Collaborative Mindset

Boosting Collaboration

How does a globally networked division like GR collaborate across sites? And why can it be highly advantageous to have colleagues in various time zones? Last November’s Collaboration Booster online event aimed to answer these questions. The “booster” initiative strengthens global cooperation at GR across national borders.

The following motto captures the main purpose of the virtual get-together: “Follow the sun”. It means that projects initiated by colleagues on one side of the globe travel with the sun and daylight around the world, allowing them to be continuously processed by associates located on different continents.

“Our team fully embraced this motto during the planning phase,” says Double Shi with GR China, describing the process: “My colleague in the core team, Sarah Salmonowicz, was in the USA and I was in China. This arrangement complemented each other perfectly: I passed on my day’s work to Sarah, who then processed it further until the next morning.”

For three days, GR experts from all over the world participated in live sessions and interactive training. There were sessions on “Success stories of small sites” in EMEA, insights from APAC on cultural peculiarities, and discussions in America on innovative pilot projects.

“We have demonstrated that the diversity and history of our sites does not divide us, but rather brings us closer together and strengthens our GR affiliation,” said András Kemler, who took part as head of the Hungary cluster.

A new path

First the GR management team laid the foundation for the initiative. A global core team – including Sarah Salmonowicz (NA), Double Shi (China), Bruna Crivelari (Brazil), Fabrice Combe (France) and Nadja Tessmer (Germany) – was finally put in charge of implementing the initiative. The booster itself was therefore a good example of how to follow the “Collaboration Path”. A new installment is already planned for 2025.