Alleviating the Chronic Pain of Time Zones

Cass PhillippsFailCon Founder@webwallflower

#officeoptional

The History of Time Zones

Time zones were actually invented to make business easier!

Time Zone Preparation

And they still can, with a little bit of preparation ahead of time.

Why Is This Important?

Empower your partners, employees, clients, and customers to show up to your meeting at

their best.

If you don’t mess up the easy stuff, you can spend your time tackling the hard stuff.

Ask Where Someone Is

Before setting a meeting, ask – don’t guess! Then find the time there.

Include Relevant Information

Always include your own time zone:2:00pm PT

Don’t include Daylight SavingsYou may just confuse people more.

Consider adding your city:2:00pm PT (San Francisco)

Or using 24h time, just to be safe:14:00 PT (San Francisco)

Stay One Step Ahead

Include their time zone, too:2:00pm PT (10:00pm BT)

Know What It Means For Them

Don’t propose a time that doesn’t make sense.Be Considerate!

Know Your Time Zones

What is a globally acceptable time?

8:00am PT (LA, San Francisco, Seattle)11:00am ET (New York City, DC, Miami)

5:00pm CET (France, Germany, Italy)8:30pm IST (India)

11:00pm CTZ (China)

Common Courtesy

Don’t just default to video calls. People may be at home…or in their PJs.

Dealing With Daylight Savings

Announce DST – email the day before, and post signs ahead of time.

Put a DST alert in your phone, reminding you to check calendar appointments.

Use iCal or gCal invites. They’ll adjust for you…sometimes…

Time Zone Tools

Check The Interwebs

EveryTimeZone.com

Or Simply Google “Current Time In ______”

Add a World Clock To Your Calendar

Google Calendar Settings Labs

Show More Time Zones In Your Cal

Google Calendar Settings

Show Time Zones

Recognize Holidays

Include international & religious holidays in your company calendar. Folks’ll be impressed

with your knowledge and consideration!

For Teams Spread Thin

Call in to a daily scrum (at a time good for everyone)

Ask if anyone needs to follow-up together after the meeting.

Ensure the team knows when everyone is working and respects that.

Be Prepared For Communication

Preparation – it’s not silly.

If you don’t mess up the easy stuff, you can spend your time tackling the hard stuff.

Arrive to every meeting at your best.

Thank You

Cass PhillippsFounder of FailCon@webwallflower