So if team members want to have a stand-up meeting, their protocol might be to have one that alternates between an 8am start time for San Francisco on some days, and a 6pm finish for London on other days. Although managing a geographically scattered workforce might be difficult at times, the method has several advantages. This is why we’re witnessing a constant growth in the number of working remotely in a different time zone organizations hiring abroad. To better grasp the trend, let’s break down all of the advantages of working across time zones. Consider keeping a list of all cultural holidays to ensure that no meetings or group work sessions are scheduled around those periods. Teams with a globally scattered workforce must pay extra attention to understanding and optimizing for cultural differences.
To manage international meetings, you should first consider all of your team members’ time zones and try to find a time that fits best into everyone’s schedule. You should also use video chat and other virtual tools to help run the meeting. 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. If you work in a nation where half of your team is located, ask your manager if you may work a half-day in the office and then work remotely one or more days each week. For example, businesses should consider establishing and adhering to time zone management for their teams.
Set Clear Expectations
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.
- By the time they read your second message and take action, an entire day (or more!) could have passed without them doing anything.
- Flexible workers hours have been proven to reduce burnout, stress levels, and psychological distress while increasing job satisfaction.
- Simply enter your team’s current locations, and these calculators will calculate the best times to meet (and even show local holidays being observed).
- This means I have to work a lot synchronously thus Belgian office hours in Indonesia.
You don’t have to be an established remote working mom to benefit from Slack. The WAHM forum is a treasure trove of information (and support) no matter what kind of work-from-home mom job you’re after. But, when you opt for remote work as a mom, you can gain that satisfaction that comes with having a career AND be at home to help with your family’s day-to-day life (and finances). In fact, some surveys suggest that stay-at-home moms experience sadness, anger, and depression at much higher rates than those who work out of the home. It’s also a time of year when we re-evaluate our career paths and start hunting and applying for new jobs. The Amex GBT report highlights other important benefits of business travel as well.
Working Remotely in Different Time Zones: 6 Tips for Remote Work Success
That could be fostered through social meetings thanks to video chat and conference calls. Consider milestones successfully met, celebrations of team birthdays, and weekly virtual water-cooler conversations. Did you know that project management software and tools make your entire team organized? It enables you to allow everybody to have a shared repository where files can be kept for smooth retrieval at any time.
- Also, you can set definite deadlines for every task so everybody knows the timeframe within which they must finish their part.
- Fried and Heinemeier Hansson offer another upside to remote work in their book on the topic.
- As a remote worker, I’ve had the opportunity to work with amazing clients and colleagues worldwide.
