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7 Best Practices for Working Across Time Zones

By allowing employees to have more control over their working hours, employers foster an environment for enhanced productivity and job satisfaction. Simply put, embracing flexibility allows for a well-balanced blend of work and personal life, enabling every team member to excel in their respective roles. The first step towards building a shared time zone reference is understanding where your team members are located and the time zones they operate in. Recognizing and addressing the challenges working remotely in a different time zone of remote work across time zones is essential for fostering effective teamwork, maintaining productivity, and ensuring a harmonious work environment. Especially if your headquarters is the place where most employees work, time zones can quickly be incorrectly assumed, and meetings can be derailed as a result. Perhaps you’re still working out the kinks of a dispersed workforce or are realizing that the perk of being location independent isn’t something you’ll be able to easily take away.

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Traditionally companies have relegated themselves to hiring people who live within commuting distance of their offices or at most, the same time zone. Attempts to reinvent time zones to make them easier for everyone have failed, we just can’t come to a universal agreement. When you’re working remotely or in a different location from other team members, you can’t easily turn to them, ask a question, or make conversation. This can make it hard to communicate and develop a relationship with your colleagues. “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. It’s tempting to believe that sending someone a fast email will save them time, while in reality, it may end up wasting more of their day.

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The benefits of remote work are clear but it doesn’t come without challenges. Without the right strategy in place, a dispersed workforce can result in reduced collaboration, employee burnout, increased compliance risk, and more. The following best practices will help SMB employers navigate these challenges and reap all the benefits of remote work.

  • I try to be sensitive to clients who work a traditional 9-5 day, but I don’t always work those hours.
  • Furthermore, it reduces barriers to asking questions, getting help, and taking risks.
  • Cultural values have a significant impact on hiring approach, attracting individuals who share similar beliefs and rejecting those who do not.
  • This not only enhances the visual appeal but also adds a touch of excitement to your shared reference.
  • Mountain Standard Time (MST) spans Utah’s Rocky Mountains all the way over to Arizona, and Pacific Standard Time (PST) includes California and Nevada to Washington State.

Companies have the luxury of leaning into shared experiences and physical venues when developing a culture in an office-based workplace. Furthermore, some of the best practices for holding productive virtual team meetings include having a shared goal and describing what you expect to accomplish. Meeting planning is made easier with tools like World Time Buddy and Time and Date. Simply enter your team’s current locations, and these calculators will calculate the best times to meet (and even show local holidays being observed). It’s nearly hard to arrange everyone to meet at the same time without inconveniencing someone if you don’t have team members working in overlapping time zones.

Companies successfully working across time zones

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. Synchronous communication (“sync”) is when discussions are conducted in real-time, allowing for immediate responses and feedback between colleagues. This can be through phone calls, video chats or even using an instant messaging platform like Slack or Microsoft Teams. When working with a distributed team, it’s important to understand the differences between sync and async communication, and the extreme importance of asynchronous communication. Managing a global team is more complicated than managing one that works from the same office. You’ll need to account for different time zones, work styles, and cultural norms in your management style.

  • Time zone conversion tools allow you to stay in sync with the global clock, ensuring accurate time zone conversions at a glance.
  • Rather than having someone work an entire day based on a different time zone, consider splitting the day up among your employees.
  • When you work with a team working across different time zones, there is a possibility that you may face some issues.
  • Some apps like Google Calendars even serve a warning if you inadvertently try to book something outside of working hours.
  • Moreover, you should have a routine for your own work, such as setting priorities, managing your energy, and taking breaks.
  • Still, it can be effectively managed with the right strategies and best practices.