Diagnosing and improving global team dynamics

A global pharmaceutical company has teams based in the US and Asia. Since establishing its Asian unit several years ago, the team's staffing, mandate, and reporting structure have evolved. This led to perceived misalignment and open questions around how the US and Asian units should best align for maximum productivity and output going forward.

Leveraging our expertise in human behavior and interviewing techniques, we conducted targeted research in the US and Asia.

• On-site observation: We conducted in-context observation to understand workflows and correspondence firsthand.
• In-depth interviews: We conducted semi-structured interviews with approximately 10 members of the US team and approximately 10 members of the Asian team. These interviews uncovered pain points and good intentions on both sides. Developing rapport and trust was imperative to having open, honest conversations with employees and making sure the stories and examples they shared would remain anonymous when the data was presented. To accomplish this, the interviewers from the US and Asia teams remained in constant communication to align on emerging trends to make sure that both sides of the story were accurately told.
• Synthesis & workshop: We synthesized findings from both teams to identify key themes and problems. We then led a workshop with team leadership across both sites to discuss insights, roadblocks, and opportunities, focusing on illuminating paths towards mutual growth, clearer structure, and a more integrated collaboration model.

The relationship between the two global teams suffered from a variety of foundational problems, including unclear roles, priorities, reporting lines, and career progression expectations. More practically:

• Strategic disconnect: One team drove strategic planning and lacked input from the other, leading to misaligned tactics.
• Structural confusion: Unclear reporting structures between the two teams impacted accountability.
• Autonomy barriers: Resource and time zone limitations impacted the kind of work that could be passed back and forth.
• Cultural & communication trust gaps: Differences in communication styles and expectations damaged trust.

We provided concrete recommendations across multiple areas, aiming to foster a more integrated global team. Our recommendations ranged from how to better integrate the two teams at the strategic planning level to details on how to foster better project-level communication and intercultural understanding.

This project successfully utilized human behavior research methodologies to diagnose complex inter-team challenges in a global organization. By gathering perspectives from both the US and Asian teams, we uncovered the root causes of collaboration issues and provided a clear, actionable roadmap for the client.

This demonstrates our capability to apply our core UX skillset – understanding people, behaviors, and contexts – to organizational dynamics, offering a valuable service to organizations seeking to optimize team performance and collaboration, locally or across geographical and cultural divides.