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Working Across Timezones

Last updated on September 1, 2023 Education

When aiming to plan a productive meeting, make sure to get everyone’s input before moving forward with a meeting time. I had transitioned from working full-time to freelancing when Dan and I set off for our remote work trip around the world to explore how we could use travel to build this website together. This is when you have to speak up and make sure your schedule is “seen” by everyone involved.

With this global team, you create more diversity of thought, which can result in more innovation and revenue. By the time they read your second message and take action, an entire day (or more!) could have passed without them doing anything. This isn’t how high-performing remote teams working remotely collaborate. This may not always be possible, but being mindful of international schedules https://remotemode.net/blog/10-tips-on-working-in-different-time-zones/ ensures that all employees feel included and that their time is respected. To learn more about tools and software that can help global and remote teams, check out this helpful list. Aside from allowing people to work on the same projects in different timezones, these tools allow global employees to stay on the same page about what aspects of a project have been completed.

Con: There’s less motivation to stay connected

You’ll be amazed by how much can be replaced by a written memo or message. Async communication allows people to process the information on their own time and respond at their own convenience, reducing the number of interruptions people receive. Your availability can be emailed to meeting attendees once you’ve https://remotemode.net/ made your preferences. By clicking on a time, they can reserve it, and Calendar will add it to your calendar and email the meeting attendees. And then another one that I got from the buffer blog, actually, was an app called everytimezone.com. And that shows, again, where people are on more of a graph scale.

  • In addition to confounding my brain, time zones also provide some fun and interesting challenges when it comes to how we all work together at Buffer as a fully remote, distributed team.
  • Tell us the skills you need and we’ll find the best developer for you in days, not weeks.
  • For instance, I work with Gretchen every single day and I start the work with her at 6 p.m.
  • To overcome this substantial obstacle, it’s important to utilize technology to its fullest potential.

Calendar searches the open time slots in your connected calendars when you need to schedule a meeting. Adding or removing times and selecting meeting length are customizable options. It is also possible to include meeting location options like a physical address, phone number, or Zoom link. And if you want to learn more about how you can work from anywhere, visit collaborationsuperpowers.com, a website full of tips and best practices for the practical remote worker. And that gives a visual overview of all the time zones in the world at the same time. My fourth tip comes from the creating a team agreement process that I take people through.

Switch Up Recurring Meeting Times

As much as there are challenges, there are numerous benefits that ultimately outweigh the hassle. Most managers frequently mix micromanagement with necessary follow-ups. Because supervisors cannot see remote workers, they cannot contact them every hour or so for updates.

  • These differences more often than not translate directly into different ways to approach and solve problems at work.
  • This article will help you overcome the most common remote work challenges.
  • How does one make sure to reap all the benefits and suffer no drawbacks of working across time zones?
  • When everyone lives in different time zones, writing, planning, and documentation tend to become the default behavior for remote employees.
  • One of the items in the team agreement is to always talk in one time zone.

Rather than working the same number of hours consecutively, split your shift into two. You can avoid misunderstandings by making your office hours visible in your email signature, work chat profile, LinkedIn account, and Google profile. Suffice it to say, when working with teammates in different time zones, finding a good time for a meeting is a constant battle full of compromises. Check out the Collaboration Superpowers podcast for the latest stories of remote teams doing great things.

How to Design Remotely: Tips, Tools, and How to Get a Remote Design Job

We saw how working remotely across various time zones can be both rewarding and challenging. It’s important to take care of yourself and establish a healthy work-life balance. With this awesome tool, you can just video-record yourself and your screen and go through presentations, audits, implementations, walk-throughs, or anything you want to share with your team or colleagues. Then, you just need to share a link with them, and they will be able to view the video when and as many times as they want.

Which type of communication is best suited for communication across multiple time zones?

Asynchronous communication should be standard for remote teams, especially those with employees in different time zones. As we discussed in our guide on asynchronous communication in remote working environments, asynchronous communication happens “out of sync,” or not at the same time.

Nevertheless, there are two sides to the same coin, and working with distributed teams also brings with it its challenges—one of which being how to manage them across time zones. Boundaries work both ways when it comes to remote international teams. Your employees need to understand what you expect of them on a day-to-day basis. But it’s also critical that you make time to understand what they can manage.

As the rise of remote jobs continues, businesses of all sizes are feeling the draw of a global virtual workplace. Employing an international team gives you all the productivity of a 24-hour workday, with colleagues able to pass projects in progress to international counterparts as they clock off. If a meeting is necessary, make attendance optional so you’re not asking teammates to stay up late to get up early. If it’s recurring and unavoidable (and it often will be), try to schedule meeting times so that the burden is shared across the team rather than by the same people each week.

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