For example, if a manager detects an employee’s tone and body language have shifted negatively, they can politely and privately ask if the worker is okay and if there’s anything they can do to help. “Scheduling meetings and collaboration sessions can be challenging,” Erhard agreed. The managing partner explained that his company’s teams frequently need to collaborate across “adjacent” time zones, as well as internationally with clients in the United States and elsewhere. Now speaking of meetings, if we work with global teams, not everybody can make every single meeting.
- Employees can give each response the time and attention it deserves when they take a break to check their messages.
- Report on key metrics and get real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed.
- By the time they read your second message and take action, an entire day (or more!) could have passed without them doing anything.
- “Let your team know you’re available over Slack (or whichever tool you use), and build in ‘air-time’ in your agenda for check-ins or quick chats.”
- In another employee’s timezone, you might either want to avoid sending til the morning or schedule an email.
They know what they’re doing and write great guides on how to get the most out of remote work. One of the best things about Help Scout is that they publish how they work and their post on how to build a globally remote team that really works is a great example. The need to be online at specific hours on specific days means people don’t have control over the structure of their workdays, and never-ending meetings can force people to work longer hours to get work done. This leads to a better run company, less stress, and higher quality work. Not to mention that if all time zones are covered, then the company can serve its customers 24/7 without the need for late-night shifts. The best way to schedule a meeting or conference call is using a calender to create an event.
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Rike believes one benefit is that the structure in and of itself lends itself well to employees setting and keeping their own boundaries around their schedule, which improves job satisfaction. If you’re one of the 8 https://remotemode.net/blog/10-tips-on-working-in-different-time-zones/ million people using Slack every day, Slack bot Spacetime.am might be the perfect time zone app for your team. Team members can add their location and set their work hours so that you can see who is online and when.
This is a massive benefit, even if you are located in a hub like San Francisco or New York, chances are the best person for the job doesn’t live within commuting distance of your office. Working across time zones is tricky, but the benefits outweigh the costs if you have the right culture, processes, and follow best practices. You can use a calendar to schedule your meeting and invite the recipients you want. That way you’ll not have to deal with changing the time according to each recipient’s time zones. Without holding real-time meetings, you may send fast messages, explain new methods, and clarify complex topics with your team. Everyone can look through these at their leisure, take notes, and return to your instructions or ask questions afterward.
Here are five etiquette rules for working across time zones:
To ensure all parties receive the information discussed in a meeting or gathering, record them. This is especially easy if you are using video conferencing software, but be sure to inform everyone in the meeting when the recording begins and ends. It’s also a good practice to record all large team meetings, conference calls, or get-togethers to keep a record of important discussions. Distributed teams are the norm in 2023 — and, more and more frequently, teams and clients work together around the globe.
- Sometimes, scheduling a meeting at a time that works for all timezones is easier said than done.
- Get the time at any given coordinate on Earth, calculate time zone conversions.
- Routinely chatting (with the camera on) can help managers maintain awareness of their team’s mental health and workload.
Without the need for overtime or late-night shifts, teams can collaborate to fulfill deadlines. Employees in the one-time zone can hand over half-finished projects to peers in another time zone to finish. When it comes to delegating assignments, managers should always clearly communicate deadlines and explicitly state both their and the employee’s time zone to eliminate any confusion. For example, a manager may ask their team member to complete a task by Friday at 9 AM EST / 8 AM CT.
Three Timely Chrome Extensions
Jeff Atwood found that when he started Stack Overflow programming on his own turned into a lonely job. To work effectively with a time shift, you’ll also need to work in public. In other words, communicate, and make sure everyone knows what you’re working on. The ability to see what others are saying not only gives you insight to how others https://remotemode.net/ are working—something you might glean by working together—but it also enables the more fun aspects of working in a team. “What’s more, I have a feeling of intimacy with co-workers on the other side of the country that is almost fun,” Manjoo says. Even still, odds are you’ll be working with someone who’s not online at the same time as you.
Asynchronous communication might be the most suitable type of communication for people working in different time zones. This is very obvious because people can’t get optimal solutions on projects that they are working on while they’re asleep or distracted. Even as the world moves toward a remote work paradigm, in-person team meetings still have a lot of value. After all, there are only so many things that can be communicated online.
Challenges and Benefits of Working Across Time Zones
Abi is one of the co-founders of Himalayas where he focuses on product and growth. In his spare time, he runs a YouTube channel, podcast, and blog focused on strategy and management. We’re Himalayas, a remote job board, that is focused on providing the best experience for remote job seekers and employers. Many Heads of Remote will spend time in both worlds, improving the internal experience while advocating for remote-first beyond the organization. Start by culling synchronous communication like daily stand-ups and instead move toward written status updates. You’ll be amazed by how much can be replaced by a written memo or message.
