Best Time to Schedule a Conference Call

When companies have employees working remotely that are based in a variety of different time zones, clear communication may seem difficult but it does not need to be.

Select the Correct Tool for Communication

There are a large number of communication tools available to help companies communicate with their remote employees. It is vital to select the correct tool for communicating. To discuss the progress of a project or for weekly or monthly meetings a conference call can be ideal. It can be much easier as the conversation is very likely to be much clearer than using an instant messaging service for instance.

Work the Same Days

Try to work, if it is possible with your remote colleagues that are based in a time zone similar to yours, or with those whose, working day overlaps with a large part of your working day. Similar to a traditional office setup, long drawn out communication can prolong meetings unnecessarily which can in turn, disrupt the productivity of a company.

Two to three hours would be the optimal amount of overlapping time to share each day with your remote employees. This would be more than enough time to communicate and discuss the important issues each day to progress with and complete the project.

It will not always be possible to find remote employees that share a similar time zone to you and another point to bear in mind is the need to be understanding of mealtimes and also school pickup times. Conference calls need to be organized to cater as best as possible to the needs of every attendee.

Develop and Agree on a Schedule

Developing and agreeing on a schedule with all employees based on a given timeline for the work will help to keep everyone on the same page regardless of how far apart they are based. A time zone should be selected such as Eastern Standard Time for instance and all employees should be informed of the chosen time zone.

Doing this would mean that when employees are informed that a meeting is being held at 11 am they would know that this would be 11 am EST. From this, they can work out the correct time for their location based on the time difference with EST. Some conference calls services have a feature that automatically informs the attendees of the start time based on the actual time zone they are based in.

There are many benefits to planning a time overlap between team members based in remote locations and when organized correctly along with the right communication tool is an excellent method for communicating the work and project requirements. Having an agreed schedule is an excellent way to make sure that meeting is not forgotten or missed especially when there's important information to share and discuss.

See how our conference call features can help benefit your conferencing needs.