Now my 10th and last tip for today is even when we’re working with global teams, don’t forget to meet face-to-face every once in a while. Time zones can really keep us apart and it can keep us from connecting with each other as much as we need to or want to. So every once in a while, whenever possible, get the team together face-to-face and rebuild that human connection that we can easily lose when we go remote.
- The lawsuits describe how a number of Meta employees were worried by their own internal data on their impact on teen users.
- 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 can get overwhelming trying to set up a time that works for everyone.
- For example, teams can create shared calendars showing their availability across different hours in a day to ensure no time zone boundaries are crossed.
- When she is not researching the most productive collaboration techniques, she can usually be found trying out the latest team chat and collaboration tools and apps.
And it will feel like an old friend if you already know how to use functions like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. New real-time interactive features make sharing and collaborating much easier, too. One Drive cloud storage is like an expandable file cabinet that holds all the docs your team needs.
Conclusion: Working Across Time Zones is Possible!
Unless there’s an urgent situation, employees should avoid contacting colleagues when they’re outside of their working hours. 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. Some of the best practice examples suggest encouraging employees to craft their own shared experiences in company team chat apps. Ideally, these virtual spaces would inspire teams to add to the informal chat thread, regardless of the time they logged in. When working to establish functional global teams, organizations need to primarily focus on optimizing their communication.
Teams working remotely and across time zones lack the spontaneous chats in-office coworkers are accustomed to. The social disconnect can breed various productivity and personal obstacles that could wreak havoc on your organization over time. 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.
Career Options & Training For Stay-At-Home Moms (& Dads)
Read to know more to find out the best practices and working remotely tips and tools. What a great idea to have automatic declines for times when you’re DEFINITELY not going to be available. Great to hope that folks will check timezones before scheduling but with teams spread across the globe in multiple time zones, it’s great to have things that help them out. Remote work is part of our “new normal,” and having teams spread out geographically is something you might have to learn to work with. While a remote workforce might present some challenges, it’s not only doable, but can be a major advantage if executed properly.
This is not surprising, given that the flexibility of asynchronous collaboration represents the ideal response to the challenges of working across time zones. Another key feature of such team chat apps is the pin option as it helps keep the important documents working remotely in a different time zone top of mind and easily accessible. All of these tips will help teams across time zones stay productive while respecting each other’s schedules. And the right tools are the bread and butter for employees across time zones to make any work happen.