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Virtual
work practices are common in IT project management. Working thousands
of kilometres away from each other, management of globally dispersed
teams is an area that continues to need a lot of attention. Remote
management, agree project leaders, is not an easy task, and any
lapse can be disastrous for the project.
The
three key factors affecting distance management of projects are:
the distance itself; time zone differences; and cultural issues.
Ignoring any of the three can jeopardise the whole project, leading
to a big loss for the company—both in terms of finances and
relationship with the client.
The
handicaps
 Most
companies train their professionals on communication skills. But,
when it comes to actual implementation, there is always a major
issue. A random survey reveals that 95 percent of the time it is
“lack of communication” or “miscommunication”
that creates a problem in such an environment.
Vivek
Awasthi, chief technical officer (CTO) with Cressenda Solutions,
agrees that there is a definite need for proper management between
the onsite and offshore teams. “It is essential that communication
is crisp and clear. In addition, you should have a variety of tools
to assist you.” Many decisions are often based on assumptions,
as cross-checking takes time. It is sometimes not possible to discuss
every detail. There is a deadline attached to the project, which
is very crucial.
In
addition, the onsite/offshore teams and the client might all be
from culturally different backgrounds. Even the expectations at
the time of communication are different. P K Gupta, director of
strategic development for intercontinental operations at Legato
Systems says, “People are culturally very different even within
India, not to talk of the entire world. Most of the time managers
and leaders are not acquainted with the culture of the region and
the people whom they would be managing in the future. This often
backfires and leads to serious problems.”
Another
issue is of different time zones, which can be a painful experience
for a technical/design team sitting offshore and doing the development.
Working in a different time zone, making conference calls, Web-based
training or responding to urgent requests also creates a challenge
for the programme manager or project leader. Despite the design
or status reports being communicated through telephone or the Web,
the handicaps are lack of communication skills and good infrastructure.
“International calls from homes at odd hours is another area
of concern. But the main problem is that our telecom infrastructure
creates a lot of disruption, which includes ghost voice, frequent
disconnection, bad quality of voice and several other similar irritants,”
adds Gupta. Ineffective e-mail communication can also be a major
hindrance in this scenario. You can end up wasting enormous amount
of time if the questions are not answered correctly. Almost one
full day can go waste because of the time gap between the countries.
According
to Aparna Katre, vice president and chief process officer at Kanbay,
another critical issue is understanding of a customer’s requirement.
“If you are talking face to face, there is the benefit of a
dialogue, which can help you in capturing the immediate requirements
of the customer. However, what information one receives on an offshore
site is an interpretation of some other individual, which might
not be exactly be what a client wants,” Katre explains.
Technical
issues
Difference
in software versions can create unnecessary hassles. The client
or the onsite team might not have the same software version as the
offshore team. Constant updation can lead to loss of time and additional
effort.
At
times, onsite team members might not be ready to share their domain
knowledge with the client. Many software companies still follow
the mantra—”Do your best, keep your mouth shut and come
back”. This makes the task difficult for the software programme
co-ordinator, the project manager or the relationship manager. It
is necessary for them to learn distance management skills to ensure
the success of the project.
Skills
required
Avinash
Vashishtha, managing director of neoIT says, “A project manager
should effectively be able to produce results in terms of service,
resource management, understanding the training requirements and
getting the right people. In addition, a lot of financial management
needs to be done.” Katre points out that at times failure to
understand the right roles and responsibilities can create a lot
of confusion among onsite team members. To take care of this, Kanbay
has devised a tool called ‘racy matrix’, which helps in
listing down the key responsibilities of the individuals and the
roles to be performed, to avoid confusion.
In
addition, the project manager should also be able to do “expectation
management”, which if not met can create problems within the
team. Says Rakesh Tikku, vice president of delivery for Infinite
Computer Solutions, “I believe the project manager should be
able to clearly define the expectation management of the client,
onsite and offshore teams and devise suitable policies. The other
skills include clear definition of the roles and responsibilities,
and the acceptance criteria (not just for the user, but between
the teams). There should also be requirement analysis for onsite
teams.” According to him, the other skills required in handling
such jobs are good understanding of the processes, good communication
and negotiation skills, transparency, and time management.
For
the project leader or programme co-ordinator, the skills needed
are handling offsite capability and time management. Management,
co-ordination and communication skills are essential, says Anup
Srivastava, programme manager with FCS. In terms of pre-requisites,
the individual needs to have a good experience of project management,
know all the phases of software development cycle, decipher the
client needs and convert everything into technical language. Participation
of the top management is essential in these efforts without which
effective distance management is not possible.
Training
programme
Most
IT professionals feel that a distance/remote management course should
be included in the syllabus of management schools. Project managers
however believe that on-the-job learning is more effective. Few
big companies have internal programmes and multimedia CDs are also
available. Few independent trainers are also providing courses on
cultural and corporate etiquette. International management courses
sometimes cover a part of distance management, but there is no single
training programme focused on this key issue.
Conclusion
What
is the solution? Experts point out that there is a need for proper
implementation of technology and tracking the whole communication
process. Traditionally, what has been happening is that there is
a single point of contact, and once the individual defaults, the
communication chain is broken. Many companies have woken up to the
need for a central repository, which will register each transaction
and also the knowledge and best practices used to implement the
project.
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