There are many factors that can subtly (or not so subtly) undermine trust in complex companies (cultural differences, competing priorities, working through technology & misaligned goals – to name but a few). If trust is damaged mangers tend to increase central control and this can lead to delay, cost and dissatisfaction.

Most managers realize this but it can be hard to trust and empower people you may not know well when achieving goals is important or urgent.

In this podcast Kevan Hall, CEO of Global Integration shares some ideas and tools on how to find the right balance of control and empowerment for your team or organization.

To find out more about our training in this area please visit Global Integration

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• What is our unique contribution as a team – rather than just the sum of our individual roles?
• What is the right level of control for our business?
• What is relevant to discuss during our meetings and reviews?

Management teams in complex companies can fall into some common traps in managing these challenges – a tendency to discuss topics of relevance only to a few team members, a tendency to increase control over time and to be sucked into inappropriate levels of detail.

How they handle these challenges sets the tone for the wider organization and can have a huge impact on organizational performance.

Hear some tips from Kevan Hall of Global Integration on how to manage these challenges in our Latest “Life  in a  Matrix” podcast Management Teams in complex companies

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To find out more about how you can improve employee engagement and cut out unnecessary work please contact us.

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Many HR organizations have adopted some version of the Ulrich model with a system of business partners, specialists and (often outsourced) service centres for transactional activities. This has introduced a much more complex internal matrix structure within the HR function.

As a result HR people have to develop new skills and ways of working to cope with this internal complexity and still provide effective services to their organizations.

This podcast looks at the challenges of increased people management complexity within the HR function and how skills need to change to prevent delay, cost and dissatisfaction.

If you would like a copy of our .pdf on this subject, which includes a self-assessment of the skills needed to manage complexity within the HR function please contact us

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What is your experience of complexity within HR?

In a tough economy there is a tendency for central control to increase which can place the HQ & local relationship under even more pressure and can lead to delay, cost and dissatisfaction.

In this podcast Kevan Hall, CEO of Global Integration and author of the book Speed Lead will discuss why the HQ & Local relationship can cause problems and what to do to build a more positive and successful HQ & Local relationship.

Find out more about how we can help build the skills needed to be successful in complex companies.

Many organizations are creating increasingly integrated central functions such as IT – driven by globalization, cost savings and the need to share scarce resources more widely across the organization.

But a more complex, more integrated IT function, more complex customers and more complex projects means that IT people need to update their skills.

In this podcast Kevan talks about the people management challenges of creating a more integrated IT organization.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed for this site so we can let you know when future editions arrive. You can get the show through iTunes here.

Find out more about how we help build the skills for mangign complexity.

An inability to manage differences in corporate cultures and failure to manage the higher level of organizational complexity after M&A activity are two major reasons that many fail to deliver value.

In this podcast Kevan talks about the challenges of successful M&A activity, using “cultural due diligence” as part of the M&A planning process and about how to build a culture of “Best of Both” afterwards in the expanded organization.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed for this site so we can let you know when future editions arrive. You can get the show through iTunes here.

Find out more about our approach to merger and acquisitions planning and integration, see other posts on mergers and acquisition at http://www.global-integration.com

Global accounts managers need to be able to cope with complex customers, manage the complexity of their own organizations (which can be harder) and deliver service and sales through matrix and virtual teams – often without traditional hierarchical authority.

A lot of global account management training focuses on sales ability but we also need to recognize and build the new skill levels required for this additional level of business complexity. In this podcast Kevan talks about what makes a global account and what are the key drivers of complexity in managing complex global account teams.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed for this site so we can let you know when future editions arrive. You can get the show through iTunes here.

Find out more about our  and our approach to global accounts management and teams training, see other posts on global account management at http://www.global-integration.com

As a result cross cultural skills development needs to be much more embedded in everyday people processes at a deeper level in the orgnaization and needs to be much more practical and applied.

Unfortunately a lot of cross cultural training still focuses on fascinating stories and lists of “dos and taboos”. Kevan discusses a much more practical and embedded approach.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed for this site so we can let you know when future editions arrive. You can get the show through iTunes here.

Find out more about our “the culture abacus” and our approach to cross cultural training at  http://www.global-integration.com/

In this episode Kevan Hall, CEO of Global Integration talks about how we can manage people with lower levels of travel and less face to face contact.

Click on the triangular “play” button below to listen to the podcast.

We can deliver a managing without travel program for your organization – either as a face to face or remotely delivered package (to reduce travel!). Learn the skills of managing people without the need to travel so often.

This is a real win:win program with significant cost and time savings, an improvement to work life balance and a reduced carbon footprint.

Contact Global Integration to find out more