Nurturing a collaborative culture on a project can go a long way towards achieving tangible costs and schedule results. Manage expectations, not only from the people working for you, but for the key people, i.e. stakeholders, that are above you. We had gone from a hierarchical, structured environment, to teams who had the trust, confidence, and openness to stop in the hallways to discuss problems and make decisions without having to worry about any repercussions if they didn't pass everything through their management team each time.

Change is a great opportunity to rejuvenate. Cultures do exist that respect the knowledge of the practitioners and the power of team.

Cultural factors can have major impact on the project, so adjust to the demands of the local culture. Without Dave's karaoke parties we probably still would have eventually ingratiated ourselves with the community, but developing a social relationship certainly broke the ice and formed a basis of trust. It helps to think broadly when thinking of how communication can affect project success.