That enables colleagues across different time zones to deal with their schedules, knowing they won’t be wasting time on a casual talk that could have been used working productively or catching up some sleep. It is common to waste a lot of time waiting for confirmation when booking appointments or meetings with remote team members..A time zone difference makes it even more difficult to get a real-time response. You will likely not hear from the other parties until the next business day if they live on the other side of the world. With a split schedule, you can be more available for meetings with colleagues in different time zones without ignoring your local team. Furthermore, you will be able to stay in touch with your international department without staying up all night.

By clicking on a time, they can reserve it, and Calendar will add it to your calendar and email the meeting attendees. Make sure not to mix up AM and PM times or use roman numerals when writing in a foreign language. Despite sounding like a small detail, this can cause confusion and unnecessary stress. Certain countries refrain from using a given scheme with its time standard unchanged.

Understanding the difference between synchronous and asynchronous communication.

Perhaps you can have two different meetings on one day at two different times so everybody can get a chance to participate. Using this type of tool makes handling projects in various time zones simpler because each team member has access to the system from anywhere around the globe. It is not a secret that efficient communication is the foundation of success.

• Give an example of a situation when you’re able to be contacted — even though you’re off-the-clock.
• For everyone to understand the different times, use a simple timezone converter tool.
• SMB leaders should be mindful about choosing the communication methods that work best for their company overall, and managers should do the same when it comes to how best to communicate with their individual teams.

But it doesn’t have to be that way if you organize your team and schedule your projects around the time zones of everyone on it. If so, then you know the challenges in staying on the same page that come with working remotely. One of our challenges as a team is to strike the right balance between synchronous and asynchronous communication. We also have a lot of tools for asynchronous, everyone-at-their-own-pace communication, including Threads, Trello and Paper. In these tools, we can log what we’ve done, what we’re doing or questions and comments we have and know that other team members can read and comment later on their own schedule. Using these tools to keep time zones top of mind makes sure that all team members have an equal opportunity to work smarter, not harder, and that they can engage or disengage when they want.

Be mindful when scheduling meetings across time zones

The reality is that, often, somebody will have to stay up late for a meeting. 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. Take time to grab virtual coffees with your teammates one-on-one or in small groups, and schedule online game nights for the entire team. Consider providing a dial-in option for events like a holiday party or quarterly social if your team is partially remote.

Finding the right time to schedule meetings is the most common challenging part when having a team working in different time zones. It is a rather difficult task to find the right time to set up a meeting where the entire team can attend. To make this work, a lot of compromises and sacrifices have to be made by each team member in order to scale up the company. A key to communicating with colleagues is knowing precisely what time it is—for everyone involved. Even for remote employees who have worked remotely for years, knowing the time difference between CEST, PDT, and other time zones may still be challenging.

Time Management Tips When Working in Different Time Zones

The following best practices will help SMB employers navigate these challenges and reap all the benefits of remote work. Even though you should still be aware of the time zones of others, setting one official time zone for your company can help reduce misunderstandings. If there are different time zones represented within the discussion, try to be as precise as possible regarding times and dates. When referring to a specific time, everyone reading your message needs to be aware of it. For teams working across time zones, it can be tempting to respond to notifications that come in after your normal working day has finished. That’s particularly true when your input is essential to the progress of a project.

Maybe you’re headquartered in Sydney but work with contractors around the globe. Or maybe you’re fully distributed, with teammates on every continent around the world. Collaborating in a remote team spanning across different time zones can be a huge challenge.

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Finally, you’ll want to adopt the habit of scheduling team meetings at optimal times for everyone. This will ensure all your colleagues can attend and participate in discussions without working remotely in a different time zone having to be up early or stay up late. To work more efficiently with distributed teams, you need to treat your team like they are all working together in one office building.