It may also cause everyone to plan a meeting across time zones when they’re the ones working unusual hours. SMB leaders should be mindful about choosing the communication methods that work best for their company overall, and managers should do the same when it comes to how best to communicate with their working remotely in a different time zone individual teams. Undoubtedly, one of the trickiest parts of working across time zones is scheduling meetings. If all meeting participants aren’t on the same page in terms of when the meeting will occur, some people could miss or be late to the meeting, wasting everyone’s time (and the company’s money).
When working with teams in different time zones, the most important thing to remember is to be mindful, empathic, and courteous. Hosting an open virtual meeting meant to replicate an office breakroom can also be fruitful. Everyone should be invited to voluntarily join the meeting room at a time that works for them. This sort of impromptu, off-the-cuff discussion can resemble “watercooler chat” and enables colleagues to brainstorm various topics and connect on a more personal level.
Hybrid Work Schedule: Balance Remote and Office Work
Consider milestones successfully met, celebrations of team birthdays, and weekly virtual water-cooler conversations. Using this type of tool makes handling projects in various time zones simpler because each team member has access to the system from anywhere around the globe. With teams expanding to numerous locations, there is a greater need to understand how to build relationships specific to a dispersed team structure. Workplaceless is committed to helping multi-time zone teams through learning and facilitation through our remote work training programs. Along with trust, the compass for guiding remote work culture will be the mutual goals of the teams and company. Company goals should be referenced in a shared mission statement, an accessible company or team handbook, and a yearly roadmap.
With more & more companies adopting a remote work model, the tips & tools will help you achieve success while working remotely with teams in different time zones. Read to know more to find out the best practices and working remotely tips and tools. After all, having employees working in different time zones is the equivalent of offering your organization a 24-hour workplace — with the top talent on the planet. 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.
Con: Time zones are merciless
Such tools let you work on the same documents, share tasks, communicate more efficiently, and help resolve concerns easily. 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. Our virtual leadership training builds the skills you need to lead effective and inclusive digital-first teams. In Belgrade, Serbia, travel blogger Philip Weiss logs on to his laptop in the late afternoon to check in with his team members as they’re waking up in Oregon.
- The social separation can result in various productivity and personal challenges that can wreak havoc on your business over time.
- Make a deliberate effort to treat your international partners nicely, especially if you like your company to flourish.
- It was popular to organize volunteers during election season thanks to this feature.
- She says that “asynchronous” work, or working hours that don’t take place at the same time, is key.
- Sure, a team brainstorming session is most effective over a video conference, however, a general weekly update doesn’t necessarily require a 5 a.m.
To allow more space for effective communication to happen, companies working across time zones need to rethink traditional channels of communication, such as email, and adopt more flexible solutions and methods. Asynchronous communication has emerged as a preferred method for organizations operating across time zones. In addition to removing the time constraint of the traditional synchronous approach, the asynchronous method, ideally, ensures communication records remain at hand.
Build Remote Company Culture Around Trust
Different perspectives and broad ideas can move the company’s vision forward and scale up the business by a considerable margin. There are certain disadvantages or challenges that come with having a team across time zones. Another key feature of such team chat apps is the pin option as it helps keep the important documents top of mind and easily accessible. With all the apps and tools available, the time zone difference can create plenty of confusion among employees working across time zones. While you still want to be cognizant of others’ time zones, setting one official time zone for your company can help alleviate confusion.
Bringing your team together for a weekly, monthly, or even annual meet-up can be a productive and enlightening experience. We’re constantly sharing what’s going on with our lives and schedules, whether we’re popping out to grab some tacos at lunch or spending the next 4 months in Costa Rica. Here are some popular ways to use Slack with app automation tool Zapier to automatically share activity in your channels so everyone knows what’s going on.