Although every organisation strives for strong teamwork and optimal performance from all of its regional offices, achieving this is much more difficult. Teams dispersed across regions do not share traditional face time in a space called “office”, where rituals, artefacts, and observation set the parameters for inclusion, acceptance and belonging. Tsedal Neeley, a professor from Harvard Business School who has studied team dynamics for more than 15 years, has noted one basic difference between global teams that work and those that don’t – the degree of emotional connection among team members. She calls this social distance. Co-workers who are geographically separated cannot easily connect and align, often lack trust and do not feel close and congenial.
LINK TO FULL ARTICLE HERE: http://www.businessessentials.co.za/2018/02/21/multinationals-regional-offices-work-together/