Going global is the norm for a growing startup which often translates to your business operating 24/7.

Working with people and customers in the same time zone comes to us naturally. They go to sleep and get up at the same time as us, but working with people in another time zone is bound to present numerous challenges that may affect the workflow. On a given day, you might start your workday in the office, while your overseas colleagues might be done for the day.

One of our global clients with offices in Israel and the U.S. shared the following: “Our R & D center is in Israel, but our sales and marketing are in California.  Israel is 10 hours ahead of the U.S. so when my workday begins, the U.S. team is already getting ready for bed. When I’m nearing the end of my day, and I want to schedule meetings with the stateside team, they are sleeping. The reality is that one side is always having to either work very early or very late if we want to have a transatlantic meeting.”

A number of common challenges transatlantic teams face:

• One team makes decisions while the other is sleeping.
• Work-life balance may be affected when one team has to accommodate the other team’s working hours.
• Working with stateside end customers will necessitate working very late hours.
• Let’s add to the basket of challenges the non-synchronous work week. The Israeli work week is Sunday-Thursday whereas the U.S. work week is Monday-Friday.

All these challenges cause communication gaps, mixed messages, frustration, lack of collaboration and ultimately disrupt productivity. Furthermore, reduced time impacts simultaneous collaboration, which has an impact on the speed of customer service driven companies.

Here are seven tips for conquering the time zone challenges.

1. Agile communication is the key – Companies need to make sure that transatlantic teams which are interdependent stay connected. Ensure both synchronous and asynchronous channels of communication.
2. Be mindful of communication gaps – Although communication gaps may derive from language and cultural differences, time zones contribute to communication break-ups. Identify the gaps before they lead to miscommunication snowballing.
3. Create a culture of accountability – When teams are not synchronized on roles and responsibilities, trust will be broken. Transparency and accountability are the keys to maintaining a trusting and efficient working environment.
4. Cultural differences –When two different cultures interact, they may face differences in their work styles and how they share information. Focus on building a “one-team” culture where everyone is aligned.
5. Resolve conflicts – Conflicts in the virtual environment tend to escalate fast. Develop systems to quickly identify and reduce conflicts.
6. Meetings at odd hours – There will always be meetings at odd hours, the key is to use a rotation system whereby you avoid the same people always having to join at a non-working time.
7. Meeting participation – Invite only “necessary” participants to attend meetings. An optional good practice is to record the meetings for those unable to attend.

Conclusion: Making small changes in meeting schedules and communication channels can drastically improve the company culture, productivity, engagement, and trust.