Navigating Time Zone Differences in Remote Tech Jobs
Working remotely in the tech industry has become increasingly popular in recent years, allowing professionals to work from anywhere worldwide. However, with this flexibility comes the challenge of navigating time zone differences, particularly for teams working across countries.
A diverse team of workers can be a beautiful thing, but remote collaboration in an environment like this can come with challenges, like different cultural backgrounds and time zones.
None of it means that you should shy away from inconvenience. A better career opportunity could very well be outside your hometown, and beyond a conventional schedule. And you can learn how to navigate all of it.
But let’s start with what you can do to navigate working in a remote team distributed across the globe.
Communicate the specifics of your work day and ask your team members about theirs
Start with making sure that your team knows your working hours. For more consistency, use tools to put your time zone on display. Basically, let people know when you’re open to communicating.
This also comes with boundaries. To avoid overworking and associated burnout, ensure that your team members know when they can reach out to you. You can also discuss the instances where you could be open for collaboration beyond your working hours.
While you do this for yourself, ensure that you follow through with respect toward the time zones of your teammates and their boundaries.
Time Zone Converters to Help You Stay Updated
You don’t need to manually calculate the time difference or Google it every time. There tools will help you simultaneously track different time zones:
TimeAndDate. This time difference calculator supports past, present and future dates, which will allow you to plan your work accordingly. It also has Meeting Planner that can support 12 different locations.
World Time Buddy. It’s easy to schedule meetings right there on the platform or sync your account to your Google Calendar. The convenient layout makes it easy to see different time zones match the required timeframe.
Every Time Zone. This time zone converter allows you to see all time zones next to each other. It also has Meeting Pro feature that will allow you to schedule and link work meetings.
Bring equality into your meetings
To ensure fair collaboration and communication, use established channels accessible to everyone.
Now, when it comes to time differences, sometimes it is impossible to come up with a time for meetings convenient for everybody. If this is the case, try or suggest switching your meeting schedule, for example, once a month, so that everybody could experience the flexibility of remote work.
It is important to make sure that nobody feels like they’re the one constantly sacrificing their personal time to attend. Thus, if the scheduled time is too much for you to adhere to, communicate that, and understand when your teammates do.
Planning Tools to See Where’s Everyone At
Google Calendar. Needs no introduction 🙂
Clockwise. This AI-powered tool offers a simple way to schedule interactions for everyone involved.
Calendly. Aside from scheduling, this tool allows you to set your availability time and calendar rules.
Record your meetings
Constant rescheduling of meetings can be tricky when you work with a team across the globe. Sometimes it helps, but sometimes, it can make the work flow too chaotic. So, if switching up the schedule is not helpful, try recording your meetings instead.
There’s really no reason for somebody to get up at 2 a.m. to attend a meeting if they can watch a recorded version instead. In turn, they can get their task sent to them via messengers or email.
It saves everyone’s time and allows each team member to work at their own productive hour.
Recording your meeting is helpful in many ways. For example, if you have a new employee on your team, you can show them a sample of communication standard you follow, so that they know what to expect.
Meeting Recording Tools
Think of recording software before time. If you’re looking for versatility, try the following tools:
Zoom. You can record meetings held there for free for no longer than 40 minutes.
Streamyard. This streaming software will allow you to produce high-quality recordings.
Riverside. The platform offers high-resolution and quality video and audio by recording each participant directly from their device.
Get clear on deadlines
When clarifying deadlines, make sure everyone is on the same page. To eliminate confusion, let them know that a set deadline is linked to your time zone.
The same goes for collaborating with your teammates on the same project. You can discuss the difference in your time zones publicly or privately, but make sure that people know how and when they can depend on you (and you them) to complete the assigned task.
Alternatively, consider setting a headquarters timezone, which can be based on the primary location of your clients, the country the company is from, or the physical location of HQ. This can help you get on the same page in terms of how deadlines are determined.
The whole thing can seem pretty obvious, but we want to ensure you don’t overlook this aspect.
Tools to Streamline Communication
Slack. This platform allows to establish both work-dedicated channels and ways for private communication.
Troop Messenger. This tool allows for various forms of collaboration, including video calls, audio messaging, and screen sharing.
Telegram, WhatsApp, WeChat, etc. These are messengers wired for personal communication, but they are familiar to people and convenient to use.
Establish a common ground of productivity
This one is less actionable but no less important. We don’t want to fall into thinking patterns driven by cognitive bias.
Accepting that difference in work hours does not equal difference in productivity is vital.
With different time zones, while one person might be working, another might be finishing their work day. And it’s easy to overlook someone’s input if you don’t get to witness it firsthand. Understanding that everyone doesn’t have to work in a “daytime sync” for work to be done is key for fruitful collaboration.
Navigating time zone differences is hard on everybody. What you can do to make it easier is to acknowledge that fact.
Project Management Tools to Track The Progress
Kintone. This platform allows you to customize your project planning and management, offering visibility over tasks, data, and teams.
MeisterTask. This tool allows for individual task management and collaborative work, with a focus on a diverse team environment.
Trello. With this tool, you can easily organize resources and keep track of tasks and assignments within your remote team.
Conclusion
To sum up, navigating time zone differences is crucial to successful remote collaboration in the tech industry.
By establishing clear communication protocols, remaining flexible, and utilizing time zone conversion and project management tools, remote teams can overcome this challenge and work together effectively across different time zones.
If you found this post helpful, share it with your teammates so that everyone is on the same page in the your book of remote collaboration 😄
