How Not to Work 24 Hours a Day to Keep up with Time Zones
Of course, you can travel only so much, so the bulk of team interactions will happen via the phone, e-mail, instant messaging, and videoconferences. For those live communications -- phone, instant messaging, and videoconferencing -- the issue of time zones has to be considered, unless you're happy working 24 hours a day.
Where possible, everyone needs to adjust their work schedules to accommodate time zone differences. The trick is to shift people's hours, not just extend them.
For example, it's not uncommon for U.S. managers to go online in the evenings to check e-mail. But "if you're working with a team that's 10 or 11 hours ahead of you, for them it will be the early hours of the morning, so it might be easier to start earlier the next morning instead," advises Robert Ingram, human resources director for the consultancy Capgemini.
Neat's Burk said that his team handles the issue of working nontraditional hours by alternating when the U.S. team works late and when the China team works early. "We try to flip the hours around a little bit, so only once or twice a week you're having to do something with the schedule [of your team]," he says.
But things can get sticky when people can't adjust their schedules. For example, in many countries, staffers rely on public transport or company-provided buses and taxis to get home. The issue is particularly acute in developing countries, where transit options are fewer: If schedules change at the last minute, managers in India or China might have to scramble to find new transportation, notes Ingram. "We might have to make special arrangements -- a second set of buses or a set of taxis -- to take people home."
For cultures that prize a separation for work and home life -- such as in many European countries -- the scheduling issue can't be handled through alternative commute options. If employees in those countries are unwilling to join teleconferences or check e-mail from home before or after work hours to accommodate coworkers in North America or Asia, perhaps they shouldn't be part of global teams.
Lemuel V. Cacho contributed to this report.
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