The Advisory Partnership looks at some of the challenges faced by international project managers as they try to steer their way to success through an environment of unrelenting communication. http://bit.ly/1xkCrSD.
Like me you’ve probably become one of those people who can’t put down your phone or tablet? Do you find yourself checking work emails at night and on weekends when you only planned to surf the web to relax? Thought so.
Despite all the technology we have to make us more efficient, we find ourselves working longer every year.
It’s easy to understand why many of us feel overwhelmed by over-communication from our teams, our clients and our business partners, particularly when our international colleagues are working during our down-time. Emails, SMS, Instant Messaging, Application alerts, often happening all at once, sometimes make us feel as if it’s just impossible to get on top of it all!
The risk for us is that within this ‘communication soup’ we will struggle to focus on the most important decisions of the day and stay focused on the international development of our businesses.
Here’s how I learned to stay sane and effective as an International Project Manager in the 24/7 connectivity cycle.
You're the boss... You have to take control of your own availability and not let it be dictated by others. Most of us now have international colleagues and work across diverse timezones. The boundary between work and personal time is becoming increasingly difficult to enforce.
Our international colleagues can forget that their morning meeting is our family time so it's our job to establish some boundaries. It will surprise you how many meetings disappear when you’re firm about your availability and how many move to suit you if your attendance is essential.
Don't mix business with...business... If you have both an international and local role, they will require different processing skills. It’s easier to be informal and to quickly drive actions with your local colleagues. International work however, moves more slowly and requires planned actions, increased formality and the need for clear communication to overcome language and cultural barriers.
There’s really no such thing as an effective 'global' approach so you need to adjust your behaviour for different types of interaction with different locations.
It’s stressful to change pace many times during the day so try to separate your local and international responsibilities to different parts of the week. Alternatively, enlist the help of international project managers for your projects so that the bulk of the planning and implementation is done for you.
Be ruthless... Our international colleagues are not with us on a day to day basis so it’s possible they will swamp us with questions, ideas and problems that they believe require urgent solutions. Their priority might not be your business priority so be disciplined over where you commit your time.
Take the advice of Stephen Covey in his 7 Habits; if it’s your area of control - act. If it’s in your area of influence then act or delegate and if you neither control nor influence the issue, delay, ignore or delete.
Take some time back... When you work on international projects, you may be required to attend online meetings at 7am and again at 8pm. It can be exhausting.
The trick to making sure that you don’t have to work a 13 hour day and a 6 day week is to take some time back for yourself and recharge.
If you have a series of evening meetings take 2-3 hours off in the middle of the day. It’s easier said than done but if you can be disciplined, you’ll be surprised how much more energised and effective you’ll be for those late evening calls. At the very least, try to ensure that you keep late meetings to once or twice a week.
Stick to the Plan... Make sure you have an operational plan for the year that outlines the projects designed to meet and exceed your budget for growth. This way you are clear of your priorities on a month to month basis. If the issue in front of you is not in your plan then you have to seriously question if it’s worth your time.
Don't be sidetracked on ‘pet projects’, however interesting, the clarity you gain from sticking to your plan is the difference between mental focus and mental clutter.
OK. When our colleagues are scattered around the world, it’s just not possible to have a tightly scheduled working life where everything falls neatly into place and we are able do one thing at a time every day.
Disruptions and interruptions are a natural part of working life but it’s how you manage these interruptions that is the difference between the effective decision making that helps your business grow or a creeping ineffectiveness that leaves you overwhelmed and unable to action and implement business-changing initiatives.
The Advisory Partnership assists its clients with operational effectiveness reviews that removes barriers to growth and international business development.
Part Two of this article focuses on the local challenge and is available at www.advisorypartnership.blogspot.com
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