INBS 640 Leading Change in eBusiness

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INBS 640Leading Change in eBusiness

• Week 10 Leading from a Distance
• Mary Ellen Georgas mgeorgas_at_mercy.edu
• Course website http//www.mercy.edu/faculty/georg
  as

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Recap from previous weeks

• Vision and mission
• The leadership factor
• The change process according to Kotter
• Steps 1 8
• Systems dynamics of change
• Failure factors
• Emotional intelligence of leaders
• Ambidextrous organizations
• Transformation to eBusiness
• Company of the future

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Management from a distance

• In a virtual world people/staff can be anywhere
• Increased use of offshore development resources
  in India and China
• Offshore customer service call centers
• Boundary manager versus supervisor
• Works on the system versus works in the system
• Focus on communications with other groups and
  interface issues
• Frees up team to concentrate on their jobs, not
  process or politics
• Effective communication network
• Internet, phone, face-to-face, etc.
• Help people learn to lead themselves
• Mentor and teach good habits
• Trust that staff can self-manage the little
  things like time and expense reports

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Competencies of a Distance Leader

• A distance leader works on the team boundary
• The team transforms inputs to outputs
• Distance leaders do not work in the system but on
  the system
• Boundary issues
• Vendors
• Customers
• Other teams
• Competitors
• Technologies
• Headquarters
• Economic changes
• Laws
• Communities
• Families after Kimball Fisher

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Sample Boundary Tasks

• Getting resources for the team
• Bringing in technical training
• Evaluating market trends
• Evaluating competitive offerings for similar
  products and services
• Buffering the team from corporate pressure
• Bringing in information from headquarters
• Anticipating technology shifts
• Bringing in customer feedback
• Forging alliances
• Introducing team members to key external contacts
• Building communication linkages between team
  members
• Solving problems between teams or individuals
• Bringing in concerned citizens to discuss
  community problems
• Building systems for direct data links to and
  from customers/vendors
• The Distance Manager

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Roles of the Distance Leader

• Creates a vision of accomplishment that
  transcends distance
• Creates a picture of what is possible for the
  team they lead
• As translator, helps team members comprehend the
  fuzzy and chaotic reality of the world outside
  the organization
• Facilitator
• Brings together the tools, information and
  resources for the team to get the job done
• Buffer
• Runs interference for the team
• Analyzer
• Translates changes in the business environment
  into opportunities for the organization

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Roles of the Distance Leader (contd.)

• Coach
• Teaches helps team members develop their
  potential
• Ensures accountability in others (team roles and
  assignments)
• Ensures team performance
• Results catalyst
• Manages by principle rather than by policy
• Focuses people on getting good results
• Models desired behavior
• Role models the proper use of technology
• Videoconferencing meetings
• Company intranet
• Netiquette and use of e-mail

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Effective Distance Leadership

• Create a sense of purpose and community
• Easier in a bricks and mortar environment
• Virtual space has no trappings of position power
• Avoid
• Autocratic or abdication behavior
• Dont put more energy into the means than the
  ends
• Must intervene if you see the team faltering
• Develop moral authority based on purpose,
  knowledge or wisdom
• Poor virtual team start-ups
• Face-to-face team building, develop goals and
  measures, clarify roles and responsibilities
• Unclear roles/responsibilities
• Eliminate overlap and fill gaps

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Effective Distance Leadership (contd.)

• Avoid
• Starving teams of resources
• Which are the highest leverage resources?
• Ensure resources and infrastructure are available
  to build and/or support remote teams
• Lack of technical or social infrastructure
• Telecom computer access, compatibility,
  bandwidth and memory
• Organization, training, appraisal and performance
  management

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Success with dispersed teams

• Recognize the importance of having a face-to-face
  start-up meeting whenever possible
• At the start-up meeting discuss/ define
• Rules of engagement
• Goals and objectives
• Roles and responsibilities of each team member
• Project plan clearly identify milestones,
  tasks, assignments and timeframes
• Conflict resolution process
• Use of and training on collaborative technologies
• Create schedule for regular meetings
  face-to-face and/or virtual
• Define expected and required documentation of
  progress
• Have a strong leadership hand to guide the team,
  resolve conflicts and remove ambiguities

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Leading change in eBusiness final thoughts

• Clear definition of change and transformation
• The change process
• Leadership versus management
• Emotional intelligence and other leadership
  qualities
• Failure points and pitfalls to avoid

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Leading change in eBusiness final thoughts

• Change is the only constant
• New technologies and new applications of old
  technologies
• MA activity
• Disruptive technologies
• Institutionalization of e
• Within a world of change, leadership principles
  and process dont change
• Hang onto business models and traditional methods
  of evaluation
• Use the process it works

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The first job of leaders is to define reality,
the last is to say thank you. Peter
Drucker