Virtual Consulting Teams – A Global Case Study in Virtual Teaming
“I am fundamentally an optimist. Whether that comes from nature or nurture, I cannot say. Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointing toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward. There were many dark moments when my faith in humanity was sorely tested, but I would not and could not give myself up to despair. That way lays defeat and death.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
This quote by Nelson Mandela was posted on a flip chart in our living room for the first 10 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. I was inspired by our graduate school partnership with South Africa and the University of Pretoria faculty. We learned about the history of apartheid and the lingering effects of racism and oppression in South Africa. Abdullah Verachia shared how Africa’s economy, specifically South Africa, was growing in global influence. Karina Jensen offered European insights to virtual connections with Africa. Dorothy “Dots” Ndletyana enthusiastically taught us about race and culture in South Africa. This expansive education about South Africa reminded me that reflection builds change fluency.
This is the fourth post in a series about virtual teaming. I encourage you to read the first post in this series to understand the context and contributors. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a collaboration between the Pepperdine MSOD program and the University of Pretoria Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) was built to complete a cross-cultural, virtual consulting engagement. The second post explored how our student committee members have grown as a result of the pandemic and virtual workplace. Colleagues shared how previous virtual teaming experience, team building, an orientation to complexity, regular communication, and simplicity all contribute to deep virtual connections.
In the third post, we explored the question: can deep, personal cross-cultural relationships, connections, and understandings be achieved virtually? Colleagues gave design tips on virtual experiences, such as designing for human dignity, sequential work, tech disruptions, and memorable moments. Today’s focus is a reflection on how we approached our global virtual consulting engagements and the personal assumptions that we brought into the virtual space. Back in April-May 2020, we needed to create culture, trust, and leadership in rapid succession for a temporary partnership with new South African clients. How did we do it? Keep reading.
First, our student consulting teams recognized that team building and setting & managing expectations within the project team and with the client facilitated the desired outcome of the client. We were facing anywhere from a 6-hour to 9-hour time differential with our clients. As people development professional Christine Parcells put it, this work is not easy. Christine says, “It is hard to build relationships without meeting in person. Especially when you feel like you have to jump into the work as things are moving fast. Pausing to do the relationship building, talking about working styles, and setting up structures in advance can go a long way.” The student consulting teams set up initial meetings with the clients to introduce themselves and set up working agreements for the engagement.
Second, our student consulting teams used team agility to manage complex dynamics within the client organization, the project team, and the environment. This included fewer formal roles at times and emergent planning. Organization effectiveness professional Hannah Nichols gave this insight, “During our work setting up our consulting teams and our relationships with the South African clients, we noted the time that we spent up front with each and building trust with the client…Initially, I thought this was more of the structure of the relationship (client-consultant) but have found that it has been important for virtual teaming, even on internal projects.” Twelve months later, Hannah has learned that building virtual connections within a team is essential. She says, “The biggest shift has been more of a reinforcement of the importance of feeding and building the ‘emotional life’ or relationships on a team. It was important before collaboration was more online but became critical when it was only online.”
Third, our student consulting teams had to continuously check their own assumptions and mental models about virtual work. Many of us felt like virtual was a relationally cheap alternative. Health care leader Chris Aiken offered this personal experience, “Initially, I was concerned that deeper intra- and inter-personal work would be impossible to facilitate in a virtual setting. Fortunately, I was mistaken. I now have full confidence that the deepest intra- and inter-personal work is possible online as long as you set and reinforce norms around managing personal wellness + potential distractions and are thoughtful about the design of the session. The goal is for the technology to fall away and create a feeling of personal connection. In some ways, a virtual space can enable even deeper work due to the safety some people feel engaging online versus in person.”
Fourth, our student consulting teams felt empowered by the opportunity to use their previous experience in the virtual consulting engagement. We polled our students before the virtual intensive to gauge virtual skill levels. About 70% of the students had confidence about their consulting skills and knowledge in a virtual environment. Seventy-eight percent of the students had moderate or high levels of experience working in a virtual environment. Tech product professional Shelly Dhamija reinforces this point, “Most of my life I have worked from a remote office in India while headquarters was in the US or Europe…For me, it just felt natural. The biggest point, which is good about virtual teaming, is that it becomes outcome driven and includes a huge factor of empowerment.”
Finally, our student consulting teams benefitted from the established relationships among students to create synergy for the project teams. These students had previous experiences in working virtually together on projects and working in different in-person configurations across continents. This speaks again to the importance of team building and some in-person experiences. Nonprofit professional Erin Hall summed it up this way, “I still think in-person components are important and valuable. I don’t think our team could have possibly been as effective if we didn’t know each other so well already.”
All of this work between our student group, Pepperdine University, University of Pretoria, and the South African business clients happened in 8 weeks. Deep, personal and professional connections are possible in the virtual world. How has your mindset about virtual teaming evolved in the last 12 months? What assumptions proved different? What new or deepened learnings have helped in your mindset evolution? Join the conversation on Sally’s LinkedIn to share and learn together.
Read the next post in this series here.
Photo by Gregory Fullard on Unsplash