visited their site, though their section
was acquired over five years ago
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12. Example: Deeper Insights into
the Team’s Challenges
• A variety of factors negatively impact this
team’s success:
Remote selection practices (dependence on
information about engineering degrees, while
not knowing which university degree is
associated with “adequate technical skills”)
Organizational policies that limit travel to
remote locations
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13. Example: A Team with
Serious Challenges
• continued…
Misunderstanding employees’ leadership
needs (e.g. how much context and specific
directions to give them when delegating)
Lack of appreciation for the needs of
employees to access the remote supervisor
Limited foresight as to the impact of the
distribution of interesting assignments on
employee development and motivation
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14. What Can Be Done for this
Team?
Join the discussion on:
http://www.itapintl.com/index.php/about-us/itap-insights-blog/26-did-
something-interesting/126-blog-entry-10 (scroll down)
What can the team leader do differently to be effective
when managing this team?
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
How can the organization support the team and the team
leader?
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
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15. • This presentation is an excerpt from Many
Cultures One Team: Build Your Cultural
Repertoire, a new book on teams by
Catherine Mercer Bing.
• Enter promo code OneTeam to receive
20% off from Technics Publications
website, http://www.TechnicsPub.com
• Click here to order your copy
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Many Cultures, One Team

16. Catherine Mercer Bing
Managing Director
ITAP Americas, Inc.
ITAP International, Inc.
353 Nassau Street, 1st
floor
Princeton, NJ 08540 USA
(W) 1.215.860.5640
http://www.itapintl.com
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©2015 ITAP International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.