Ask HN: What timezone do you use in conversation with a distributed team?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=23299901

by montroser • 6 years ago

3 4 6 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

We are scattered around there world, originally with a core group on the west coast. So we kind of use PT + relative time, like...

"Let's sync about X at 1pm PT in ~3 hours"

Which works okay, but I don't love how it forces the non west coast people to do the extra time conversion step all the time. Not that that's so hard, but it is not so egalitarian as I would like to be striving for.

So we are wondering about switching to UTC in conversation. Has anyone tried that? Or used any tools that were actually effective at normalizing time references in conversation? How do you do it?

davismwfl2• 6 years ago

Our team is on the coasts of the US and all over India right now. Luckily India uses one timezone, but it is an oddity with a 30 minute offset instead of 1 hr. Anyway, in my google calendars I show both the IST and my local timezone so that while setting meeting we can easily tell people at the extremes what the time is. I also use the worldtimebuddy website (and Klok app on iOS) to show all the timezones so I can tell people the times when I am setting a meeting time. This way no one has to do the math. It takes 2 seconds to glance at the website or app and see everyones timezones and write it down or say it on a call.

What would be better is if we could add more than 2 timezones to google calendar, then it'd be easier. But still not hard. My rule is the place that has the bulk of the people is who gets the most favorable time for the meeting. That way if 4 people are in one TZ and one person in another, we inconvenience the one person, if anyone has to be, not the 4. For some meetings I have switched it up, when it is me and one other person I will alternate who does late vs early etc, so it is a shared burden. This helps the team all feel equal, regardless of title or position.

montroser2• 6 years ago

For scheduling meetings ahead of time, that makes sense.

Do you ever think it would be easier if you all just declared, "we only deal in UTC at this company" and then everyone would just get used to doing their own conversion? Or would that be more trouble?

davismwfl2• 6 years ago

No. I feel using UTC then means everyone spends mental energy on time conversions versus just the organizer doing a quick check and coordinating with the team. UTC for software is best, but I don't think it works well for people in general that are spread across timezones.

There are systems that exist like calendly that helps you solve one to one meeting issues. For example, it works great for interview scheduling when people are in different timezones, but for internal meeting and coordination process is better then automation IMO.

Process here is easier. Use google calendar to find 2-3 times everyone is available (at least internal people) and send them out, that is the fastest way if you aren't already on the phone talking to everyone. This way it only takes 1-2 communications at most to schedule a meeting. You have to bake timezone management and meeting process into the company culture, it is really important. Just like I always add 24-48 hours to any estimate when I know it involved me speaking with the team in India.

Last point, meetings should be avoided for things where a document can be created, and comments added to it for the communication. We use Quip, write up the details in Quip, ask everyone for feedback by a specific date/time and then you move forward from there. It stops a lot of unnecessary meetings and lets you do things faster. It follows the adage of slow down to go faster.

I've been leading remote teams since 1997, which started because we had people in India, Germany and the U.S. The struggles we ran into over the years were all solved by setting basic processes and building a culture around accountability to the process. One key is reducing unnecessary meetings and using documentation and comments.

montroser2• 6 years ago

Another potential bonus for UTC is that generally logs and database entries are in UTC, so when troubleshooting I imagine that could be one click easier if we're already used to thinking in that mode.

Ask HN: What timezone do you use in conversation with a distributed team?

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