Working Across Time Zones Can be Tough Heres How to Manage.

When you factor in multiple time zones, things get a little more challenging because any questions or issues that may arise will not be addressed immediately. Encourage team members to assign predetermined time into their usual work schedules for check-ins or quick discussions about issues and concerns. Speaking of connection among teammates, working across time zones makes it almost impossible to keep the team spirit and social engagement up.

The social disconnect can breed various productivity and personal obstacles that could wreak havoc on your organization over time. To foster better relationships within your team, be intentional about cutting across time zones, cultural, working remotely in a different time zone and generational differences and creating more opportunities for connection between your remote team members. Follow these 5 tips to effectively manage teams across time zones
Utilize tools to assist in managing time zones.

Diversity Dividends: Gender Equality is a Win-Win for Business

I’m working on a few meaty projects, and being remote and in a “quiet” timezone offers great headspace for deeper work. That’s why the last important strategy that works for us as a remote team is to get together in person often. At Buffer, we meet somewhere in the world once a year for a weeklong company retreat. We’ll work together throughout the week and enjoy some bonding time with fun group activities, too.

Organizations employing culturally diverse staff, especially in the higher management positions, tend to escape the echo-chamber effect and conformity since they are exposed to multiple perspectives and viewpoints. Understandably, this approach largely supports innovation and ultimately leads to more profit in the long run. In fact, one prediction by Gartner shows that  75% of companies employing diverse decision-making teams can expect to outperform their business objectives in 2022.

Follow this meeting protocol when working remotely

We’re Himalayas, a remote job board, that is focused on providing the best experience for remote job seekers and employers. Many Heads of Remote will spend time in both worlds, improving the internal experience while advocating for remote-first beyond the organization. GitLab’s handbook is one of the most famous (and best executed) examples of how to build a fantastic employee manual and distributed workplace culture. At 2,200+ pages, it’s thorough, transparent, even allowing people who don’t work at GitLab to contribute. If you are providing information, invest the additional time upfront to answer any questions or solve any issues you think the person may have ahead of time. Working in an office (or with the same work hours) is filled with impromptu moments that break up your day, many of which are unwanted distractions.

• Fewer interruptions leads to more deep work, which can dramatically increase productivity.
• Alongside the benefits of working across time zones, there are some challenges to consider as well.
• Being able to select the best talent regardless of the location is one of the main factors that impacted the entire movement in the first place.
• “At TechCrunch and The Next Web, having a central point of contact is critical,” says Russell.
• Setting up the necessary structures and tools to constantly reinforce culturally acceptable norms is a major step in the right direction that many businesses ignore.
• You’ll need to account for different time zones, work styles, and cultural norms in your management style.
• If you are providing information, invest the additional time upfront to answer any questions or solve any issues you think the person may have ahead of time.

Similarly, working across time zones is beneficial to companies on a larger, operational level. Having distributed teams working across time zones essentially implies round-the-clock workflow. Companies employing diverse teams spanning multiple time zones enjoy complete time zone coverage. Having all shifts and time zones covered is especially convenient for support and customer service as people don’t need to work past the conventional work hours in their countries, in the case of an emergency.

Challenges of Working Remotely in Different Time Zones: 6 Strategies that Work

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.

• It covers all the essential elements including responsibilities, skills, qualifications, and employee benefits.
• When the team and management collaborate to find the best approach in successfully traversing worldwide schedules, everyone will benefit and the company will thrive.
• A broad team that spans multiple time zones also spans a variety of regions that often have distinctive cultures, points out Erhard.
• Async communication allows people to process the information on their own time and respond at their own convenience, reducing the number of interruptions people receive.
• An employee handbook is a written document that outlines the company’s mission, culture, core values, policies, procedures, teams, best practices, and any other information employees need to do their work.
• Even if you’re working with someone in the same country, you need to make sure that the deadline for an assignment is clear.

But the biggest benefit might be how much it cuts off onboarding new employees who can simply read the archives and get up to speed on key decisions, culture, and work styles. Fewer interruptions leads to more deep work, which can dramatically increase productivity. Deep work, a term coined by Cal Newport, is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. This distraction-free concentration pushes your cognitive abilities to their limit and creates new value, improves skills, and is hard to replicate in our world of instant satisfaction.