Exec Summary Managing a Global Team: Greg James at Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Managing a Global Team: Greg James at Sun Microsystems, Inc.

James

• A star engineer, technical, complex technical problems.  Really large team.  Issues with cohesion.
• Open work – some did it to do it, buy-in
• Face-to-face contact, see the groups evenly and see them more.  
• Rotational hours to spread around the duties (time zones)
• Weekly conference calls: stuck to list of topics, firm start/end times (equity with agenda)
• Suggestion: have individual EE/mgr conversation to decide if Open Work arrangement is appropriate
• Suggestion: clear, well-understood, consistent protocol (to eliminate time change/ weekend/weekday issue)
• Suggestion: manager training, effective team communication, potential have semi-annual group meetings in-person, watercooler convos/favoring the Americans
• Suggestion: need new approach to staffing, James selected technical people/leftovers

UAE

• 11 people – not enough face-to-face contact, disconnected from company as a whole
• Progress takes longer because of developing relationships… dealing with 2 timelines
• Cultural problems… more work, perf evals, missing deadlines, Raul and Jamal interpersonal issues
• Middle east – dissatisfaction with the arrangements (stuff from the graphs)
• Suggestion: cultural sensitivity training, potentially move/replace team members
• Issue: company/country culture mismatch

India

• Raul and Jamal, Praveen and Nick interpersonal problems (Indian team not competent)
• 2nd class citizens – fewer agenda items, interruptions, issues were already addressed last
• Unhappy – customer maintenance, put out fires, no creative input
• Suggestion: clarify job roles, allow for creative input

U.S.

• 11 employees inherited from a start-up acquisition
• Rationalize compensation because of job security
• Unfair workload, French vacation laws
• Email threads: James favoring, making decisions without everyone
• Suggestion: Nick shouldn’t be Open Work, change approach to deadlines to accommodate UAE timeline
• Suggestion: definitely need cultural sensitivity training, they have a sense of entitlement

France

• Research: how rigid labor laws are during national vacation
• Disparity between American pay, issue of job security (except not really because they were contract workers)

Company overall

• Team staffing and compensation: world market, work is equitable pay is not
• James took the easy way to staffing
• Virtual teams: understanding the circumstances with time changes, culture
• Suggestion: meeting twice per quarter (8 times a year) rotating location to increase facetime; expose managers to other sites, maybe encourage more cultural awareness and understanding
• James is more reactive than proactive, spends most of his time in Santa Clara

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