Microsoft word - managing_international_projects.doc

Managing international projects
Improve your ability to manage cultural differences and learn how to optimize communication using virtual project rooms. This course provides you with a tool-kit for understanding and handling cultural differences and will prepare you to work more effectively in multicultural teams and multi-site international projects. Participants
Project managers or experienced project participants involved in international projects on a daily or regular basis. The course is not directed at specific types of projects, but focuses on the multinational aspects of project management. Participants will not typically be stationed abroad full-time. With organisations moving towards global multi-site projects, multicultural teams are becoming a way of life. Members of multicultural teams differ in how they perceive information and have different norms guiding team interaction. Insufficient knowledge of team members’ cultural norms and values can make a project leader’s job frustrating and often result in delays and even project failure. In addition, international project teams are typically co-located – and cannot inhabit the same workplace. However, they must work together and communicate as intensively as if they were sitting in the same office, regardless of time differences. Such well-functioning teamwork generates new tasks for the project management throughout the project and requires a virtual project room. This room is where the team shares virtual space and works and makes decisions together. It integrates all the players in the project and contributes to continuity, team spirit and cohesiveness. The project management benefits from better visibility, closer integration of tasks, persons and documents etc. as the virtual project room helps the project manager to anchor planning, maintain efficient communication in the project, and encourage teambuilding etc. This course aims to provide the participants with a tool-kit for understanding and tackling cultural differences and will prepare them to work more effectively in multicultural teams and multi-site international projects. ·Use your own cultural norms and values as the basis for understanding cultural differences ·Work with issues associated with cultural differences in a multicultural project team ·Prepare a checklist for handling cultural preferences with relation to project management in ·Arrange a suitable virtual project room for your project ·Work efficiently in a virtual project room and input on how to handle the challenges it creates for The seminar will use the participants’ own cultural norms and values as the basis for understanding cultural differences. The 5-D Model will be explained and illustrated through real-life examples. We will work with issues associated with cultural differences in a multicultural project team and prepare a checklist for handling cultural preferences with relation to project management in different country clusters. Participants will also be required to share and analyze their own “cultural” experiences. - Personal Cultural Profile of the individual participants - Introduction to the 5-D tool kit for understanding cultural differences - Cultural differences in selected countries - “How to benefit from your own experiences!” - “Mental Images”- a tool kit that clusters cultural preferences of project team members with relation to management issues such as communication, conflict, coordination, control, decision making, motivation, teamwork etc. The course will also focus on how to arrange a suitable virtual project room for your project, tools and methods to work efficiently in such a room – along with the challenges it creates for the project manager and the team: - Virtuality degree – influence on the project management - Virtual project rooms – characteristics – what should they contain – how to arrange them - Challenges for the project manager – communication – trust – preparation of the project Interactive presentation, individual experience sharing, group work, reflection, work in smaller groups
both face-to-face and in a virtual project room. Both lecturers have years of experience gained from
working in international environments covering almost all continents, and will draw on their knowledge
in their presentations. The course will be run in English.
The course includes:
Three education days A log-book for your personal notes Meals and refreshments during the course Course materials including hand outs and articles A profile of your own culture norms and values

Source: http://www.vsf.is/files/504698313Managing_international_projects.pdf