Managing a Team Across 5 Time Zones

You have to navigate not just the time difference but the difference in language, accent, and even energy levels. The person on the other end of the Teams or Zoom call is having their last call of the day and you are just getting started with the highest possible energy level or vice versa. To avoid team blockers related to timezones, one thing Susanne Ronnqvist Ahmadi, HubSpot’s Vice President of International Marketing, says you should aim to have a flexible schedule at certain points of the day.

When you have a successful game plan, you’re regularly able to video chat with colleagues, hear their thoughts, and gain insight into what the workplace is like on the other side of the world. These benefits allow your team to work better together and can lead your international teammates to feel more included in your team’s day-to-day work. 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.

Learn How To Work Effectively Across Time Zones

Fortunately, understanding the unique dynamics of remote work across time zones can combat all these obstacles of a diversified hybrid workplace. There are simply too many project management apps available on the market to pick just one to feature. Each has distinct features and benefits, so you can compare a few to see what fits your needs best. Take it a step further and have everyone share a local food or drink that you might not find in other places.

• „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.“
• Sure, there are lots of tools that may assist you to gain a clear understanding of international time variations between your team’s locations.
• Successfully working across time zones requires leaning into async practices and remote collaboration tools, as well as building and nurturing relationships across different time zones.
• Diversity and inclusion drive innovation and positively impact overall business targets within remote companies that span across time zones.
• When you have a successful game plan, you’re regularly able to video chat with colleagues, hear their thoughts, and gain insight into what the workplace is like on the other side of the world.
• Also, you can set definite deadlines for every task so everybody knows the timeframe within which they must finish their part.
• Many business leaders are re-calibrating and tailoring their operations to best support a dispersed workforce.

Have some fun with Photoshop or Canva and create a map that shows where everyone on your team is. Working remotely has its challenges, not the least of which is working across multiple time zones. One of the first and easiest things you can do to make asynchronous communication smooth is to set your working hours, and to make those hours easily discoverable to your teammates. Some apps like Google Calendars even serve a warning if you inadvertently try to book something outside of working hours. Working remotely in a different time zone presents distinct issues not seen in more standard work structures. Because the benefits exceed the negatives, it’s worth investigating the best team practices outlined above for successful working across time zones.

From Search to Success Survey Results: 533 Workers…

Most options have a free trial that will allow your team to try it out and see what they think. By utilizing Dropbox, you can access the files working remotely in a different time zone from any computer or phone as long as you log in. It’s also a great tool to back up your computer or phone in case anything crashes.

An overwhelming amount of research has been conducted over the past year to analyze the effects of the pandemic-mandated remote work. And the vast majority of the studies came to the same conclusion – flexibility and freedom offered within the approach largely impact productivity in the virtual workplace. A 2020 Statista study shows 73% of respondents reported feeling more efficient working outside the office. A general lack of distractions, in addition to reduced commute time and the overall comfort of the home or other chosen work environment, have made the significant productivity boost possible.

Do All the Prep Work Ahead of Time

Technology has continued to shape and develop the way we do just about everything in our daily lives. Using technology, teams are working across multiple time zones smoothly and it’s opening all kinds of doors for businesses. If you have found yourself part of a global team or even just one spread across the United States recently, we’ve got some ideas to help you work more effectively and be a great team player.