Managing Distributed Teams Across Time Zones

Working with teams spread across the world—say California, Seoul, and Ho Chi Minh City—means dealing with up to 16 hours of time difference. You can't manage that the same way you'd manage a co-located team. The goal isn't to fight the time zones but to build systems that work with them. That means moving toward an async-first culture and being intentional about the few hours of overlap you do have.

1. Default to Asynchronous Work

Meetings are expensive, especially when someone has to wake up at 3 a.m. to join. Async communication should be your default.

• Write Before You Meet. Document all proposals, background, and decisions in a shared space (like Notion or Confluence) before scheduling a meeting. That way, meetings stay focused on discussion and decisions, not catching people up.
• Use Video for Complex Topics. If something's hard to explain in text, record a quick Loom. It gives others the chance to pause, think, and respond thoughtfully.
• Threaded Chat, Not Real-Time Ping-Pong. Keep Slack or Teams discussions organized by topic. Define expected response times—say 12 hours—so no one feels pressured to stay online all night.

Async-first doesn't mean communication slows down. It means people can do their best work without constant interruptions.

2. Protect Small Overlap Windows

Some real-time contact is necessary for problem-solving and team connection. But those moments should be short, predictable, and protected.

For teams across PT, KST, and ICT, two short weekly windows work well:

• Tuesday 6 PM PT / Wednesday 10 AM Seoul / 8 AM Vietnam
• Thursday 6 AM PT / 10 PM Seoul / 8 PM Vietnam

These are the only times everyone should meet. Treat them as sacred—no side meetings, no reschedules. Keep them to one or two hours, focused on global sync or key cross-functional work. Everything else stays async.

3. Plan Regionally, Sync Globally

A single sprint planning session with three time zones is a bad use of time. Split it into regional planning and one short global sync.

• Each region plans their own sprint during normal hours.
• A 30-minute global sync (during the overlap window) covers only dependencies and blockers.

Keep the detailed estimation local. The global meeting should only clarify what connects one region's work to another.

4. Build Handoff Rituals

Good handoffs are what make async work actually work. They prevent projects from stalling overnight.

• Use a Simple Template:
• ✅ Completed
• 🚧 In Progress
• 🚫 Blocked (with next steps or owners)
• Post It at the End of Each Day. US team posts by 5 PM PT, so Asia sees it first thing the next morning.

When every team leaves a clear trail, no one wastes time chasing context.

5. What to Avoid

A few habits kill distributed productivity:

• Daily all-hands standups. Someone always pays for it with sleep. Use async summaries instead.
• "Quick Sync" calls. They're never quick when you span time zones.
• Instant reply culture. It burns people out and destroys async trust.

Final Thoughts

Distributed teams succeed when they're designed for it. Build around time zones instead of ignoring them. Prioritize async, protect your overlap windows, and make handoffs routine. The more predictable the system, the faster and calmer the team becomes.