Everything Korea Office Chat: 360

When confronted, It’s very common for western teams and leadership to learn as much about a problem or situation, pull apart, then work works toward a solution. 

 

For leaders, they listen to the issue at hand and then based on their past experience provide what they see are work thoughts and a direction for the team.  This works well but does get complicated when we layer doing business internationally—as others may see things differently.

 

For Korea and this does apply well globally, looking beyond the apparent issue at hand is critical.

 

For instance, if I was asked  to move a Korea project forward or resolve an issue, I’d first step back and look at the big picture.  They do impact decisions, and not to be dismissed. 

 

Then, I’d look at if there any local geo-political and economic dimensions—trade, political tensions, or currently how  the Biden Administration will view the Koreas, China and Japan. 

 

Next I’d note the upcoming South Korea’s presidential election in March 2022, how will both local and national politics potential impact a project.  I’ve seen in the past where one administration might favor a project, then the newly elected  government less supportive and have other priorities. This shift can be considerable and ripple across companies large and small. 

 

That said, getting to understanding what the real issues are can be the greatest challenge. And frankly, this is where I am most often engaged. 

 

For one, the Korean workplace is a complexity of interrelations. Decisions within a company or an agency must consider all relationships and the impact on the greater organization .

 

Let me share an example from a project in which I was engaged. A meeting was held between a well- known western company and a local Korean Group where following a high-level presentation Korean leadership was pleased and willing to move forward, but deferring  details until they internally discussed. 

 

To the dismay of the local project leads, in the days following the presentation assignments for portions of the project were distributed to a number of departments—all considerably less familiar, less engaged, and skeptical about the project.

 

In private the project's lead team was not pleased but accepted the mandate. There was no recourse since the parceling came from leadership. Their team did not wish to create an issue despite knowing that the other teams were poorly equipped to handle the assignments. The lead team sought to maintain harmony above all—even knowing their project would suffer. 

 

In this case, the situation was conveyed to me in private and we worked to ensure the project did in fact move forward amid knowing some that were less supportive.

 

To sum up this week’s chat, overcoming challenges is best approached by stepping back and getting the big picture—a 360 approach.  More so, when dealing internationally as each region, country and even a local company or government entity may have its own nuances and agenda.

 

As always, I am open to discussing your challenges, and provide a third person perspective. 

 

Feel free to reach out by Text, Messaging, phone or email.