CSU Engineers
Professional Work
“Across the Pond”
Dr. Doug Aldrich
CFM, IFMA Fellow
No Question…..
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Technology people will work globally
Projects will be different, challenging,
risky, and elusive opportunities
People will test your skills and abilities
to learn, contribute and succeed
Two Dimensions
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Projects: mutual goals, well-done
tasks and bona-fide results, through
your professional and adept skills
People: culture, customs and biases,
with your relationship to and respect
for them
The Challenge
Preparation
P^5
Prior Planning
Prevents
Poor Performance
Travel Tips
(website)
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Getting ready and set to go
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Working and interacting
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Taking care of yourself
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Enjoying the time
Language
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English for business/technology
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Local words (100) + calculator
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Pace, jargon and slang
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Legal papers and negotiations
Principles
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Read history, culture and customs
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Know and rely kindly on your host
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Understand and practice do’s-dont’s
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Use ears and mouth in that proportion
American Response
Getting Along - 1
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Impressions
– Dress, men and women
– Business cards and titles
– Foods and drinks
– Courtesies and gifts
– Body language
Getting Along - 2
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Business Practices
– Language courtesies
– Introductions and small talk
– Questions first, then answers
– Metric measures
Communications
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Writing
– Better for understanding
– Documentation
– Emails
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Speaking (slow and loud?)
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Telephone (hours)
Meetings - 1
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Confirm goals
– Technology, costs and timing
– Roles and responsibilities
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Planning
– Options and benefits
– Decisions
Meetings - 2
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Actions and expectations
– Technical and piloting
– Regulations and acceptance
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Approvals (who and when?)
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Plant tours (housekeeping)
Meetings - 3
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Tools
– Agendas and minutes
– Charts and diagrams
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Techniques
– Discussions
– Conflict resolution
– Decisions
Major Projects
Project #1: Belgium
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Preceded by strategic planning and
lab consolidations
Followed by A/E selection, concepts,
and design/engineering with costs
Supervised construction, safety,
start-up and move-in.
Linking........challenges
Languages (bi- or tri-lingual)
 Communicating value
 Common beliefs
 Complex plans/budgets
 Boredroom
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Challenges: Belgium
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Significant changes (offices and
locations, HVAC and sharing labs)
Influences of “two countries”
Quality of services, materials and
construction work
Resolutions: Belgium
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Piloting of offices people could use
Value of sharing equipment and
spaces seen by management
AC in labs, tempering in offices; nonoperable windows but smoking room
Warning!
“Even if you’re on the right
track, you can still get run
over by the train.”
Results: Belgium
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High degree of satisfaction by all users
in post-occupancy audits
Excellent customer perceptions as
development and training facility
Significantly improved productivity
Project #2: China
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Preceded by assessment, needs
analysis and site plan
Managed selections, documents,
estimating and approvals
Oversaw bidding, construction, safety,
start-up and move-in
Coda
“The true way of thinking about and
dealing with the future is to plant
trees.....under whose shade you
do not expect to sit.”
Challenges: China
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Relationships and hurdles
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Supply of goods and services
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American business methods
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Construction quality and safety
Resolutions: China
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Appreciation for but insistence on rules
and expectations
Vendor and contractor selection and
careful documentation
Correction of unsatisfactory and/or
unsafe work and practices
Coda
“The true way of thinking about and
dealing with the future is to plant
trees.....under whose shade you
do not expect to sit.”
Results: China
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Admired for DC’s first lab in PRC
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Respect for knowledge and ethics
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Appreciation for USA approaches
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First-time quality approval
Relationships
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Slow or medium, not fast
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Opportunities unfold
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Work and social times
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Differences can be good
Lessons
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Consensus takes time and work
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History and cultural do influence
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Results and the journey count
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Respect is earned
It’s a Technical World