Working Across Time Zones: Pros, Cons, and Best Practices

For example, if a Boston-based marketing manager gives a California-based blogger a deadline for “9 a.m. Monday,” it might be hard to determine whether the deadline was for 9 a.m. This could cause content to be published later than expected. If you’re based in your office headquarters, Kelly says you should “remember that your counterparts in most international offices are accustomed to working odd shifts all the time.” Communicate clearly about timezone boundaries with your team.

This is one of the most hassle-free and easy ways to check time zones, especially when freelancing and working with clients in multiple locations and time zones. We’ve noted time zone converters like World Time Buddy in our list of the best apps for travelers and remote workers because it is so crucial. Is considering time zones as important as everyone says it is, when planning a call among clients, vendors, professional contacts and colleagues? Let’s check out all the tips, tricks and hacks that can make calculating time zones a breeze.

Mind the cultural norms

For a 15-minute chat that leaves you feeling like you haven’t accomplished anything. Be aware of other remote employees’ work situations, time zones, and physical settings. This means it’s even more important to limit meetings so you’re not asking your teammates to stay up late or get up early, mixing up someone else’s schedule for a chat that might not even be all that productive. Waking up to a silent team chat, phone, or online communication tool, or conversely, in the middle of a hectic workday schedule for employees in other countries, can feel unsettling or overwhelming. The lack of physical presence makes it easier for remote workers to lose connection with their team.

• And, as smart companies have learned, great talent lives can be found in places where they may not have a physical presence.
• Some of the best practice examples suggest encouraging employees to craft their own shared experiences in company team chat apps.
• Although remote teams have the distinct advantage of not being able to walk up to a coworker’s desk to ask for a quick chat, meetings can still suck up a lot of time.
• Working in a global team spread across time zones means embracing a remote-first, not a remote-friendly, culture.
• As mentioned earlier, this can cause misunderstandings that can seriously affect operational processes and cause unnecessary delays.
• Despiteattempts to reinvent time zonesto make it easier for everyone around the world, we still can’t seem to come to a universal agreement.

The best is to set expectations and collaborate to understand each other. Below are three ground rules to get you started with collaboration across time zones. Shifting to async-first practicesand limiting sync time is essential. However when meetings do occur, use those opportunities to deepen connections. Working across time zones is a constant reminder that you will rarely see your colleagues in person, but that simply means work culture becomes remote as well. Teams are expanding not only in size and demand, but also across geographic area.

Companies successfully working across time zones

With the pandemic pushing working from remote as a norm, Companies looking for growth or cost savings are expanding internationally, and technology enables everyone to collaborate seamlessly. Whether you are familiar with Zoom or Teams, everyone understands the woes of taking calls in the wee hours (unless that’s what the job entails). We find a consultative process is most effective for companies with 50 or more employees and a rapid process is more impactful for companies with fewer than 50 employees. Recognition is not always easy because we may rarely, if ever, see our team while they work—which makes the recognition even more meaningful. Improve your employee experience with expert resources for people leaders.

Having working across time zones teams working across time zones essentially implies round-the-clock workflow. Companies employing diverse teams spanning multiple time zones enjoy complete time zone coverage. Having all shifts and time zones covered is especially convenient for support and customer service as people don’t need to work past the conventional work hours in their countries, in the case of an emergency. However, other departments and industries can benefit from the approach as well. As much as it’s important to keep a strong bond between remote coworkers through continual communication and real-time collaboration, there’s also a strong case for the asynchronous, no-distraction work. This is especially true for creative work that requires maximum focus.

It’s All Timeless Work

Thankfully, Zoom allows us to easily record and share these recordings, which is a big plus. With a split schedule, you can be more available for meetings with colleagues in different time zones without ignoring your local team. Furthermore, you will be able to stay in touch with your international department without staying up all night. Working across time zones brings unique challenges rarely encountered within the more traditional work models. As the rewards largely outweigh the drawbacks, it’s worth exploring the best team practices provided above to make working across time zones work.