Our presenters:
· René Munk-Nissen, CIO, DSB
· Paul Dangerfield, Manager at Outsourcing Advisory Services at Deloitte

When: February 29, 2012, 15.00-18.00
Where: DeloitteHuset, Weidekampsgade 6, 2300 Copenhagen S

RSVP: To attend, please RSVP. You can do so directly on the IAOP’s web site at www.iaop.org. Alternatively, you can send an email to Trellis’ Katie Gove kg@trellis.dk.

You do not need to be a member to attend.

Note: save the dates for our 2012 program: May 30, September 5, and November 21.

Jeffrey Saunders, Director of the Copenhagen Institute of Future Studies will present on November 23 at the IAOP (International Association of Outsourcing Professionals) network meeting.

Join us on November 23, 2011 for our next IAOP meeting. Contact Katie Gove at Trellis (kg@trellis.dk) to sign up.

When: November 23, 2011, 15.00-18.00
Where: ISS’ headquarters located at Bredgade 30 in Copenhagen. This change in venue is for this event only.

This program is hosted by the Nordic Chapter of the IAOP (International Association of Outsourcing Professionals) and is open to all interested parties.

Contact Katie Gove at kg@trellis.dk for further details.

De organisationer, som ønsker at vinde markedsandele, optimere it-infrastrukturen, få succes på nye markeder, udnytte nye teknologier og udvikle produkter på mere effektive måder, vil have en stor gavn af at mestre it-outsourcing.

Organisatorisk modenhed i outsourcing
Blandt de bemærkelsesværdige resultater af undersøgelsen, er der ét, der fortjener særlig opmærksomhed: virksomhederne, der outsourcer, er begyndt at inkludere deres egen organisatoriske egnethed som et fokusområde for outsourcing. Det handler ikke længere kun om it-leverandøren. Tendensen er nu, at virksomhederne i højere grad vurderer deres egne evner og miljøer for at opnå bedre resultater i it-outsourcing. Det siger noget om, at it-outsourcing som disciplin er ved at modne, og at virksomhederne har en øget forståelse for mulighederne i en veltilrettelagt og strategisk funderet it-outsourcing. Den tendens understøttes af at hele 69,9 % af respondenterne fortæller, at it-outsourcing er støttet af topledelsen og 56, 5 % siger at deres organisation har en klar it-outsourcing strategi.

Den komplekse dynamik, der er involveret i en vellykket it-outsourcing medfører, at virksomhederne skal have en robust portefølje af kompetencer, de sandsynligvis ikke tidligere har haft behov for at udvikle. Men hvordan man udnyttelser eksterne teknologier og ressourcer til at levere på forretningsstrategier er fortsat et uudforsket område for de fleste virksomheder. Ofte er organisationerne ikke parate til at styre, måle, evaluere, justere og skala på en måde, der virkelig skaber value for money.

Den udfordring forøges af, at teknologien hele tiden udvikler sig og tilbyder nye muligheder, der kræver indsigt og forvaltning. Det er en uholdbar situation for de fleste organisationer. Og hvis de organisatoriske behov og kompleksiteten skal imødekommes kræver det behændig prioritering og en veludviklet evne til at udnytte de eksterne teknologier og ressourcer. Kun ad den vej kan virksomhederne opnå fremgang.

Et par af resultaterne
• Fokus skifter til også at omfatte organisatorisk parathed på it-outsourcing sponsor
• Der er et stort fokus på omkostninger uden et stærkt greb om værdi og resultater
• Af de fem strategiske initiativer, som respondenterne siger, ville levere mest værdi for deres it-outsourcing indsats, er der kun én “teknisk” løsning, nemlig Cloud: alle andre retter sig mod organisatoriske og ledelsesmæssige områder som strategi, kommunikation, færdigheder og inddragelse af øverste ledelse
• 64 % af deltagerne erklærer, at de er villige til at investere for at opnå bedre resultater i it-outsourcing
• Ingen af de deltagende virksomheder blev motiveret af et ønske om at spare tid. Men mange af dem accelererede deres investeringer i it-outsourcing efter at have opnået en betydelig tidsbesparelse.

Hør mere om undersøgelsens resultater
Læs mere om disse og mange andre interessante resultater, når vi om kort tid en rapport med flere resultater og analyser af undersøgelsen. Hvis du har spørgsmål til undersøgelsen eller ønsker at diskutere perspektiverne for outsourcing, er du velkommen til at kontakte Karsten Fogh Ho-Lanng, NNIT på +45 3079 2379.

