GitLab is a leader in the all-remote work model, with team members located across various time zones worldwide. This geographical diversity presents significant time zone challenges for remote teams, especially regarding communication and collaboration. To address these issues, GitLab focuses on asynchronous communication, allowing team members to work and contribute at their own convenience without being limited by others’ schedules. Despite the very obvious benefits of having diverse remote teams and colleagues, most companies are still trying to figure out how to work successfully across different timezones. Here are some tips for remote employees and remote companies on how to make meeting across time zones work a little bit more effectively. When working with teammates in different time zones, respecting their working hours is vital.
Even though we’ve tried to reinvent time zones, we still can’t agree on a universal system. Time differences can make it difficult or even impossible for some team members to attend a live video conference, but let’s be honest, most meetings should be held asynchronously anyway. Your team may not be able to work during the same hours, but you can design a set of tools that would make collaboration not only possible, but efficient.
Understanding the difference between synchronous and asynchronous communication.
Rike believes one benefit is that the structure in and of itself lends itself well to employees setting and keeping their own boundaries around their schedule, which improves job satisfaction. We often assume when we’re talking to someone new that they’re in the same time zone as us. When scheduling a meeting or call with remote team members, make sure to ask them what time zone they are in so that you can account for any time difference with their local time when you schedule.
My Cities (Personal World Clock) … edit
Consider providing a dial-in option for events like a holiday party or quarterly social if your team is partially remote. Provide these tools to your employees so they can use them effectively. As a result, you’ll be able to close any cultural communication gaps, which will lead to a more respectful and productive work environment. Even though you should still be aware of the time zones of others, setting one official time zone living and working in different time zones for your company can help reduce misunderstandings.
- “That can be a benefit, broadening the perspectives that influence your decision-making, but it can also lead to misunderstandings and communication difficulties,” he said.
- Use tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Monday.com, or Notion to keep everyone connected, organized, and updated on the latest project developments.
- An international team is more likely to experience feelings of isolation and being left out of the company culture and general social interactions.
- Apps like Google Calendar can do the heavy lifting since they show you meeting times in your local time zones.
- By clicking on a time, they can reserve it, and Calendar will add it to your calendar and email the meeting attendees.
A time shift, though, forces you to show what you’ve actually accomplished, since few others were there to see if you were logged in all day. This may involve rescheduling some meetings to avoid overlap with obligations that are already on your calendar. Working in a different time zone also requires some flexibility and adaptability. This means being open to adjusting your schedule, your communication style, your work methods, and your mindset when necessary. You may also need to adopt a growth mindset and embrace the learning opportunities that come from working in a different cultural and professional environment. Apps like Google Calendar can do the heavy lifting since they show you meeting times in your local time zones.
You can keep team morale high by promoting social interactions and setting aside specific times for employees to get to know each other. If the time zones are too far apart, you can have async communication channels dedicated exclusively to holding water cooler chats and discussing other non-work-related topics. The good news is that working in a globally distributed team can be very rewarding. With the right tools and processes, you can make the most of your different time zones and create an effective high-performance team. Recognizing cultural differences is vital for effective collaboration within remote teams.
- Let’s say you’re starting your day at 8am, which is 6pm US Pacific time… This is a time slot where you can sync up with clients over there quite easily despite the drastic difference in the time of day.
- Yes, AND…you’d be surprised at the number of people who like to schedule a coaching appointment or a therapy session early in the morning, before going to work or school.
- If you’re in a different time zone, don’t expect people to be available during your working hours.
- The key is ensuring that your employees are aligned with your company’s values and understand what’s expected of them.
- In short, make sure you take everyone’s time zone into account when setting meeting times.
How to Manage Time-Zone Differences When Working Remotely From Abroad
“Setting the stage with all stakeholders at the beginning of a project and setting expectations on response times can keep everyone on track,” Hoffbauer said. It’s easy to think of only the problems that can come about from coworkers trying to collaborate from different locales without having the same start and stop to their workday. But this asynchronous setup confers some advantages alongside the drawbacks. Google Calendar settings will also ask if you want to ‘Ask to update my primary time zone to current location,’ and you can choose to check this box, or not. If you’re traveling for work, or if you’re working remotely and traveling, your time zone may change as you change places. I learned to overly-communicate when we (the US) were changing clocks, for my vendor relationships in Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia.
Mexico is another great option if you are a digital nomad in North America looking for a plug and play lifestyle elsewhere on a budget. You can find more info on how to work for a US company from Mexico here. If you want to interact and work with the whole world, there is pretty much no better time zone than those of Central European Time and Central African Time. Neighbors to Asia on one side, and the Americas on the other, these time zones are in a prime position.
Setting up an official “headquarters” or HQ timezone allows your team standardize their communication and how they manage tasks, due dates, and even real-time interactions with other team members. We don’t think people purposely fail to prepare for meetings, but they do not have the tools and processes in place to become effective at preparing for those meetings. The more aware you become of your colleagues in different timezones and their backgrounds, the more empathetic and the deeper your connections will be.
It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that sending someone a quick email will save them time, when it may actually end up wasting more of their day. If you need something done urgently or want your co-worker to make a decision ASAP, pick up the phone and talk it out. You’ll also want each team member working from a private space with minimal distractions (a quiet office or home office). If colleagues are close by, try asking them to work together at one desk so they can easily collaborate on projects as necessary.
This is great for increasing creativity and innovation within your company. Asynchronous communication means working without being in direct contact with people, such as through email, online chat, or by sending video messages such as Loom videos. It also means that you’re not necessarily communicating at the same time.
Communicate these boundaries to your colleagues, clients, managers, and family members, and stick to them as much as possible. Avoid checking your email or phone outside of your designated work time, and respect the boundaries of others as well. Luckily, there are tried and true methods to adjust to different time zones. Whether you’re an aspiring digital nomad, already have a trip coming up or travel often and want to master adjusting to different time zones, consider the following six tips.