When several organizations are involved in a project, unique challenges arise for the project manager and team members, especially the need to influence without authority across functional areas, businesses, and geography. Geographical location and organizational boundaries affect the dynamics of any project, offering opportunities as well as challenges. The behavioral process described below evolved over years of experience, study, and teaching. Greater success comes not by doing pieces, but to the extent you apply all steps in the process.
Prepare for Relationship-Building
Proactive leaders recognize that people make things happen, and getting to know their needs is vital to changing their behavior. Success in a cross-organizational project requires extra effort to develop relationships-first to get support from key people and then to get commitment to the project from each team member.
Starting with the premise that people generally have some choice regarding what project they work on, continually ask yourself, “How can I get people to work with me on this project?” The answers vary by individual. Make the effort to determine the answer to this question for each individual you want to work on your project. If you are able to answer the question, you gain a competitive advantage in attracting these individuals and eliciting their active involvement and cooperation on the project.
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