Participants will be able to understand how organizations have tackled outsourcing and more importantly, which specific behaviors, decisions, structures and processes produce positive results in outsourcing. Previous participants have said: they got “a fantastic and robust picture of how companies outsource;” “felt like you held a mirror up to our own organization;” and “got a lot out of the stuff on relationships-particularly the parent-child/peer-to-peer descriptions. This really helped me to understand how we treat our vendors.”

Join us for a half-day workshop which will help you and your organization to better tackle outsourcing. Note seating is limited to 10.

Contact Katie Gove at kg@trellis.dk for details.

Participants will be able to understand how an organization can go about building appropriate outsourcing strategies which are explicitly integrated with the business strategy. This means appropriately managing risks and directly supporting business goals. Previous participants have said that they got a “great introduction to the subject along with useful tools which can be put to immediate use.”

Join us for a one-day workshop on building outsourcing strategies which will help you and your organization to directly support your business’ strategy via outsourcing. Note seating is limited to 10.

I would like to invite you to attend this event. You are also welcome to send this notice along to colleagues whom you believe would be interested in the study.

Contact me at kg@trellis.dk for details.

Leadership: Global virtual teams require strong and dedicated leadership. Effective distance leaders possess emotional intelligence and take the role as mentors by showing concern, understanding and empathy for their team members; they listen and exhibit patience and sensitivity. They also instill a high degree of trust. Trust is one of the only mechanisms; a distance leader has to manage people on virtual teams. People, who do not trust each other, do not perform together!

In addition, providing training in the “Leading at Distance” discipline is pivotal for securing high-performance of global virtual teams. Distance leaders need to have a strong understanding of the critical issues and best practices related to distance leadership, as well as a keen understanding of when to use which tools to optimize the performance of global virtual teams. Grounded learning through simulation exercises and cases make up a good platform for effective global distance leaders.

Team: Successful distance leadership requires carefully thinking about team-configuration, selecting team-members, creating a salient team-identity, clarifying roles, creating trust and managing any conflict under way. In addition, it requires establishing team legitimacy in the organization by keeping strong links with parent organizations, having supportive sponsors and identifying allies.

Communication Technology: Effective and successful global virtual teams require establishing the optimal mix of communication technology. The challenge for distance leaders and their teams is to know when to use the different media types for optimal communication and collaboration. Providing training in the use of the different communication technologies and continue to do so as new tools are developed is pivotal, as is of course providing technical support.

Goal: A High-performing global virtual team requires a distance leader, who clearly establishes team mission, goal and objectives, as well as, who makes sure goals are clear and broken down. The goal is the only thing the global virtual team is able to navigate from.

Finally, the most important piece of advice I can offer is to, ‘Communicate, Communicate, and Communicate!’ (However, watch out for communication overload). It is almost a contradiction in terms, but the global distance leader, who is not on site, needs to be the most “visible” of all leaders!

Increasingly, leadership at distance is a reality for many organizations. It is by working virtually, that companies are then able to meet the ever-changing requirements in highly turbulent and dynamic global business environments.

Virtual global teams offer companies a number of advantages, including, but not limited to, the ability to quickly adapt to ever changing competitive landscapes and ever changing customer demands; independence from time and space constraints; access to heterogeneous networks of knowledge and resources; not to mention reduced travel costs and reduced CO2 emissions.

Q: What are some of the critical issues related to managing global virtual teams?

Highly heterogeneous global teams have been shown to outperform homogenous teams, but it is more difficult for global virtual teams to realize the potentials. Global virtual teams face the same challenges that any other teams face, but in addition, they are faced with a set of unique challenges, which makes managing global virtual teams significantly more complex than managing traditional, co-located teams.

For example, working in different time zones can cause problems; some people are working whiles others are sleeping. The windows for synchronous interactions are reduced to a minimum!

Technology causes problems. Synchronous vs. asynchronous and rich vs. poor communication technology all have their distinct benefits and drawbacks. Furthermore, communication technology is by its very nature more attuned to sharing explicit rather than tacit knowledge.

Distance creates problems. Trust is the glue that holds the virtual team together, but it is difficult to establish across time and space because people have difficulties trusting people they cannot see and with whom they cannot directly interact. In addition, virtual teamwork does not suit everyone. It implies uncertainty in addition to social isolation, an environment, which some people will neither be able to handle nor work productively in. In addition, members of virtual teams are more prone to experience role conflict, ambiguity and work overload than members of co-located teams.

Diversity creates problems: Different communication styles and approaches to doing things around the world significantly affect global virtual teams. For instance, some people will feel comfortable making decisions on their own, while others will prefer to refer decision-making to a higher level in the organization. Differences in communication styles have the potential to create significant conflicts on the virtual team.