Chapter 8: Communicating Across Organizational Boundaries

Summary
Organizations create boundaries to separate functions, to develop expertise and to generate efficiencies. Working in cross-functional teams, supervising units in different nations or cultures, and negotiating agreements with off-shore partners are just a few of the potential boundary spanning activities of today's managers. The challenge for managers is to coordinate the activities of those separated by the boundary to minimize potential problems such as financial losses and customer service failures.

Managers can encourage more effective boundary spanning in a number of ways. Some possibilities include:

• selecting the right people and training them to be proficient at maintaining relationships and managing uncertainty;
• tracking organizational processes that correct misperceptions and coordination problems;
• promoting shared experiences and common goals by developing links between role counterparts; and
• integrating boundary spanning into job descriptions.
  

Outline

1. The Nature of Boundaries
   
   
2. Potential Problems of Boundaries
   1. Investment losses
   2. Customer service failures
   3. Unmotivated employees
      
      
3. Contributing Factors
   1. Language differences
   2. Culture
   3. Location
   4. Structure of rewards and punishments
   5. The arithmetic/geometric factor
      
      
4. What to do?
   1. First, select and train the right people
      1. Create awareness of one's personal culture
      2. Focus on values and the communicative style of the other culture
      3. Foster an anthropological mindset
   2. Second, implement error correction processes
      1. Use quizzes
      2. Track organizational processes
   3. Third, encourage activities that promote shared experiences and common goals
      1. Hold company-wide seminars
      2. Host brainstorming sessions
      3. Develop links between role counterparts
      4. Elevate the voices of boundary spanners
      5. Encourage co-authoring of articles
      6. Show-and-tell
   4. Fourth, integrate boundary spanning into the structure of the organization
      1. Build boundary spanning into job descriptions
      2. Support job switching and job shadowing
      3. Use cross-functional teams
      4. Redesign the physical environment
      5. Incorporate parallel development cycles
         
         
5. Final Thoughts