Regional HR Leaders Discuss the Impact of Distance on Performance in Regional HR Teams

The Chapman Consulting Group today hosted an HR roundtable discussion for 16 select HR Heads. Regional HR Leaders from high-profile multinationals in the Financial Services, Hospitality, Shipping, Biotech, Education, Logistics and Pharmaceutical sectors met over lunch at the Singapore Cricket Club to discuss the topic of “What Regional HR Leaders Need to Know about the Impact of Distance on Performance”. The discussion was led by James Eyring, Chief Operating Officer of Organisation Solutions, a leading global Organisation and Leadership Development consulting firm headquartered in Asia.

The Performance of Dispersed Teams Versus Co-located Teams

Eyring discussed research that clearly showed that distance can reduce team performance when compared to teams where all members are based in the same location. However, this research also shows that teams separated by distance, time and culture can perform just as well as if not better than collocated teams, so long as they implement the right tools and processes.

A number of distance factors impact performance. For example, if just one team member is based in a different location to the rest, performance levels of the team are generally unaffected, as the ‘core’ members tend to go out of their way to include the one exceptional ‘lone’ member. However in a situation where 70% of a team is in one location and 30% is in another, the smaller team can easily start to feel as though decisions favour the larger team, allowing for personal and professional conflicts to arise. One lunch attendee recounted a situation in their company that illustrated this, when the Asia regional team and the global team had held a teleconference to make a decision on an important issue. The group came to a conclusion in the call, however the Asia team woke up the next morning to find an email from the global team explaining that they’d later agreed on a completely different solution. It didn’t take long before this approach to long-distance management had a detrimental effect on the performance of the team.

In breaking down the particular challenges of dispersed team management, a number of issues emerged. Of lower importance were such challenges as managing across time-zones, the difficulty to coach and mentor team members, and the necessity of structures and processes to ensure smooth running. Of medium importance was the diversity of problems across disparate markets, the difficulties in physically getting things done, and the complexity of communicating effectively. However the number one issue in long-distance management was the challenge of building trust between team members. Participants of the lunch agreed that without a foundation of trust between their HR team, it is impossible to manage a cohesive and performance-led culture within the group. So how can this trust be built?

Key Factors in Building Trust Across a Virtual HR Team in Asia Pacific Japan

Many factors impact trust in a team. A few key factors for dispersed teams include the following:

1) The Maturity of Your HR Team

Firstly, ensure you have the right HR team with the right capabilities to operate remotely. For example if one of your Country HR Heads has experienced a different style in reporting to an overseas HR Leader in the past, the potential for misunderstandings may be higher, and their ability to add value in their interactions with regional peers may be limited. When looking to hire senior HR talent across the region from Japan to Pakistan to New Zealand, it is important to understand how a potential team member has worked with their previous regional head, and how these experiences might translate to the culture of your team.

One attendee commented on how, in some markets across the region, it can be difficult to find independent, self-managing individuals. These skills are more important in an HR function where stakeholder management is critical. It’s important not just to concentrate on HR skill-sets, but to look for the skills needed to thrive in a complex virtual team environment.

2) Finding Ways to Allow Spontaneous Communication

If all the communication between your team is done through formal meetings and calls, long-distance relationships can suffer. Structured team meetings are not enough to overcome the higher levels of conflict amongst dispersed teams. Regular and repeated one-on-one communication builds more trust between individuals, which is especially important in Asia where there also many cultural barriers to overcome. Spontaneous communication should be engendered not just between the leader and team members, but also between members of the team.

HR Directors attending the lunch agreed with this, and discussed a variety of ways in which they allowed for some ‘unstructured’ communication to flow between HR team members. In one example, the organisation had instilled a culture of instant messaging, which gave HR team members a direct and informal way to break down barriers and improve collaboration. With restrictions on travel budgets for some team members, more structured processes are needed to encourage such communication.

3) Developing Shared Goals and Processes

Communication between team members is at its most powerful when participants can share both unique and common experiences. But the power of communication can be amplified yet further if the members of the team know that they are working towards a shared goal. A shared mission creates passion and the drive to succeed — that illusive X factor in career motivation.

Having shared goals and task processes can improve dispersed team performance and reduce conflict. However, one HR Director questioned whether in normal circumstances a regional HR team can be labelled a ‘team’ at all, if the individuals primarily belong to their respective in-country management structures. Similarly, can a leadership team be considered a team when they belong to different global divisions?

Dispersed teams in complex matrix structures are more likely to have these issues. Eyring suggested that a key foundation for success for these teams is to first identify when the team should operate as a team versus operating as a loose confederation of individuals. After defining the tasks that they accomplish as a team, the group can then better define how they want to accomplish those tasks and make decisions.

Conclusion

Organisations have become more dispersed and more complex in structure. Research shows that this can decrease team performance and trust, and increase conflict and coordination issues. Fortunately, leaders with dispersed teams can be as effective as collated teams with the right processes, tools and capabilities. HR Leaders play a critical role in equipping their organisations with these capabilities, and this session helped participants start to identify a few key learnings that they can use in their organisations.​