Programs fail at the interfaces
When an R&D program spans Gothenburg, Tokyo and Shanghai, each team can be highly competent and the program can still fail. Problems concentrate where work crosses sites: interfaces between subsystems, handovers between phases and assumptions nobody wrote down.
Before distributing work, define the system architecture, its interfaces and a named owner for each. An interface without an owner will become an integration problem.
Make time zones work for you
Central European time overlaps with Japan and China only for a short window in the morning. Fighting this with late or early meetings wears teams down.
- ·Reserve the overlap window for decisions and unblocking, not status updates.
- ·Move status reporting to written, asynchronous updates.
- ·Structure handovers so work continues across time zones instead of waiting.
Integrate early
Late integration is where distributed programs discover that teams interpreted the same requirement differently. Schedule early, partial integrations, even with simulated components, and make integration results visible to all sites.
Light, explicit governance
Heavy governance slows everyone down; implicit governance leaves the loudest site deciding. Keep a small set of explicit rules: who decides what, how risks are raised and where the single source of truth for requirements, decisions and schedules lives.
An experienced program lead who is trusted on all sides, and who can translate both technically and culturally, is often the single most important factor.