Remote work has increased 159% in the last 12 years, so it’s no wonder that employers encounter challenges when managing teams that span cities, states, or countries. Working across time zones typically leads to asynchronous work, requiring distributed team collaboration that relies heavily on communication tools to help them manage projects, communicate, socialize, share resources, and remain productive.
While a distributed workforce can present challenges, it also offers opportunities, such as a larger talent pool, access to new markets, increased agility, and a better work-life balance. To capitalize on these benefits, companies need the right set of remote work tools and strategies to support effective time zone management, ensuring seamless collaboration and enhanced productivity.
Are you ready to take your global team productivity to the next level? Check out these tips and strategies to help your team stay on track and work smarter across the globe.
Why time zone management matters for distributed teams
Building a global team has many advantages, but without proper time zone management, it will be challenging to work effectively. Misaligned schedules and asynchronous work can lead to miscommunication, delays, lower productivity, missed meetings, and decreased employee morale.
Successful time zone management enhances communication, collaboration, and global team productivity by optimizing team schedules and tasks according to each team member’s location. Implementing strategies to keep team members engaged with one another despite working in disparate locations can foster a collaborative and inclusive environment.
Time zone management is increasingly essential as remote and global teams become the norm. Global companies can scale and grow their businesses more efficiently when they’re prepared for collaboration across time zones.
10 Time zone management tips for distributed teams
Distributed team collaboration and success are possible with the right combination of tools, strategies, and preparation, but it will look a bit different than managing in-person teams. Check out these valuable tips for effectively managing distributed teams.
1. Know your team’s time zones
To help set expectations, workflows, and meetings, global teams should know who is working where and at what times. Companies can benefit from tools like World Time Buddy, Calendly, or Timezone.io to organize locations, quickly convert time zones, and schedule online meetings for global team members.
A simple shared document or calendar for each team is also a useful reference, so team members have quick and easy access to the schedules of their closest counterparts.
2. Establish core overlap hours
Overlapping hours simply means two or more team members are working at the same time. Establishing these hours is crucial for teams to schedule meetings, collaborate, and communicate more efficiently.
When building and managing distributed teams, identify two- to four-hour windows of time when the majority, if not all, team members are available. This will ensure timely communication, collaboration, and productivity, so team members aren’t delayed in receiving or providing information.
3. Embrace asynchronous communication
Companies relying on live meetings and real-time discussions may encounter challenges in including all team members, which can lead to more communication delays, less productivity, and teams working at odd hours that detract from a healthy work-life balance.
Alternatively, asynchronous work is the cornerstone of distributed team collaboration, enabling employees to interact at their convenience. Responses, meetings, and communication may not occur in real time, but successful global teams embrace tools like Notion, Confluence, and Loom, which allow them to manage projects, record videos, share resources, create documents, and collaborate across different time zones and work hours.
4. Set clear expectations for availability
Clear expectations support better productivity and communication. It’s key for all team members to know when they’re expected to be available and that work quality and output should match that of in-office teams.
Setting clear expectations for time on and offline helps employees understand when fellow team members are available for real-time interaction and when to honor time off, supporting a healthy work-life balance.
Additional clarity around acceptable forms of communication, approved tools, company policies, cultural differences, and deadlines can also help improve global team productivity.
5. Rotate meeting times to share the burden
Meeting burnout is real, and being present on long calls can detract from productivity. Alternating meeting times according to time zones or regions like APAC (Asia-Pacific), EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), and the Americas can help alleviate the burden of attending every meeting or meetings at odd times.
One week, a team may meet when it’s morning in EMEA, and evening in the Americas, or vice versa, so that all employees feel their time and schedules are being respected.
6. Record meetings and use smart summaries
The increase in distributed teams and remote work has led to the advent of more remote work tools to support better communication and efficiency. When a team member in another time zone is unavailable, they can rely on recordings or summaries generated from AI tools like Fireflies or Otter.ai. Such tools can record, take notes, transcribe, and summarize important updates to be shared with remote team members.
