The leader should encourage sensitivity to differences but look for ways to bridge them and build unity.

However, geographically dispersed teams face a big challenge: Physical separation and cultural differences can create social distance, or a lack of emotional connection, that leads to misunderstandings and mistrust.

They build teams that offer the best functional expertise from around the world, combined with deep, local knowledge of the most promising markets.

They draw on the benefits of international diversity, bringing together people from many cultures with varied work experiences and different perspectives on strategic and organizational challenges.

All this helps multinational companies compete in the current business environment.

But when team members come from different countries and functional backgrounds and are working in different locations, communication can rapidly deteriorate, misunderstanding can ensue, and cooperation can degenerate into distrust.

I have conducted dozens of studies and heard from countless executives and managers about misunderstandings within the global teams they have joined or led, sometimes with costly consequences.

But I have also encountered teams that have produced remarkable innovations, creating millions of dollars in value for their customers and shareholders.

When people on a team all work in the same place, the level of social distance is usually low.

Even if they come from different backgrounds, people can interact formally and informally, align, and build trust.

They arrive at a common understanding of what certain behaviors mean, and they feel close and congenial, which fosters good teamwork.

Coworkers who are geographically separated, however, cant easily connect and align, so they experience high levels of social distance and struggle to develop effective interactions.

Mitigating social distance therefore becomes the primary management challenge for the global team leader.

It is called the SPLIT framework, reflecting its five components: structure, process, language, identity, and technologyeach of which can be a source of social distance.

In the following pages I explain how each can lead to team dysfunction and describe how smart leaders can fix problems that occuror prevent them from happening in the first place.

People in the larger (majority) group may feel resentment toward the minority group, believing that the latter will try to get away with contributing less than its fair share.

Meanwhile, those in the minority group may believe that the majority is usurping what little power and voice they have.

This dynamic can occur even when everyone is in the same country: The five people working in, say, Beijing may have a strong allegiance to one another and a habit of shutting out their two colleagues in Shanghai.

Consider the case of a global marketing team for a U.S.-based multinational pharmaceutical company.

The leader and the core strategy group for the Americas worked in the companys Boston-area headquarters.

A smaller group in London and a single individual in Moscow focused on the markets in Europe.

Three other team members, who split their time between Singapore and Tokyo, were responsible for strategy in Asia.

The way that each group perceived its situation is illustrated in the exhibit below.

Team Player 3 Serial Key