Synchronizing Team Timetables

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐎𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐭. 𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵-𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘻𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘔𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 — 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘫𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴. 👉 So how do you guarantee effective communication across asynchronous teams? Here is how I approach it: 𝟏. 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Use collaborative platforms (like Confluence, Teams, Slack or Trello) to document decisions, updates and action items. No one should have to dig through emails to find critical details. 𝟐. 𝐄𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡 "𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬": Weekly asynchronous updates (recorded video recaps, shared notes). Bi-weekly live syncs for major alignment (if possible). Example: A healthcare tech project I led had teams in India, USA and UK — short video updates + a shared dashboard kept everyone moving forward together. 𝟑. 𝐃𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬: When multiple timelines are involved, accountability can slip. Assign a communication champion for each team who ensures that their deliverables and blockers are visible to all. 𝟒. 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫-𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲: Rather than waiting for meetings, encourage team members to share progress, risks and ideas proactively. A simple two-line update can prevent a two-week delay. 𝟓. 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐙𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐊𝐞𝐲: Schedule meetings thoughtfully. Rotate meeting times if needed to ensure fairness. Use tools like World Time Buddy to find overlapping hours without burning out anyone. 𝟔. 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐲: When teams see their progress recognized even if they are working asynchronously — it boosts morale and reinforces the feeling of being a part of one bigger mission. 👍 Remember, Communication is not just about talking. It is about ensuring understanding across the board, no matter when or where your team is working. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 — 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘳. 📌 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬? 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬! ♻️ Share this post with others, if you found it valuable. 🙏 Follow Devendra Kumar for more such actionable and insightful posts. #Agile #ProjectManagement #Communication #RemoteWork #Leadership #Teamwork #Productivity

💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽 Synchronising work schedules across different countries and cultures is one of the biggest challenges in international event production. The simultaneity of working hours, essential for collaboration, can be complex to achieve. Here are three concrete examples to illustrate why : 𝟭. 🏖️ 𝗣𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆𝘀 : 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 Today, November 11 is a public holiday in France 🇫🇷, Belgium 🇧🇪 and Canada 🇨🇦, in commemoration of the Armistice of 1918. Even some regions in New-Zealand 🇳🇿. While these countries pay their respects, others continue their normal activities. Anticipating public holidays in each country is essential for planning meetings and deliverables to avoid unexpected delays. This obviously shortens the number of common working days. 𝟮. 🏕️ 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀: 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 Weekends are not the same all over the world. For example, in the United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪, the weekend moved from Friday-Saturday to Saturday-Sunday to be more in line with global practices. In Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 it used to be Thursday-Friday and now Friday-Saturday as applied in Qatar 🇶🇦. These offsets influence common working days and must be taken into account to maximise synchronised working hours. 𝟯. 🕐 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀: 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 In California 🇺🇸, teams often start as early as 6 a.m. to synchronise with New York (9 a.m.) and Europe (3 p.m.). In Australia 🇦🇺, professionals get up early to share working hours with the rest of Asia and Europe. For example, when it is 6 a.m. in Sydney, it is already 8 p.m. the day before in Paris, making coordination complex but indispensable. Meal times also vary. In Spain 🇪🇸, we often eat lunch after 2 p.m., while in France 🇫🇷, it is more between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m, and in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧or Germany 🇩🇪, it can start as early as 11:30 a.m. These differences influence meeting slots and synchronisation of international teams. And you, have you already taken these factors into account when planning your international projects ? If not, it's time to think about it. At IC (International Consultants) Local Resources Worldwide Events this is where we share stories and habits to better understand each other. #diplomacy #internationalevent #internationalproduction #eventprofs

How We Sync Our Office Hours for Japanese Clients Working across continents isn’t just about emails and Zoom links, it’s about respect.  That’s why we adjust our office hours to align with our Japanese clients' time zone. Because to us, collaboration means being present, not just available. Here’s how we decided to align our work hours with our Japanese client’s time zone (JST) and what it’s done for our collaboration 👇 🧠 Step 1: Understanding the Client’s Work Rhythm We started by mapping out:  • Their typical working hours (9 AM–6 PM JST)  • Peak communication windows  • Their expectations for responsiveness ⏰ Step 2: Adjusting Our Schedules Rather than forcing async communication, we said: “Let’s meet them halfway — or more.” So we shifted our team’s workday to overlap with their core hours:  • Started earlier (around 6 AM our time)  • Focused our meetings and delivery updates during their active hours  • Protected our team’s work-life balance with flex scheduling 🤝 Step 3: Building Trust Through Presence Results? Night and day difference:  • Faster feedback loops  • Fewer misunderstandings  • Stronger client confidence  • They told us: “It feels like we’re in the same building — not across the globe.” 💡 What We Learned:  • Time zone empathy is underrated  • Being available in real-time boosts trust more than perfect documentation  • Culture is built in the small moments — like saying “good morning” at their morning If you’re serving clients in different regions, consider this: ➡️ It’s not just about being available, it’s about being aligned. #RemoteWork #ClientExperience #JapaneseClients #CrossBorderSuccess #TimeZoneMatters #B2BLeadership #WorkCulture #TeamWins