Time Zone Gymnastics – The Joys of Working with Remote Teams

Time zones. They’re a joy. Working with teams and in markets around the world often leads to headaches of all sorts. From your Google Calendar being set to the wrong time, to you misreading the time zone on your Zoom invitation, it’s a total nightmare. Not to mention getting woken up at 3am because WhatsApp’s just started buzzing off the hook.

Here’s our guide to surviving temporal disaffection and upset international colleagues.

Open Communication and Clear Boundaries

Discuss work hours and boundaries: Start an honest conversation with your people to understand everyone's preferred work schedules and time zones. Being transparent helps build trust and helps to avoid misunderstandings. Obviously, there might have to be some flexibility here to accommodate the occasional meeting, but keep everyone informed.

Communicate clearly: Be upfront if you’re not available 24/7. If you can't attend a meeting outside your regular hours, propose alternatives that respect everyone's time. But, remember, you don’t need to endlessly justify why you can’t meet out of hours, it’s your time after all. Just do your best to accommodate different needs.

Precision is Essential

Specify deadlines in multiple time zones: Avoid confusion by explicitly stating deadlines in both your own time zone and your teammate's. This ensures everyone has the same understanding of deliverable expectations. OR, clearly state what time zone the team is working on and stick to it.

One of the most underrated things you can do is understand time zones.When you send times to someone make sure instead of saying “does tomorrow at 8am work” say “does tomorrow at 8am EST work”.Not having time zones in your message will delay and sometimes ruin your chances of…

— Aaron Golub (@aaronjgolub) February 27, 2024

Be aware of time zone differences: Even when working within the same country, be specific about deadlines. Mentioning "9 a.m. Monday Cyprus time" avoids confusion and ensures punctuality. Notice that I said “Cyprus time”. That’s clear as day, it’s not an acronym, it’s simple and quick to understand. Everyone can Google “What time is it in Cyprus?" I agree with Aaron from above, but be clearer.

FYI, Cyprus follows Eastern European Standard Time (EEST), or Greenwich Mean Time +2 (GMT +2). Better to just say “Cyprus time”.

Respect Your Client’s or Team’s Time

Schedule meetings at appropriate times: When scheduling meetings, try to find a time that works for most team members, even if it's not perfect for everyone. Be mindful of avoiding times that may be inconvenient for colleagues in different time zones. It’s hard, but always having to be the one “staying late” or “coming in early” is annoying. If it keeps happening, perhaps give your staff member some time off?

Respect work hours: Once boundaries are established, respect them. Avoid sending urgent requests outside of colleagues' designated work hours unless absolutely necessary.

Split Shifts

Explore split shifts: If your team is split across time zones, consider adopting a split-shift approach. Work part of your day in your local time zone to interact with colleagues there, and dedicate another portion to cater to the other team's hours. It might not be possible, but you never know.

Don't let time zones be your excuse for siloed teams. Asynchronous work is the key to unlocking a truly global workforce.

— Christophe Louvion (@chrislouvion) February 27, 2024

Alternatively, if you’ve got large teams, perhaps certain members can work in rotation to cover difficult times of the day.

Go Digital and Use It

Use project management tools: Leverage online tools like task management software, progress trackers, and instant messaging apps to facilitate collaboration and communication across time zones.

Stay informed: These tools allow team members working at different times to stay on track, understand project progress, and update each other efficiently.

Time Your Messages

Schedule non-urgent emails: Consider the recipient's time zone when sending emails. If you expect a prompt response, send the email during their work hours. If you don’t need an immediate response, send it anytime. But, make sure to lay out expectations, “If I email you at 8.30 pm your time, I’m not expecting you to get back to me”, would be a good way to set the rules.

Be aware of how your message comes across. If it’s in a chat group, such as WhatsApp, remember that it will ping and buzz, regardless of if it’s urgent. Also, remember that it can be hard to read tone and expectations in an email. So, your colleague might not know if you expect a response.

Patience is Key

Avoid expecting immediate responses: Colleagues in different time zones might not be readily available to respond to messages immediately. Be patient and understanding, knowing they will likely respond when they begin their workday.

Limit after-hours communication: Minimize sending messages outside of colleagues' work hours unless truly urgent. Respect their off-time and avoid creating a culture of "always-on" availability.

Acknowledge the Difficulties

If a meeting requires team members to stay up late or wake up early, consider ways to acknowledge the inconvenience. This could include offering dinner expenses or scheduling the next meeting at a more convenient time. Tell them that you appreciate it.

Be Flexible

Be available: Let your team know when you're available for impromptu calls or video chats through tools like Slack, and build "buffer time" into your schedule for quick check-ins.

Be adaptable: When working remotely or across time zones, adapt to the limitations of instant communication. Be prepared to handle situations that might require a little more effort and flexibility.

Takeaways

And there you have it. As a comms guy, I work with teams from all over the place, the UK, Cyprus, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. It’s not easy, but there are two clear takeaways that, if you embrace them, can help you manage the complexities of working with remote teams and clients.

Firstly, embrace the tech. Zoom, WhatsApp, Google, Asana, Monday, whatever software you need, it’s there. Do a little research, learn how to use it and lean into it. You can trade forex from a device anywhere, anytime, you can play the markets, you can run a fintech from a beach in Bali, you can master Zoom.

Secondly, respect people’s time. Depending on your work culture and, perhaps, your contracts, people won’t want to work 24/7, on their time off, or when they’d much rather be putting the kids to bed. You don’t appreciate it when people waste your time, so don’t waste theirs.

Go. Be productive. Wherever you are. And while you’re at it, brush up on your Zoom etiquette.

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