Some major challenges of working in different time zones include lack of real-time communication, collaboration at unexpected hours, and lack of team bonding due to no in-person meetings or interactions. The distributed team environment has pros and cons when you work in remote teams. Speaking of connection among teammates, working across time zones makes it almost impossible to keep the team spirit and social engagement up. Almost by definition, remote work tends to facilitate isolation among team members, and the matter only gets worse once we add the time zone dimension to the equation.
While it may be the middle of the day for one worker, it may be midnight for another, and frequently sending work messages at an inconvenient hour can result in burnout and stress. Likewise, employees should inform their manager and teammates about the best way to reach them outside of working hours if an emergency arises. Ensure you are open to dealing with your work hours and controls with your distributed team, whether you are working remotely, in-office, or in a global office outside your main company headquarters. Likewise, support your colleagues to discuss their work limits and work hours so you are aware of the different time zones in which you are all working. Even if you have had an initial chat, you must speak up if you have difficulty attending online meetings in different time zones.
Common mistakes to avoid when working with a dispersed team
The social separation can result in various productivity and personal challenges that can wreak havoc on your business over time. Teams with a globally scattered workforce must pay extra attention to understanding working remotely in a different time zone and optimizing for cultural differences. Cultural, religious, and ethnic origins significantly influence your employees’ communication patterns, cooperation techniques, and work schedules.
Maintaining culture is a vital component of every company’s business success, but it is especially critical for totally remote teams. Understanding the distinctions between creating and maintaining a dynamic culture in a remote work setting vs an office-based environment is of utmost importance https://remotemode.net/ and companies can not ignore it. With employees working in multiple time zones, it’s crucial to discuss differing schedules openly and regularly. Remote workers and companies experience lots of benefits—cost savings, less distractions, and increased productivity, to name a few.
Use an Organized Project Management Platform for Your Team
Employees can give each response the time and attention it deserves when they take a break to check their messages. Employees may work independently, uninterrupted, and more productively as a result of this. A popular communication tool like Slack will help you with its features like emojis and others.
While remote work has its benefits, time zone differences can make the employee management difficult without the right tools and processes in place. However, more people than ever before desire to work remotely these days. Therefore, team members working across borders and time zones may become the norm soon. Remote employees are shown to communicate with their supervisors at a rate comparable to office employees.
Hybrid Work Schedule: Balance Remote and Office Work
Fortunately, that flexibility can be easily accomplished through collaboration tools, such as Microsoft Teams, Google Drive, Slack, Dropbox, etc. To be productive and efficient when working across time zones, you should be respectful, organized, and adaptable. We have put a lit of our best pointers and practices to help you get through your intercontinental workday by working remotely in different time zones. If you, or members of your team, live and work in different time zones, TimeCamp has a great solution which you can find here – Time Online Zone. Additionally, you can check the current time in a specific city, its localization on the map, weather, and population, but also few useful facts about the city or country. While remote work offers time flexibility, it also comes with erratic schedules that require routine adjustments.
Ultimately, most important things to embrace and keep in mind when working with team members in different timezones are respect, empathy, and inclusion. “That feeling of inclusion can make such a difference to employee retention, happiness, and performance — so the little things actually matter quite a lot,” McGinty said. To do this on Gmail, create the email as you would draft any other message. Then, when you’re ready to schedule the email, click the arrow on the send icon for the “Schedule message” option. 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.