Freight News

Best Team Practices When Working Across Time Zones

[ April 10, 2023   //   Gary G Burrows ]

It’s nice to have periodic check-in meetings over the phone or video call, but I like to schedule them ahead of time and keep them to 15 minutes. If I’m in a creative mode and a client calls me, I’m all confuzzled and have a hard time answering their questions. Communicating with a remote team can happen synchronously—over the phone or video call—or asynchronously with email, Slack, or Google Hangouts chat. There’s an endless number of services, apps, and websites that “make communicating easier.” All you have to do is use them. I wouldn’t trade the ability to locate my office anywhere in the world, I think it’s just the coolest part of the technological age. I’ve written articles from a hammock in Indonesia and brainstormed tips from the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, and I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without learning how to make time zones work for me.

As the trend towards a remote working setup continues to grow, managing such teams has… Every week, we share actionable digital nomad tips, inspiring stories, practical travel advice, and curated high-quality resources sent directly to your inbox. All these async communications tactics reduce pressure and help create a more relaxed work environment, making it easier for everyone to balance their professional and personal lives. Clearly define goals, roles, responsibilities, and deadlines so that everyone on the team knows what needs to be done and by when.

Ways To Build Relationships Across Different Time Zones

When it comes to working across varying time zones, managers need to place their trust in remote employees. Every one of these employees needs to be competent to work under minimum supervision and handle their time efficiently. However, not every person you onboard is going to be the ideal remote employee. This is why working remotely in a different time zone managers need to be careful when it comes to putting a remote team together. One of the benefits of being a digital nomad is the flexibility to work from anywhere in the world. If you have a meeting or call scheduled at an inconvenient time, be willing to adjust your schedule to accommodate the time difference.

When it comes to a traditional physical office environment, it is much easier for a newly joined employee to adapt to the working culture. That is mainly due to other team members guiding them as they adjust to the climate. However, when it comes to a remote working environment, you need to dedicate some time to help the newly hired employee understand and adapt to a remote culture. Letting them get to know their fellow employees with icebreakers and team bonding activities are excellent ways to help them adjust over time.

Final thoughts on international remote work collaboration

Using management tools that display the timeline with crucial time zones can assist with keeping track of work schedules and updates. Maintaining a strong team is vital for remote-work productivity across different time zones. Cultivate camaraderie by organizing virtual team-building activities, casual coffee chats, or asynchronous team challenges. Acknowledge and celebrate achievements, both big and small, to boost morale and reinforce a positive team spirit. By promoting a supportive and inclusive team environment, you can mitigate feelings of isolation and enhance the overall well-being of remote team members. Effective communication is the cornerstone of successful remote collaboration across time zones.

Then, you won’t have to worry about time off and how many hours people are working. A time difference gives you the freedom to code or write without distraction. Then, when the rest of the team is online, you’ll be more focused at what you need to discuss with them before it’s time to get offline. Some of us do our best work late at night, while others prefer to get up early and spend the late afternoons away from the desk.

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We post thoughts and updates about team projects on Slack, regardless of who’s online. Plus, each department has a weekly video call to map out that week’s work, and every Thursday we’ll have an all-hands call in order to get everyone together. Planning meetings across time zones might sound so painful that you’d rather just never have meetings—but don’t do that either. That, perhaps, is the greatest reason that it’s tough to add remote work—and especially a time shift—to teams with years of experience working together in an office. It’s absolutely possible to do great work with a dispersed team, but you must plan work accordingly. Break things up into chunks that can be worked on individually, find time to sync back up on what’s been done, and make sure each person on the team can self-direct their work.

Establishing a routine is important for any digital nomad, but it’s especially important when working across time zones. Having a routine helps you stay organized and focused, and it can also help you adjust to the time difference. Try to establish a routine that works for you, whether it’s waking up at the same time every day or taking breaks at the same time.

The Pros and Cons of Working Across Time Zones

However, this freedom comes with its own set of challenges, especially when it comes to adjusting your routine when working in different time zones. In this article, we will explore some tips and tricks to help you adjust your routine and make working across time zones a breeze. While working in different time zones as a family can present challenges, it also offers unique advantages. Take advantage of the opportunity to experience different cultures and places. Encourage your family to embrace the adventure and make the most out of the global remote work lifestyle.

• To successfully utilize key principles of asynchronous communication to their advantage, distributed teams need to prioritize efficient, written communication.
• This may sound obvious, but it’s easy to forget when you’re in a new place and your body clock is all over the place.
• Break things up into chunks that can be worked on individually, find time to sync back up on what’s been done, and make sure each person on the team can self-direct their work.
• There are benefits to both modes of communication and I like to have both for clients that I work with long-term.