Modern businesses are no longer limited to a single region. With remote hiring, professionals can join teams beyond the traditional commute range. Sometimes, the distance is so great that your employees work together across different time zones. However, the greater the distance, the more likely everyone’s clocks won’t align. This is where time zone communication strategies come in.
Fortunately, the software that brings us together also has the power to help us coordinate across time zones. International communication strategies are quickly becoming skills that every manager should master: The ability to manage a team over multiple time zones. Fortunately, we’re pros at this and the BrightR team is delighted to share our solutions to the time zone tango.
The Time Zone Tango
Most professionals today have booked at least a few meetings with someone on the other side of the continent—possibly on the other side of the world. Finding a time that works for everyone (and communicating which time you mean) can be a challenge. Miscommunication can lead to catastrophe through missed meetings and general confusion.
With experience and the right time zone communication strategies, you’ll learn how to tango across teams and timelines. A few precautions, best practices, and visual scheduling programs can help you achieve that unique schedule shuffle required to “dance” with coworkers in another time zone. This way, everyone knows when to show up.
Best Practices to Navigate Time Differences
When you’re just starting to navigate time differences, time zone communication strategies can help you stay coordinated. Simple tricks can help everyone communicate better, schedule efficiently, and join virtual meetings on time—no matter the time zone.
- Always note the time zone when mentioning times
- “The meeting is at 11 AM (CT).”
- “I’ll have that for you by eight (MT).”
- Be flexible with yourself and others to find comfortable times
- “8 am EST is a little early for me. Can we do it at 9?”
- “Submit your reports by 3 PM so Sarah can take them home by 5 PM.”
- Handle mistakes smoothly
- “Oh, you’re an hour early. Feel free to grab lunch before the meeting starts.”
- “Let’s email Tom, I think it’s still 10 AM where he is.”
These best practices can help your entire team stay aligned and avoid frustration while adapting to each other’s time zones. Soon, everyone will get a feel for when their colleagues are available, and collaboration will happen more naturally. However, the right time zone communication strategies and flexibility go a long way. These methods can also help you stay alert and prepared if a client or new team member introduces another time zone.
Synchronizing Schedules for Zone-Divided Teams
Synchronizing schedules is a vital aspect of time zone communication strategies. Digital calendars and scheduling apps can help you book meetings and collaboration sessions that align with every time zone. This way, everyone knows what time to prepare for deadlines or attend virtual meetings without the constant mental effort of calculating for time zone differences.
Virtual Calendars
A virtual calendar provides a simple way to synchronize your team’s schedules. If you book a virtual meeting for noon in your local time, it may appear as an invite to a 2 PM meeting for your employee two time zones away. This solution ensures that neither party has to remember the time zone difference.
Business software with calendar and scheduling features can bridge the time zone gap by booking people instantly, without relying on time labels. Even Google Calendar, a free tool available to everyone, can do the trick.
Digital Reminders
Another neat trick to stay synchronized is to send out digital reminders before meetings, deadlines, and collaboration sessions. A reminder to be ready for the upcoming meeting or to submit work product in time for a deadline doesn’t rely on time zone. Instead, set these reminders to appear a specific number of hours or minutes before the event. Everyone gets an hour to prepare for the meeting, no matter what time it might be in their location.
Time Zone Shifts and Visual Availability
Time zone communication strategies also involve visualizing the schedule to help everyone understand how time differences affect availability. A classic Gantt chart, for example, can help your team see how people from other time zones may start their day earlier and live slightly off-set from everyone else.
The Gantt chart takes on a waterfall or stair-step shape when each team member clocks in at their local 8 AM across different time zones. People in the earliest time zone will first experience their 8 AM start, and those further West will clock in based on the sun’s position in their region.
Understanding Early and Late
A visual schedule can help everyone see the difference between early and late across time zones. A 3 PM meeting might be comfortable on the West Coast, but those on the East Coast may already be clocking out. This may be even more important for morning meetings. After all, a 7 AM meeting might mean breakfast for some, but it could be an early 4 AM start for others.
Schedule Toward the Center
Showing your schedule visually is another beneficial part of time zone communication strategies. This helps everyone remember to schedule toward the center. If your team shares a hemisphere, meetings and collaboration sessions in the middle of the day will achieve the best attendance, even if your team spans several time zones.
Across the World and Around the Clock
If your team includes people from the other side of the world, you may need to schedule breakfast/dinner meetings instead. For example, Los Angeles Time (PDT) to London Time (BST) places 9 AM PDT at 5 PM BST. This can make scheduling tricky, but sometimes both teams can be available with concerted effort.
Embrace Asynchronous Communication Strategies
While meetings and collaboration sessions require everyone to communicate instantly, you can also bridge the gap with asynchronous communication. Channels like email, chat, and even leaving notes in a shared project allow team members to collaborate without needing to be available simultaneously.
When coordinating a team across multiple time zones, asynchronous communication strategies are often the best way to maintain an efficient workflow without worrying about time zone alignment. After all, everyone experiences a full work day in their own time. Sharing resources, notes, and comments ensures that tasks are completed even when remote team members work at different times.
Chat Channels
An open chat channel is a great way to encourage conversation, collaboration, and even team bonding when your team isn’t always online simultaneously. Encourage your team members to check in on the chat channel a few times daily. They can ask and answer questions, share jokes, and maintain open communication asynchronously.
Create a shared team channel and encourage your team members to open private channels for individual coordination. The right chat platform helps teams stay aligned across time zones by supporting real-time and asynchronous communication.
Collaborative Platforms
Platforms supporting project collaboration are also great for developing time zone communication strategies. Team members can leave notes, comments, resources, and completed project assets for one another, collaborating when multiple people are online and sharing an asynchronous environment between those real-time sessions.
Utilize teamwork platforms that allow your team members to share an environment and leave asynchronous resources for one another. Comment and version control are particularly beneficial if your team cannot easily share meeting times or prefers to work without real-time communication.
Encourage Teamwork Across Time Zones
The best results of using time zone communication strategies come from familiarity and teamwork. Over time, your team will adapt to the differences in time. They’ll become familiar with the visual schedule and quickly learn time conversions, understanding what’s early or late for each colleague.
Whether your team is new to time zone differences or adapting swiftly, teamwork is always the best solution. Encourage your team to work together on solutions to overcome time zone-related challenges. Using the right tools, always noting the relative time zone for a schedule, and working together to book mutually advantageous meeting times will create the synergy you need for a productive remote team.
Time Zone Harmony
Any remote team can achieve time zone harmony with the right communication strategies, team collaboration, and software solutions. Whether your team spans two, four, or even ten time zones, you can synchronize your schedules and find ways to achieve efficient teamwork.
Here at BrightR, we specialize in connecting businesses with remote experts across Canada, which covers several time zones. Contact us today for EOR services or more tips on managing your remote team across distant regions.
