This is the third and last in a series of articles with quick tips and tools for increasing performance on international virtual teams. We are all feeling stretched at work because our days have been stretched across the globe. While technology has increased our productivity, it seems that our productivity expectations and responsibilities have increased at a faster rate. How then can we move these teams forward smartly?

We work with our clients to improve project performance and find that there are additional issues on these international teams. It is more than just project management. It is building global leadership skills. To help, in previous articles we have covered practical, actionable tips around trust building, communications tools, managing response times, and leading effective global virtual meetings. We close this series of articles with a discussion of where to spend your time, and understanding, recognizing and aligning the team.

• Spend 70-80% of time with team members that are NOT co-located

It is easy to stay in the pattern you are already in: building relationships, sharing information and spending time with those already in your location. Global virtual team leadership requires you to go beyond your comfort zone. You must not just reach out, but instead focus a disproportionate amount of time on those that you cannot easily communicate with. Schedule one on one conversations for feedback and focused conversations.

• Assess team and leader skills, and design training to close gaps.

Just as with any team, you want the members to have the requisite skills and to use the project as a way to grow them. With a team that is in your location, you may have a better understanding of what the team’s skills are. You very likely also share a foundational cultural understanding. With team members in other locations, special effort needs to be made to understand the team’s skills, and where and how to improve them. This includes not just technical or functional area skills, but also soft skills like negotiation, conflict resolution, and understanding cultural differences. Use not just the training resources available through your company’s training resources (internal and external), but also integrate peer mentoring and knowledge sharing within the team. Once you understand your team and their different expertise, you can put cross training on the agenda.

• Clearly and frequently state the project purpose and tie it to the big picture