When an offshore or remote team underperforms, the cause is usually the operating model around it, not the people in it.
Many companies now run teams across two or more countries. Some have set up their own centre in India or elsewhere, some work through a partner, and many have a mix. When results are uneven, the first reaction is often to blame the location or the people. In our experience the cause is more often the operating model around the team.
Decide what work goes where, and why
Teams struggle when the split of work is accidental. A clear operating model states which work sits in each location and the reason for it: cost, skills, time zone coverage or closeness to customers. It also states which decisions each team can make on its own. Without this, offshore teams end up waiting for approval on small things, and onshore teams feel they are doing everything twice.
Give ownership, not just tasks
Distributed teams perform best when they own an outcome, such as a product area, a customer segment or a service line, rather than receiving a queue of tasks. Ownership brings accountability and better judgement. Task-based models keep teams dependent and make quality someone else's problem.
Design the overlap
Time zones can be an advantage or a constant drag. Agree a small window of shared hours, decide which meetings truly need everyone, and move the rest to written updates. Simple habits such as written handover notes at the end of each day make a large difference.
Measure outcomes, not activity
Hours logged and tickets closed say little about value. Better measures are delivery against commitments, quality of output, customer outcomes and how often work has to be redone. These measures are also fairer to the team, because they reward results rather than visibility.
Review the model, not just the team
An operating model is not set once. As the business grows, the right split of work, the governance and the partner arrangements will change. A short review every six to twelve months keeps the model working for the business rather than the other way around.