Eli LillyTONYA BAILEY - AMSTERDAM

MATTHEW HARLOE – AUSTRALIA

FALLON CARRICO – INDIANAPOLIS (HEADQUARTERS)

About Eli Lilly

▪ Founded by a 38-year old pharmaceutical, chemist, and veteran in 1876 – Eli Lilly.

▪ The company is responsible for many well-known brands such as: Cialis, Cymbalta, Methadone, Prozac, and Zyprexa.

▪ Employing more than 38,000 people worldwide.

▪ Net Profit (as of 2013) – $23.1 billion.

▪ Eli Lilly Company Mission – “Make modern medicines that help people live longer, healthier, and more active lives”.

Abstract

Our team worked to develop an analysis of virtual team issues relating to cultural and international factors. We outlined our set of

recommendations to evaluative procedures, as well as recommendations for addressing these issues. The result is a set of

best practices for managing multicultural virtual teams regardless of environmental, cultural, or social barriers.

Part One - Set of Best Practices for Managing Multicultural Virtual

Teams in an Online Learning Environment

Leadership

▪ A leader must be chosen for each project.

▪ A leader needs to be an effective communicator, have strong organizational skills, and be able to multi-task.

▪ Determine what each team member’s role/responsibility is, as well as budget, timelines, and deadlines for the project.

▪ Set team expectations for each assigned project, and ensure members understand the foundation of the team objective.

Communication

▪ Geographical distance between team members can cause miscommunication, misunderstanding, or conflict.

▪ Speak clearly so others can understand what you say—as language barriers may misconstrued context.

▪ Ask questions, so that you and all team members fully understand duties, and responsibilities.

Vision

▪ Ensure all team members understand the goal and vision of the project by creating ways to support one another: coach team when needed, provide feedback, and offer awards and incentives.

▪ Constructive criticism is usually welcomed and encouraged to help coach each team member along the way.

▪ The feedback will help keep the team engaged and more in tune in how each team member is contributing to the project.

▪ Peer awards will be available to help encourage team members and allow peers to recognize each other for a job well done.

Roles

▪ Team members must understand their roles, check in regularly and fulfill their commitments.

▪ Each team member will have the opportunity to report what they contributed to the project during the meeting– allowing all team members to know that everyone is carrying out their responsibilities.

▪ All concerns, questions, and issues can be discussed during the duration of the meeting with a follow-up resolution.

Collaboration

Effectively collaborate with various face-to-face alternatives.

Eli Lilly Tools for Communication (but are not limited to):

▪ GoToMeeting – share documents and computer screens.

▪ Lync – instant messaging, sharing documents or computer screens.

▪ SharePoint/OneDrive – manage documents collaboratively.

▪ Skype – instant messaging, and video conferencing.

Part Two – Analysis of Cross-Cultural/International

Issues in Virtual Teams

Benefits of Cross-Cultural/Multi-National Virtual Teams

▪ Working in a virtual team with diverse cultures can lead to many opportunities, and contain a number of liabilities.

▪ Undeniable opportunities brought on by global virtual teams include: limiting costs (e.g. transportation, travel), gaining access to diverse skills or knowledge, expanding the organization, and learning about diverse global markets.

▪ Working with co-workers with different backgrounds can inspire new ideas, and bring in different perspective.

▪ Due to the rise of globalization, working with different cultures is vital to organizations looking to expand their business.

Difficulties facing Geographical & Time Zone Distance

▪ Without face-to-face communication, trust and shared understanding are two important aspects that many virtual teams find challenging to generate.

▪ Team members that work together from a distance are less likely to get to know one another, and absorb their working habits.

▪ Some virtual team members could be a day behind, or ahead on assignments—depending on their locations.

▪ Time zones can also make synchronous communication (e.g. telephone, video conferencing) efforts difficult.

Difficulties facing Multicultural/International Virtual Communication

▪ The cultural difference between a sender and receiver of a message can make all the difference in successful virtual communication.

▪ Some cultures prefer to be direct and clear about what they are trying to get across—even though it may come off confrontational, or rude.

▪ Multi-cultural virtual teams have diverse resources of information, personal opinion, and emotions—all cultures typically believe that their way is superior, or more efficient than others.

▪ It is also likely that some cultures may not be able to have access to some of the collaboration-preferred technologies.

Part Three –Recommendations for Managing, Monitoring, and Evaluating Virtual

Team Issues

Performance Evaluation

Performance evaluation can be one of the larger challenges that managers will face when leading a virtual team.

Factors such as:

▪ physical observation

▪ isolation

▪ knowledge barriers

▪ emphasis on output

Comprehensive Assessment Process

▪ Must be developed to cater to the unique characteristics of a particular virtual team.

