Of course, there’s the argument that the vast majority of meetings may not be necessary, and flexibility is pretty much a part of the remote job description. Still, some form of meetings is vital for organizations looking to keep the connection and interaction across distributed teams. If teams don’t experience any overlap in work hours, there’s bound to be some time wasted as one team is waiting for the instructions or the input from another one, working at a later time. And, as team communication is directly correlated to productive collaboration, it can lead to unnecessary delays, missed messages, and an overall drop in productivity.

If you’re in a different time zone, don’t expect people to be available during your working hours. Be patient while waiting for responses, and go back to your communication guidelines for best practices. Managers must align operations and reduce disruptions when working with globally distributed teams. The greatest challenge of remote work comes down to efficiently coordinating and managing a company’s inner workings. It’s crucial to tackle these issues to have a solid company culture where all employees feel acknowledged. Here are some of the most common problems that arise in this situation.

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“It puts a little pressure on you to get your work done,” says TechCrunch’s Russell. “They worked the night shift while my team in Redmond worked days,” Berkun says. “If I planned well, we’d find magic in going to bed frustrated by a missing puzzle piece, https://remotemode.net/ and waking to find it in our inbox. It was like having a friend in the future.” The methods you choose will depend on the project and what makes sense for your team. For example, I use a lot of Google Sheets that anyone within the team can input on.

Use a feedback form to collect ideas, suggestions, and positive feedback to guide your future plans. Remember that if you’re using a team meeting or staff meeting template, you may need to manually include a section for feedback in your agenda. Teams that span different time zones will likely span different cultures as well.

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The ability to see what others are saying not only gives you insight to how others are working—something you might glean by working together—but it also enables the more fun aspects of working in a team. “What’s more, I have a feeling of intimacy with co-workers on the other side of the country that is almost fun,” Manjoo says. Even still, odds are you’ll be working with someone who’s not online at the same time as you. Every employee is also assigned a random “pair partner” each week— that means we’ll jump on a call with one of our colleagues just see how things are going, and perhaps work together on a cross-team project. Staying up a bit late or getting up an hour earlier isn’t a bad tradeoff for a job you love, but how about 2 a.m.?

At the beginning of the week, sit down with your team and establish the goals for that week. This will make sure every member of the team, including yourself, understand what has and will be done, regardless of the timezone they are in. In the 2021 State of Remote Work report by Buffer over 59%of the people interviewed reported they work with teams who are spread over 2 to 5 timezones. More surprisingly, only 2% of the respondents operate in a single timezone. Calendar searches the open time slots in your connected calendars when you need to schedule a meeting. Adding or removing times and selecting meeting length are customizable options.

Pros and cons of working across different time zones

The ultimate resource for remote work – actionable insights and advice for remote job seekers, employees, and employers. Set up personalized remote job search alerts and get noticed by recruiters https://remotemode.net/blog/10-tips-on-working-in-different-time-zones/ searching for your skills. Working in an office (or with the same work hours) is filled with impromptu moments that break up your day, many of which are unwanted distractions.

The most popular activities usually involve a mix of problem solving, competition, and laughter. Let’s Roam has many options, like the popular Scavenger Hunts, that get teams out running around and doing a mix of exploring and completing challenges. Escape Rooms and Murder Mystery experiences are fun options that include all of those things. People are challenged to work together to solve puzzles, find clues, and do something that is not work-related but still builds stronger relationships and bonds overall. Loic is a freelance Productivity writer at MakeUseOf and a lifelong learner. He has been writing about technology since 2016 after leaving his job as a Social Media Consultant.