7. Plan projects with time zone lag in mind
Respecting time zone differences will help to effectively plan and manage projects that include distributed teams. When assigning tasks and setting deadlines, it can be helpful to allow a buffer so that teams in other time zones have a reasonable amount of time to respond and complete work asynchronously. Set clear boundaries and expectations to prevent delays that affect productivity or client management.
8. Automate status updates and check-ins
Leveraging automation is key to effective distributed team collaboration. Set recurring reminders, send notifications, and trigger specific actions like starting tasks. Tools like Slack Bots or Standuply compile information from text, video, and voice to automate asynchronous stand-up meetings, share information, and create to-do lists, ensuring that global teams always know their daily goals and expectations.
9. Foster connection across borders
Geographically separated teams don’t have to be separated socially; however, it can be challenging to keep a distributed team connected. Workplace disconnection can lead to absenteeism or lower team morale—but creating opportunities for team bonding across time zones can bolster productivity, inclusivity, and engagement, while enhancing workplace culture.
Remote work tools provide employers with numerous options for fostering connections, including video chats, interactive games, social channels, and interest groups. Asynchronous groups can be created by time zone, allowing people to discuss common interests and socialize with others during their shared work hours.
10. Promote time zone transparency in hiring and onboarding
As employers continue to embrace a global workforce and distributed team collaboration, it’s crucial to be transparent with prospective employees and new hires about work hours and communication expectations. Being up front can help reduce confusion and delays while building mutual trust between employees and leadership.
In job descriptions, employers should specify the time zones in which employees need to work or reside and the tools with which prospective employees should be familiar. During onboarding, employees should be trained on how to use remote work tools, enabling them to work efficiently, meet deadlines, and communicate with coworkers promptly.
These tips, combined with visibility into team schedules and time zones, will support global team productivity and lay the foundation for companies to scale and grow.
Tools for effectively managing time zones
Effectively managing and fostering collaboration of a distributed team can seem daunting and is not without its challenges. But the right tools can not only help overcome those challenges but also create opportunities for increased efficiency and productivity. Try leveraging these remote work tools to support your virtual team:
- Time zone converters are applications that quickly convert dates and times, allowing teams to easily set meetings, deadlines, and work expectations. World Time Buddy and Every Time Zone are commonly used tools to help visualize and organize teams by time zone.
- Scheduling platforms automate and manage meetings, events, and workflows to streamline the scheduling process and minimize delays or errors. Common tools include Calendly, Google Calendar, and Clockwise, which allow team members to collaborate, visualize availability, and schedule meetings with ease.
- Async platforms facilitate distributed team collaboration, even when team members aren’t online at the same time. Notion, Loom, Confluence, and Slack are all commonly used tools that help remote teams take notes, create documentation, and organize data for team use, regardless of time zone.
- Project management tools are essential for asynchronous teams to literally be on the same page. They help to support broader management and visibility of workflows across time zones. Asana, Trello, and ClickUp are great tools to help global teams—and they can easily scale as companies grow.
- Meeting recorders/summarizers are essential in the age of remote work, recording meetings and events for later viewing. Otter.ai and Fireflies.ai are AI-powered tools that record, organize, and summarize meetings and information, making it quick and easy to share information across teams and time zones.
How Velocity Global supports distributed teams
Employing a global workforce has many advantages, but having the right tools and support is key to success. Velocity Global is a leader in helping companies in 185+ countries source the best talent with compliant hiring, while offering EOR services to manage payroll, compliance, and the kind of in-country expertise required for effective distributed team collaboration.
Building a distributed workforce is a long-term expansion strategy that empowers companies to tap into the best talent from around the world. However, effective time zone management is key to keeping your global team engaged, in sync, and productive.
Business leaders seeking sustainable growth and enhanced collaboration can look no further than Velocity Global for compliance expertise, in-country HR support, and global workforce management to confidently build teams and work with talent around the world. Get in touch to learn more.
Disclaimer: This information does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal or tax advice and is for general informational purposes only. The intent of this document is solely to provide general and preliminary information for private use. Do not rely on it as an alternative to legal, financial, taxation, or accountancy advice from an appropriately qualified professional. The content in this guide is provided “as is,” and no representations are made that the content is error-free.
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Topic:
HR Strategies
