6 Tips for Overcoming Time Zone Challenges for Remote Teams

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. While it can be challenging to manage a distributed team, fully remote companies have many benefits. This is why we’re seeing a consistent increase in the number of distributed teams hiring globally. Working across time zones might be difficult for teams working in the same room or state—however, more people than ever before desire to work these days remotely. Therefore, team members working across borders and time zones may become the norm soon. Time Zones are a subject that every business leader needs to remain highly aware of when dealing with remote working.

• It’s not all 9-5 anymore with remote teams, with some works preferring to wake up in the early morning to get a head start before the day begins, and others starting late but working in the evening.
• AI can create many benefits, such as better healthcare; safer and cleaner transport; more efficient manufacturing; and cheaper and more sustainable energy.
• This is a true gem for digital nomads wanting to be more productive and avoid endless (and sometimes useless) meetings.
• When you think of a meeting, it evokes images of well-dressed employees gathered around conference tables in the same space.
• Even if you’re working with someone in the same country, you need to make sure that the deadline for an assignment is clear.

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.

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If you have to schedule a meeting outside of the employee’s regular workday, try to make up for the inconvenience by offering incentives for them having to stay late or work earlier. There are companies that expect their employees or freelancers to be available for only two or four overlapping hours instead of eight. working remotely in a different time zone They ask for a few hours so you can have meetings with your colleagues. They want to be sure that there is enough possibility to communicate properly. Many remote companies try to make the communications as asynchronous as possible. Sometimes it is too complicated to explain or too sensitive to do it over email.

This time zone however is not for people who are not at a stage where they can take a step back and cut out interaction. If you do creative work, this time difference leaves a lot of quiet time between the US and Europe. You can make great progress in working on the business, as opposed to being involved in it. The cost of living is another thing to keep in mind because where you can afford to live might take priority over any time zone preference you might have. You can compare prices with Numbeo to determine your monthly expenses while staying in a foregin country.

Working Across Different Time Zones: Best Practices & Tools

Being conscious of inclusion could go a long way to maintaining your team members happy and invested at work. Use this article as your guide to overcome these challenges and you’ll be well on your way to building strong relationships https://remotemode.net/ across time zones. There’s no need to wait for a conference call or meeting to start talking when you work together from the same office. But when working with a distributed team, communicating takes more effort.

Aside from the few weeks every year when we’re all together at our company retreats, there’s always someone at Zapier awake and working. Time zone coverage is just something that’s automatically possible with distributed teams. Neither is Silicon Valley or the city where your company is based. Some of us do our best work late at night, while others prefer to get up early and spend the late afternoons away from the desk. And while some metropolitan areas offer certain lifestyle perks, other big-city issues—like high costs-of-living—will drive potential employees away. Fried and Heinemeier Hansson offer another upside to remote work in their book on the topic.