When scheduling a conference or call with remote team members, ask them what time zone they are in so that you can account for any time difference with their local time. By the time they read your second message and take action, an entire day (or more!) could have passed without them doing anything. With team members located in many places, it can be hard to keep track of working remotely in a different time zone schedules and vacation times. It’s a great way to share time off and any important dates with the whole group without revealing your entire personal calendar. Switch it up so each personality type has a chance to participate and have some fun. Plus you can play trivia games, host movie-watching parties, and take a virtual cooking class or cocktail mixing class together.
Microsoft continues to evolve and create new applications and updated features to benefit the evolving workplace. Teams is a popular addition that many companies have started to benefit from, especially as they needed to reach people in varying locations. It brings all communication into one shared workspace that can be accessed from a computer, a phone, or a tablet. The most popular activities usually involve a mix of problem solving, competition, and laughter. Let’s Roam has many options, like the popular Scavenger Hunts, that get teams out running around and doing a mix of exploring and completing challenges. Escape Rooms and Murder Mystery experiences are fun options that include all of those things.
Do All the Prep Work Ahead of Time
Another reason to hire within similar time zones is that project tasks or processes might require employees to use specialized infrastructure in the office space. For example, certain tasks stipulate the use of specialized equipment or tools that might not be available in a remote work setting. Another popular scenario is when employees have to meet or host clients in office or conference spaces. Such scenarios necessitate that employees, though working remotely, might have to be situated within a geographical boundary. Your company is probably already using synchronous communication tools, like Slack. With a workforce spread across time zones, you’ll also have to start thinking about investing in asynchronous technology.
- “When you work in different timezones, it’s important to be aware of when you’re sending a message or email,” says Rebecca White, a junior writer for the HubSpot Blog.
- If you are working with people in many regions and time zones, you can record sessions for employees to view later.
- Most options have a free trial that will allow your team to try it out and see what they think.
- In such a case, an employee has the flexibility of choosing when and how frequently they would go to the work space.
- Try to ensure there is an overlap in working hours between people working on the same projects in different locations.
- When you can’t hop on a video meeting and need to send something to a coworker in a different timezone, your first instinct might be to use email or an instant messaging tool to share your question or request with them.
For one, organizations should consider setting and respecting their team’s time zone boundaries. For example, teams can create shared calendars showing their availability across different hours in a day to ensure no time zone boundaries are crossed. 🎓 To learn more about the pros and cons of asynchronous communication for remote teams, be sure to check out our in-depth guide on the blog. 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.
What Is People Ops?
With all of the technology at our fingertips, many teams are no longer required to work in the same location or at the same time. Alternatively, Kelly says you could also consider picking a few days per week where you’ll work on another international team’s schedule entirely. For example, if a Boston-based marketing manager gives a California-based blogger a deadline for “9 a.m. Monday,” it might be hard https://remotemode.net/ to determine whether the deadline was for 9 a.m. Even when you’re working with a colleague in the same country as you, not getting as specific as possible about dates or times can cause confusion or slow your processes. “There’s a give and take. So long as you check with the person on their preferences, it’s fine to ask. Some might even prefer to work a non-standard shift anyway,” Kelly explains.
- Apps like Doodle, allow you to offer multiple times and let people select all that will work for them.
- Between different time zones, dentist appointments, and vacations, people within your team will need to play catch up using your instant messaging platform every day, making it an important tool to use wisely.
- It is therefore a good practice for a company to inform their employees prior to hiring that they will be required to work overlapping hours to ensure the company runs smoothly.
- You can also try asking them what times they are available during, and when their day starts/ends so you know how much overlap there will be with yours.
- It was popular to organize volunteers during election season thanks to this feature.
- In order for the company to be effective and at the same time productive, adaptation will be the key to unlocking that potential.
By hiring remote workers, you’ll never have to worry about geographical limitations again. There is a false perception that remote workers are lazy, taking every opportunity to slack off because nobody is watching. In fact, remote workers are generally more productive than their in-office counterparts.