I have spent a huge amount of my time working on projects crossing multiple time zones over the last few years. Let me share some of the tips I have learnt during this time to make collaborating easier.
Top 5 Tips
1. Set up additional clocks in Windows to help you keep track of multiple time zones.
2. Use Skype or Lync to avoid costly calls.
3. Use web conference software to share screens and hold conference calls. Web conferences help the team visualise the discussions. Join.me provides cheap and reliable web conferencing with a range of phone dial-in numbers. Join.me has a limited functionality, but is very competitively priced. If you need more functionality and dial-in numbers, then I would recommend GotoMeeting.com which provides much more functionality including scheduling meetings.
4. Use your Outlook calendar to help ensure meeting requests are all logged in the correct time for the participants.
5. Keep a log of national holidays for all participants. In the UK and US, it is easy to find the national holidays. In India, there are over 20 national holiday’s and companies pick which to follow, therefore two companies in the same region may have completely different holiday patterns.
Tell me what you think in the comments below or on X @timdixon82
