Project Management in different time zones: Tools and Tips

Statistics from the Global Workplace Analytics report prove a significant increase in the number of remote workers and workers in distributed teams  in recent years (2018-2024). In 2024, many companies will realize the benefits of increased access to international markets and talent through the use of distributed teams.

How to manage an international team correctly?

Managing a remote team requires an organized approach: due to time differences and lack of coordination, misunderstandings often occur, leading to communication breakdowns. How to choose an effective way to motivate remote employees and how to properly manage a team with cultural differences?

It is important to understand that successful management of distributed teams requires:

1. Using project management tools;
2. Choosing the most appropriate development methodology;
3. Ensuring effective communication and comfortable collaboration;
4. Paying attention to all remote employees (depending on the size of the team, the level of personalization may vary, but each employee needs to know that they are valued).

Companies that effectively address these challenges not only increase their productivity and competitiveness, but also create the conditions for long-term success and reduce employee turnover.

What is a distributed team?

Distributed or remote teams are dynamic groups of employees working from different parts of the world, united by common goals and projects. Instead of a traditional office, their workspace is unlimited. They use special services, messengers and cloud storage to communicate with the team and work.

For remote teams to thrive, they need to collaborate and communicate with each other, as well as with all the systems and processes of the business, as effectively as if they were working in the same office. This requires a combination of modern technology and flexible, effective management.

What are the time-related challenges that can arise when managing an international team?

1. The most obvious challenge is the limited amount of time that all team members are available to work in sync. This makes it difficult to organize and hold meetings to discuss important issues, especially if this is necessary for effective work (for example, on Scrum projects).
2. Long waits for a response from colleagues slow down the entire development process and important decision-making.
3. Employees working in different time zones may face fatigue issues due to working non-standard hours. This can affect their overall well-being and lead to poor work-life balance.
4. If the team is not assembled correctly, cultural and linguistic barriers may arise in collaboration and communication.

How to avoid problems when managing a distributed team?

1. Determine the optimal time for overlapping working hours between different team members and use this time to hold joint meetings, discuss and make decisions.
2. Use communication tools that support asynchronous communication, such as Slack, Microsoft Teams and others. It is also important to maintain detailed documentation so that team members can access the necessary information at a time convenient for them.
3. Clearly define tasks, deadlines and expectations for each team member. This helps to avoid delays due to ambiguities and the employee will not have to wait for your explanations, wasting time.
4. Implement specialized project management tools: Trello, Jira, Asana and others. With their help, it will be easier to assign tasks, track progress, productivity and coordinate the work of the team, regardless of geographical location.
5. Conduct calls on the topic of cultural differences and best practices for working with international colleagues. Use gamification to create a comfortable environment at the meetup and liberate employees. This will help improve teamwork and reduce the risk of conflicts due to cultural differences.
6. Arrange regular meetings – this is especially important for remote employees. Ask for feedback: ask about their satisfaction with the project, interesting tasks, difficult situations, about the team. Do not forget to maintain employee motivation.

Tools for managing distributed teams

First, let’s define: what do we need to manage to maintain the success of the project? Communication, productivity, development, time, motivation and employee satisfaction. Let’s consider the tools needed for this:

• Project management services (Trello, Jira, Asana, Notion).
• Means for communication and video conferencing (Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom).
• Collaboration tools (Google Workspace, Microsoft Office 365, GitHub, GitLab, Confluence).
• Development methodologies (Waterfall, Agile, DevOps philosophy).
• Time trackers and productivity tracking (Toggl, Clockify, RescueTime).
• Forums and communities for sharing experiences (Stack Overflow, GitHub Community, PMI Community).

There’s no doubt that remote workers need powerful technology and robust business systems to get their jobs done. But their success depends most on flexible and responsive management strategies.

How do teams plan and coordinate?

Create a shared schedule
The first step in planning a team’s work in different time zones is to create a shared schedule that takes into account the working hours of all specialists. This requires careful analysis of time zones, the work schedules of each team member, and country specifics. Some project management tools provide functions for automatically adjusting times according to the time zones of all employees.

Use world time and calendars
For more convenient planning of meetings and coordination of tasks, we recommend using world time and specialized calendars. Such tools allow you to accurately determine the intersection of working hours and choose the optimal time for general meetings. This is especially important for ensuring convenience and minimizing the time spent coordinating schedules.

Clear boundaries
It is important to ensure a balance between the work and personal time of each employee. In Slack, for example, there is a function for setting your status – all colleagues see when they can write to you, and when your working day is over. It also works on vacation – employees will not receive messages from work while on vacation. It is very important to discuss these issues within the team and take this into account when forming a corporate culture.

How can you help employees avoid feeling isolated and disconnected from their colleagues when they are in different time zones?

• Host team meetings to develop communication within the team. And one-to-one meetings to discuss personal issues and support employees.
• Organize a virtual club of interests based on your employees’ preferences.
• Invite remote employees to offline events so that they can participate in the life of the company (if possible).
• Host online games or other team activities that will help strengthen relationships within the team.
• Conduct regular surveys to understand the mood of the team and identify potential problems.
• Create a system of bonuses and incentives for remote workers so that they also feel recognized and motivated.
• Encourage open communication and accessibility. Achieve a feeling of confidence among the entire team in the availability and openness of managers to resolve issues and provide support.

In short words,

Developing a culture of communication helps create a cohesive and productive team, regardless of the location of employees. Develop your corporate culture taking into account the needs of remote teams to achieve new heights and conquer new markets together.