Time Zones Might Matter More Than Distance

Much has been said and written lately about the problems of teams scattered all over the place. While distance does create all kinds of problems, it's usually overcome through technology. The problem, though, might not be space, so much as time. Many team problems are caused by time zone differences, rather than physical distance.

Why do time zones make such a difference? New research shows that time zone differences may cause more stress in working relationships than previously thought. In fact, trying to get a team to collaborate in real time across time zones may even be counterproductive.

Erran Carmel and Alberto Espinosa have done the research and discovered that there are many more problems working across time zones than many people thought. Among their discoveries--it's often easier to work alone than try to collaborate with someone whose body clock is set to a different schedule.

They asked several teams to participate in a project. Each team of two participants was given a single task: describe a map to the other person and ask him/her to draw it based on these communications. To simulate time zone differences, some pairs' work times overlapped completely; some partially; and some pairs did not overlap at all. Carmel and Espinosa measured production speed and accuracy to determine the team's performance.

Their study found that as workers overlapped less and less, the maps' accuracy decreased. The relationship of speed to time separation showed something very relevant to those working on international projects: speed declined when teams only overlapped slightly, but picked up again when there was very little or no overlap at all.

Think about just one example: it's 9 AM where you are and the day is full of possibilities. The problem is that the person you're brainstorming with has had a long day, faces an arduous commute and wants to get out of there as soon as possible. How's that working for you?

Here are just some of the reasons to stop and consider how time zones impact your work and your team:

• The human body clock doesn't change much. We're already asking too much of our bodies. We don't sleep enough and the times we work aren't necessarily coordinated with our natural rhythms. I'm a morning person, up at the crack of dawn so working with clients in the UK from my office in Chicago is not a big deal. Working with Australia, when I have to be sharp at 5 pm and my brain has packed it in, is another issue entirely. Even if we agree to work on Home Office time when we take the job, the cumulative effect of fighting our natural behaviors takes its toll.
• Resentment builds up over time. If one group is constantly at a time disadvantage, not only are they being asked to work when they're not at their best, but there are subtler messages being sent. The main one is "your time isn't as important as everyone else's". Many teams are now consciously setting meeting times that alternate between time zones so one group isn't constantly at a disadvantage. Shared misery is almost as good a team builder as celebration.
• Real life intrudes on work, like it or not. Kids need to be driven to school and picked up. Spouses insist on help with the chores. Someone might be much less willing to participate in a 7 pm conference call if they know the family is waiting outside the door tapping their feet impatiently. In some developing countries people can't just take a webmeeting from home, they have to go back to the office in the dead of night because they don't have decent equipment or Web connections.

Read more:

• Getting international teams to work together
• 4 Reasons timezones and language matter to international teams
• 4 Reasons managers need to commit to one-on-one calls