▪ Company values, process improvement, team input, customer feedback, and individual goal metering are all good components to form the foundation for a solid appraisal process.

▪ This assessment also serves as a base for future evaluative measures.

Team Agreement and Work Plan

▪ This document serves as a custom contract for each virtual team that addresses: accountability, vision, conflict management, deliverables, guidelines for communication, self-assessment methodology, and the course of action for team decisions.

▪ This is a dynamic document that should contain the input of all team members and, once finalized, signed.

▪ By outlining clear metrics, consequences, and shared values there is no confusion of what is expected out of each member, and from the team.

▪ A team agreement and work plan should be revisited regularly to ensure its scope is still appropriate to the team’s goals.

Trust

▪ Solid trust leads to effective and predictable communication.

▪ It is important to supplement the social interactions lost in a virtual team by setting aside time during team meetings to discuss what is happening, both personally and professionally, in everyone’s lives.

▪ When the members of a virtual team trust one another, the need to collaborate and communicate is spread evenly, rather than the burden being carried by one or two individuals.

▪ In order to maintain the trust that has been built, it is important to share and rotate power.

Dealing with Cross-Cultural/International Virtual Team Members

•Carry an open mindset.

•Assume responsibilities.

•Create trust and validity within team.

•Create a shared understanding within the team.

•Have meaningful conversations with team members.

•Take into consideration the different time zones, and distance between team members.

•Listening actively – As a sender or receiver of a message in cultural differentiated teams,

clarification may be necessary. Don’t feel hesitant to request verification, or seek additional

information of what the sender is trying to communicate.

•Have virtual team agree on recommended procedure for cross-cultural/international issues,

and conflict/resolution management style.

Recommended Procedures when Addressing Cross-Cultural/International Issues

•Determine virtual team politics—organizational hierarchy, team roles, and tasks.

•Specify virtual team goals, objectives, and deadlines.

•Cultural training programs and practices to educate virtual team members.

•Defining multi-cultural virtual team communication norms, and universal language.

•Virtual team conflict/resolution management.

•Team member technology capability and access.

•Synchronous/Asynchronous communication management.

•Creating trust and shared understanding.

•Social Integration—cliques in virtual teams are sometimes formed due to demographics, geographic, psychographics.

In Conclusion

▪ There are many factors for managing a virtual team that will ensure your team works together efficiently and productively.

▪ One of the major limiting factors is the lack of social interaction one might experience when working in the same office, or a face-to-face team.

▪ A work plan or team agreement is essential for any virtual team as it aids in cohesion and in the understanding of expectations.

▪ With a solid foundation, and clear communication, you can begin work to grow trust.

▪ The benefits of a virtual team far outweigh the challenges presented by multi-cultural and international issues. As organizations look to gain a competitive advantage, virtual teams are becoming more common place.

Works Cited

▪ Drug Watch. (2015). Eli Lilly & Co. Retrieved from Drug Watch: http://www.drugwatch.com/manufacturer/eli-lilly/

▪ Eli Lilly. (2015). Key Facts. Retrieved from Lilly: https://www.lilly.com.au/en/about/key-facts.aspx

▪ Eli Lilly. (2015). Key Issues. Retrieved from Lilly: http://www.lilly.com/about/key-issues/Pages/key-issues.aspx

▪ Eli Lilly. (2015). Lilly Foundation. Retrieved from Lilly: http://www.lilly.com/about/lilly-foundation/Pages/lilly-foundation.aspx

▪ PBR. (2015). Eli Lilly and Company. Retrieved from Pharmaceutical Business Review: http://www.pharmaceutical-business-review.com/companies/eli_lilly_and_company

▪ Wikipedia. (2015). Eli Lilly and Company. Retrieved from Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Lilly_and_Company

▪ Ferrazzi, K. (2012, October 8). How to Build Trust in a Virtual Workplace. Retrieved from Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/2012/10/how-to-build-trust-in-virtual/

▪ Fitzpatrick, R. (2015). Challenges and Interventions in Monitoring and Evaluating Virtual Team Performance. Retrieved from eSalesTrack: https://est05.esalestrack.com/eSalesTrack/Content/Content.ashx?file=e004e188-1b41-4cdc-820b-2dc3c526896e.pdf

▪ Gibson, C. B., & Cohen, S. G. (2003). Virtual Teams That Work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

▪ Nemiro, J. (2004). Creativity in Virtual Teams - Key Components for Success. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

▪ Nemiro, J. (2008). The Handbook of High Performance Virtual Teams. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

▪ Polane, M. (n.d.). Cross-Cultural Management in a Virtual Project Team Setting. Retrieved from Academia: http://www.academia.edu/528072/Cross_Cultural_Management_in_a_Virtual_Project_Team_Setting