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Foreign Affairs

Last year, Ms. Roberts’ cross-cultural communication skills were put to the test when her company launched an IT project that included a Japanese client, a Mexican vendor, development staff in Thailand, Australia, Mexico and Colombia, and project steering committee members in Japan and the United States.

“A lot of the problems were from complexity of the technology as well as business and local legal requirements that the foreign teams weren’t familiar with,” Ms. Roberts says. “I might ask three people for answers and get three different answers about how and when a problem was to be resolved, even though all three of us had been in meetings the day before on the topic.”

To help curb communication breakdowns, she used an online project management tracking system that “allowed me to log questions or problems and assign it to anyone on the team worldwide,” Ms. Roberts explains. “Sometimes staff would write the answers in their own language and send it to a translator.”

Instant messaging was a handy way to get questions answered quickly and use as a reference during team phone conferences. “I would write the minutes in the instant messenger so everyone could see the written notes at the same time people were talking,” she says.

Whether you’re a jetsetter or happily settled in the home office, showing an appreciation for people of various backgrounds is a big plus for all project managers. “Wanting to learn about others and having had the experience of different types of cultures and people is something that makes all project managers more able to deal with every project,” she says, “not just global ones.”

Are You A Global Project Manager? Take the Quiz!

Take this quiz developed by Roger Beatty, Ph.D., PMP, of CA Inc. to see where you stand as a global project manager. For every question that applies to you, add the points up to determine your total.

Do you have a work or residency permit from more than one country? (15 points)

Are you curious about the world and its peoples? (5 points)

Do you understand why some people from your country choose to live in other countries? (15 points)

Do you have a current passport? (15 points)

Do you know how and when to obtain a travel visa? (5 points)

Can you speak a foreign language? (25 points)

Have you ever had to get vaccinations prior to foreign travel? (20 points)

Do you have an international driver’s license? (5 points)

Have you visited at least five other countries? (25 points)

Have you visited at least three continents? (10 points)

Have you visited a foreign embassy in your country? (5 points)

Have you visited your embassy while in another country? (5 points)

Have you been in a foreign country by yourself? (10 points)

Does anyone in your family have immigration documents for your country? (5 points)

Do you watch media programs about other countries? (15 points)

Do you use satellite technology to receive media information from other countries? (20 points)

Have you worked or had business meetings in other countries? (20 points)

Have you ever been lost, alone or without money in another country? (30 points)

How did you do?

1-75: Not there yet, need training and practice

76-175: Trending toward global project manager, fine-tune your skill sets

176-200: You have the abilities and skills of a global project manager

The article is based on material in the white paper “Global Project Manager Self-Assessment,” by Roger Beatty, Ph.D, PMP, at the PMI Global Congress 2007—Asia Pacific in Hong Kong.