#GLOBAL TIME ZONES HOW TO#
#GLOBAL TIME ZONES SERIES#

ItвЂ™s important that I respect each personвЂ™s or teamвЂ™s preference when it comes to the format and time of communication. Maneesh: On a typical day, IвЂ™m interacting with colleagues across the US, Europe, Singapore, Australia, and India. How do you work across different time zones and continents? I believe that in some industries where remote working wasnвЂ™t fully accepted as a standard, this latest lockdown situation will help everyone adopt a remote way of collaborating. Prior to this, in Europe, we would typically meet for lunch or dinner with our business partners-though naturally, this is no longer feasible-and IвЂ™m not seeing this as a barrier since everyone is in the same situation. I donвЂ™t feel that working remotely during COVID-19 has created any friction with our customer or partner relationships. My job includes several meetings a week with European customers and partners, as well as our internal GitHub meetings with teams in Europe and elsewhere. I believe our latest quarantine situation will significantly change the overall acceptance of working remotely long term.Д«assem: IвЂ™ve been working remotely for the last 10 years, five of which at GitHub. Personally, the biggest change that IвЂ™ve witnessed is that people now accept that itвЂ™s okay to have background noise, interruptions, and some connectivity issues. However, the COVID-19 lockdown has urged everyone to adopt a remote work strategy, and I must admit that connecting with customers and partners has actually become more efficient.Д®veryone is comfortable with video conferencing now and can work within the constraints presented by this pandemic, though this can certainly impact customers in different ways. At times, these initial conversations would require a significant investment in terms of time and coordination of logistics.

Maneesh: In the early days, face-to-face meetings were the typical standard for an initial connection with customers and partners. What is the impact of COVID-19 when it comes to remote working? ItвЂ™s essential to involve the right individuals as early in the conversation as possible to avoid wasting time and move the process forward more efficiently. One main way that teams often lose productivity is when an important conversation is limited to only two people and isnвЂ™t discussed quickly enough with other colleagues affected by the conversation or decision. In most instances, collaboration involves more than simply two people. The word collaboration comes from Latin and translates to working together. Taking the time to have open and candid conversations with your team-even in the midst of your daily work complexities-really helps.Д«assem: I agree with Maneesh. Staying connected to the team and the organization through company message boards, company-wide meetings, and internal team posts are all crucial. At the same time, itвЂ™s equally important to be mindful of remote employee loneliness and feeling isolated. Structuring your systems, processes, and work around this tenet helps build a strong work culture. How they work in the office should be the same experience as being remote.

The entire experience and engagement should be seamless. Maneesh: The most important thing to realize is that in order for an employee to be effective in their job, it shouldnвЂ™t matter if theyвЂ™re in an office or working remotely. What best practices have worked well for you?

#GLOBAL TIME ZONES HOW TO#

Bassem Asseh, GitHubвЂ™s Regional Vice President of Enterprise Solutions for EMEA, has 20 years of experience across the software industry, including software development processes, digital transformation, collaboration, and content management.Д«oth Maneesh and Bassem have built and managed very successful global teams through the years and share some great insight on how to work with dispersed teams around the world.

He loves working in strategic and operational roles across functions-all while raising two teenagers. Maneesh Sharma, the General Manager for GitHub in India, has a 20-year career in conceptualizing, building, marketing, selling, and supporting products.

#GLOBAL TIME ZONES SERIES#

Our remote work series continues with two GitHub leaders who oversee international functions. ItвЂ™s important to collaborate with your teams in ways that engage employees to work together as one team across multiple departments, languages, time zones, and cultures. Successfully managing a global team requires rockstar leadership and strong communication skills, coupled with cultural awareness and empathy.

Global time zones