Inhibitors to agility
The following factors related to distributed teams are key barriers for enterprises that are seeking to enhance and sustain agility.
Cultural differences
Distributed working often involves teams spread across nations and continents. Cultures vary widely across the globe and that creates an additional barrier, which teams must overcome to become "one team." When people are ignorant of culture, even an innocuous gesture, or the lack of it, can cause ill will among people.
An example will illustrate this point. In some countries, it can be quite uncomfortable for many people to directly say "no," whereas in others, it is perfectly acceptable to say this and also expected, rather than providing a mixed response. One can imagine the awkwardness on a telephone conference call, when there is a long silence or an incoherent response, when the person actually means to convey a "no." Such situations could potentially create major misunderstandings, impede the building of trust,...
