Work across multiple time zones

- I love how connected our world has become. It's easy for me in Salt Lake City to video conference with leaders in Dubai, companies in Australia, collaborate and work with employees in New York, and everyone around the world seems to have business dealings in China. The world truly has become flat. However, this cross-boundary connectivity has also created a risk for distraction. Switch-tasking, the constant switching of attention is the enemy of your ability to stay focused and do your best work.

And when you work with people on the other side of the world, you're opening yourself up to distractions at pretty much any hour of the day. Let's talk about a few things that we can do to maintain your time management and your sanity while working effectively with people in different time zones. First, when consistently working with people in different time zones, it's helpful to keep a clock of that time zone handy. A lot of phones have apps that allow you to show different time zones on your home screen or you can just simply buy a cheap clock, set it up to another time zone, and put it on your desk.

This awareness helps to create a little bit of sensitivity when you try to communicate with others. I have team members throughout the world and when I video conference with them and see that they have a clock on the wall set to my time zone, it helps me feel that they're aware and care about my needs. Second, when scheduling appointments with people in different time zones, I suggest you start by offering all appointment options in terms of the other person's time zone. Rather than making them try to figure it out, you do the work first to figure it out.

Not only does this show that you're aware of their needs, but it also goes a long way to reducing confusion. Third, if possible, find a consistent meeting time. Perhaps once a week where you connect with each other face to face or via voice. This is a good idea in general in any work place because it reduces switches in attention. A consistent recurring meeting has even greater value when working with people in other time zones because you're more likely to interrupt each other at inopportune times.

Last, create boundaries in your day. I sometimes refer to these as the start and finish lines of your work day, when work begins and work ends. When working with people in a different time zone, that may seem impractical yet it can be done often by having multiple start and finish lines to your day. For instance I might start work at 11 in the morning my time and go until six p.m. And then take a break from work from six until 10.

And then I might work again from 10 to midnight because those two hours overlap with my coworkers who are in a different country. Outside of those start and finish times, the morning until 11 and from six p.m. to 10 p.m., I want to remove distractions. I want to stop looking at email and keep myself disconnected from it. Why? Because giving myself a break from work and allowing myself to have time to relax or spend time with family will give me more energy and ability to be successful during the work hours that I've scheduled.

Working with people of diverse cultures in different time zones is a wonderful opportunity. You can make the most of this opportunity by establishing some simple boundaries.