The Challenge and Advantage of Working Across Time Zones
- 6 days ago
- 3 min read
When I looked at my calendar last Friday, I realised how much work has changed.
Coaching conversations connected me to the USA, Colombia, UK, the Netherlands, France, and Austria, all in one day.
My mind and heart were genuinely expanded.
New ways of working. New technologies.
Thanks to being a team member of digital platforms, such as BetterUp and SparkUs, and tools like Calendly, scheduling happens seamlessly across time zones.
As a solopreneur collaborating internationally, I experience time zones as possibility.
But I also live in a household where late-night meetings and early-morning calls are part of entrepreneurship and corporate life. And through the leaders I work with, I see another layer of reality.
Time difference is no longer exceptional. It is normal.
The question is not whether we like it. The question is how we design around it.
Problem: Time Zones Without Shared Structure
From what I observe in leaders and professionals, the tension is rarely technical. It is energetic and relational.
💎 Energy drops when biological rhythms are ignored.
💎 Alignment weakens when handovers are not clear.
💎 Accountability blurs when ownership is not visible.
Time zones do not create confusion. They amplify what is already unclear.
Solution: A More Honest Perspective
I do not manage a 200-person remote team. But I continuously collaborate across borders and support leaders who do.
What I am learning, together with them, is this:
Global work requires more intentionality.
When structure is clear, something interesting happens.
One of the most powerful perspectives I have observed lately is this:
💎 The Asia team requests a report.
💎 The Europe team works on it while Asia sleeps, and vice versa
By morning, there is material ready for refinement and decision-making.
That is a 24-hour value cycle of initiation and progress.
In her book Remote Work Revolution, Harvard Business School Professor Tsedal Neeley explores how global teams succeed when communication becomes explicit, structured, and intentionally designed.
In a short talk about the book, Author Talks: Tsedal Neely on why remote work is here to stay and how to get it right she further explains why clarity must increase as distance increases.
3 reflections I personally find helpful:
💎 Flexible Energy Peaks
If global work is part of life; energy management becomes leadership. Early call? Recover. Late call? Adjust midday. Sustainability is strategic.
💎 Shared Visibility
Weather through dashboards, written follow-ups, or a simple one-page visual alignment board, clarity must be visible.
💎 Normalize the Reality
Instead of framing time zones as abnormal hardship, acknowledge them as structural reality of modern work. Resistance drains energy. Design restores it.
Global collaboration is the infrastructure of today. And I am deeply grateful to contribute to it from where I stand, sometimes early, sometimes late, always learning.
If you are navigating global work, as a leader, a team member, or an entrepreneur, perhaps the conversation is not about eliminating time difference, but about designing around it more consciously.
And if global collaboration is part of your responsibility, I would be glad to explore it together.
Warmly,
Dilek
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Official Collaboration Partners:
★ Lead Coach at the global coaching platform BetterUp based in USA.
★ Executive Coach and Trainer at SparkUs based in Turkey and Netherlands.
★ Impact Partner for coaching, training & facilitation projects at leadership experts Think Beyond Group based in Austria.
★ Leadership Coach at Percoms AG, based in Switzerland.
