There can be a barrier in the beginning especially if some teammates aren’t as open or social as others. The time you spend together may feel awkward when you’re first getting to know each other. Learn how to balance synchronous and asynchronous communication to allow for autonomous work and meaningful connections.

“Setting the stage with all stakeholders at the beginning of a project and setting expectations on response times can keep everyone on track,” Hoffbauer said. One of Filippo’s favorite tools that he uses to respect his team’s time is the “send later” option both in Slack and email. “That, as well as everyone setting their working hours and turning off notifications outside of those hours, can really help to create and maintain a healthy work environment,” he said. It’s not only employees who can potentially benefit from working across time zones—this arrangement also allows distributed groups to be more responsive and available when customers need help.

Know your remote team’s working hours

By creating a physical separation between work and home life, you can help to maintain a healthy balance and avoid burnout. PEOs are available to assist with every aspect of acquiring and managing a remote workforce. To start, companies should clearly and frequently communicate their purpose – employees want to know that they’re a part of an important and fulfilling mission. Additionally, during a time when the workforce is prone to burnout, an emphasis should be put on caring about each other’s mental wellbeing.

• One of the most significant challenges of working in a different time zone is the potential for communication barriers.
• The main project management tools include Trello, Basecamp, and Asana, which keep track of what everyone is working on as it progresses through the pipeline.
• These savings are primarily due to reduced costs for gas, parking, car maintenance, and food.
• For example, when one team member finishes work at the end of their day, they can hand off tasks to a colleague in a different time zone who can pick up where they left off.

This means that if one team member works while another is sleeping, it does not mean they can’t communicate or collaborate with each other effectively (unless this pattern repeats itself for several weeks). Your first language may not be someone else’s first language, so they may phrase things in a way that is difficult for you to understand. Accents vary and I have found that enunciating more clearly helps with better understanding all around. The more you get used to listening to a particular accent, the better you will be at discerning what is being said. Leverage opportunities to strengthen team culture by using the connection rituals in our Hybrid Team Toolkit today.

Working Remotely in Different Time Zones: 6 Tips for Remote Work Success

Everyone should be invited to voluntarily join the meeting room at a time that works for them. This sort of impromptu, off-the-cuff discussion can resemble “watercooler chat” and enables colleagues to brainstorm various topics and connect working remotely in a different time zone on a more personal level. A lot of people work from home – 59% of U.S. workers who say their jobs can be performed from home do so all or most of the time – and that comes with many benefits for employers and employees alike.

To work more efficiently with distributed teams, you need to treat your team like they are all working together in one office building. While this may not be possible, it is the mindset you need to adopt to organize your time and responsibilities. This includes setting expectations for response times, modes of communication, and language use. It also involves ensuring that everyone has access to the same information, regardless of the time zone they are in. Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to managing team culture across different time zones. However, there are several best practices that can help create a cohesive team culture.

Challenges of working across time zones

For example, a manager may ask their team member to complete a task by Friday at 9 AM EST / 8 AM CT. Working across time zones can yield benefits for both employees and employers, from improving work-life balance to widening the talent pool for https://remotemode.net/ new hires. Recognizing and respecting the different time zones of team members is crucial. Embrace flexible work hours that accommodate overlapping periods for collaboration while allowing individuals to work during their local business hours.

For example, if you want feedback on design iterations, send them out earlier than you think you should. Take into account the time difference and note that this equates to delayed response time. The time difference between our two teams is 8 hours, so we have at least that amount of time before we receive any response from our Polish teammates. In the case that you are unable to plan ahead, prioritize things so team members understand what they should be focusing on first. In my team’s case, we sometimes work with strict deadlines on a project or feature basis so the designer will explicitly tell us when something should be prioritized first. Team building might be easily overlooked or pushed to the side when working across time zones.

Teamwork Without Borders: How to Create a Strong Team Culture Across Time Zones

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. When you meet frequently with the same people, take time to understand when they work remotely. In summary, communicators must do more than memorize rules, they must learn to understand the gestalt of the other culture.

“That can be a benefit, broadening the perspectives that influence your decision-making, but it can also lead to misunderstandings and communication difficulties,” he said. Freelance Brand and Marketing Strategist Janine Maral, who is currently based in Eastern Standard Time, has experience working remotely across different U.S. time zones as well as with global clients. She too has found that working this way can allow more flexibility to structure your day. The benefit, according to Maral, of sticking to your own 9-to-5 schedule while your company or client is on their 9-to-5 is that you have more uninterrupted work time, free of meetings or messages on Slack or Teams. Working with individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds brings richness to the development process but can also lead to misunderstandings and miscommunications. Varied communication styles, work ethics, and expectations can impact team dynamics and project outcomes.