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However, apart from that, you must have a flexible working hours policy which gives the employees the freedom of working at their convenience to get the best results. One of the primary reasons developers and employees from around the world prefer the remote work culture working remotely in a different time zone is the flexibility they get about their working hours. It might not be possible—or even desirable—for each team member to take ownership of part of your company’s work, but you can break projects up in a way that everyone has their own specific area to focus on.
Work together, even if there is a time gap, and you’ll find that the old adage “two are better than one” is still true. Sometimes you need someone to hold you accountable or just to work alongside you. Jeff Atwood found that when he started Stack Overflow programming on his own turned into a lonely job.
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Plus, you’ll be able to hire the best people from anywhere around the globe. There are more time zone tools at TimeandDate.com, too, so be sure to check it out if you want to find local times around the world for your event, convert times for any location, and more. David Fullerton had to overcome the communication hurdle when he was growing the Stack Exchange team. “When there were 4 people, everyone knew everything. When there are 75 people, that no longer scales,” he says.
They must manage their time and energy wisely, which can be challenging when working from home. Synchronous communication, or real-time communication between teams, is still necessary for team development, bonding, brainstorming, and celebrating project achievements. Teams exchange messages with one other without expecting a response right away.
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Even if you’re working with someone in the same country, you need to make sure that the deadline for an assignment is clear. Right now, I’m the only person in Australia working in a company of 70+ people, spanning 12 different timezones. It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that sending someone a quick email will save them time, when it may actually end up wasting more of their day. If you need something done urgently or want your co-worker to make a decision ASAP, pick up the phone and talk it out.
Working across time zones can be a major challenge for distributed teams. Questions over how to ensure equal input, how to streamline meetings, and how to collaborate effectively are all valid concerns. However, working remotely in a different time zone also comes with some challenges that you need to be aware of and prepared for.
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Beyond that, you can have a flexible team meeting schedule for different members based on their requirements. You can have one window of overlapping times where most of the employees can sync with each other. Apart from that, you should have a flexible approach where the employees can work at their convenience as long as they meet the deadlines and targets.
- It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that sending someone a quick email will save them time, when it may actually end up wasting more of their day.
- David Fullerton had to overcome the communication hurdle when he was growing the Stack Exchange team.
- For example, you could set a rule that no-one will be forced to attend meetings between 11 pm and 7 am.
- During onboarding, make sure your communication policies and collaboration tools are properly defined and communicated.
- Communication in particular is hard when one team is arriving at the office just as another is leaving, or when one teammate is sleeping peacefully just as another is hitting their midday stride.