Let’s outline all the key steps companies can take to better manage working across time zones within the asynchronous collaboration framework. Probably one of the most talked-about challenges of working in different time zones is the effort it takes to schedule meetings. It can get overwhelming trying to set up a time that works for everyone. Let’s get a closer look at what working across time zones entails and how you can adopt better strategies to accommodate the demands of a globally distributed team. It’s tough to keep the collaboration and team spirit high with one team leaving the virtual office just as another is starting their workday.

To prevent this common hurdle of working across time zones, organizations can set an official time zone for all team members to reference when scheduling meetings or setting deadlines. With a uniform time zone in place, employees can easily figure out the time difference for their location and plan accordingly. Research shows that organizations spend around 15% of their time on meetings. We can only imagine what these numbers mean for distributed teams that need to put extra effort into planning a perfect schedule that won’t disturb the regular work and sleep schedules of the people involved. 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. Moreover, a lack of communication across teams carries another set of risks.

tips for working across timezones

GitLab might be the world’s largest fully distributed company with 1,400+ remote workers in 65+ countries. More than 30 million users and 100,000 organizations from startups to global enterprise organizations use GitLab to deliver great software at new speeds. Teams that work across multiple time zones can’t rely on real-time communication.

• You can invite your team members to join a private group or a public channel in the team chat app you use — for example, you can name the channel #group-activities, #team_fun_times, or simply, #team-building.
• When your global teammates feel like their schedule is respected, they might feel happier at their job, less stressed, or have an easier time tuning out of work communication outside of their main work hours.
• If you’re working with a remote team, it might be even easier to give the time of the meeting in Coordinated Universal Time or UTC.
• Video meetings have made it easy to connect with everyone around the world.

These ground rules should include guidelines for when and how communication should take place. For example, it may be necessary to establish a time limit for email messages. By following these tips, team members can successfully collaborate across time zones. All of these tips will help teams across time zones stay productive while respecting each other’s schedules. And the right tools are the bread and butter for employees across time zones to make any work happen. Video conferencing, messenger, docs, calendar, and more are available to help teams work according to their schedules and be aware of other colleagues’ timetables.

Working Across Different Time Zones: Best Practices & Tools

Oh, ye who think a one-hour time conversion is simpler than an eight-hour one. The shorter the time change, the more likely I am to screw it up. My brain likes to convert the wrong direction when I’m dealing with just an hour or two. To maintain my moniker of a part-time world traveler, I spent winter working remotely in a different time zone 2016 in Europe, living in Berlin for all of November. I lived through my birthday and the U.S. presidential election in the German capital. The process of finding the answers will help you figure out when you can get a response and how much your colleagues can work on the tasks you share.

This question originally appeared on Quora – the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. That might mean you can move to a city where it’s easier to start a family, or extend your “vacation” to a few months on the beach each year. You might even find time to visit some of the incredible cities on Nomad List while still contributing your all to your team.

Consider split shifts or workdays that accommodate different time zones.

“One danger of my job, as a columnist who works in California, is a feeling of disconnection from the mother ship in New York,” writes technology columnist Farhad Manjoo. Every employee is also assigned a random “pair partner” each week— that means we’ll jump on a call with one of our colleagues just see how things are going, and perhaps work together on a cross-team project. The ability to hand off work is a productivity benefit, but it’s also motivator since you know you must accomplish tasks so you can hand them off to co-workers at day’s end. “It puts a little pressure on you to get your work done,” says TechCrunch’s Russell. “They worked the night shift while my team in Redmond worked days,” Berkun says.

Employees may work independently, uninterrupted, and more productively as a result of this. A popular communication tool like Slack will help you with its features like emojis and others. When working with teams in different time zones, the most important thing to remember is to be mindful, empathic, and courteous.

The post outlines how to build an effective time zone agnostic team as a company leader, people manager, colleague, and as a geographically remote person. Building an asynchronous culture can seem intimidating but you’ll need to if you plan to work across time zones. When you can’t rely on synchronous communication, you need to be able to continue working when help could be a day or two away. Working in a global team spread across time zones means embracing a remote-first, not a remote-friendly, culture. You can’t just be aware of time zones, you need to construct a company where time zones are at the core of every internal operation.

Using them is also an effective way to share meeting notes, create consensus and gather feedback. As a result of creating a wiki, you’ll be able to create transparency and stimulate a continuous https://remotemode.net/ flow of ideas and feedback. For everyone to understand the different times, use a simple timezone converter tool. A remote team can be a great way to get work done from anywhere in the world.

We have a few standing methods of making sure these types of communication happen often, including the daily pair call and weekly or biweekly mastermind chats. These chats are normally only 2-3 people maximum, so more often than not it’s possible to find a time that works for everyone across multiple time zones. 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. Moreover, companies should rethink the overall effectiveness of each meeting. It’s a good practice to schedule the meetings only for the exchange of information that can’t be communicated over a team chat app, a document, an email, or a memo. 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.