By PR Director Anna Socrdos-Brooke
This July, I celebrated 10 years of working with Foster Marketing. Those years have taken me all over the world to visit clients, walk trade shows, attend conferences and regularly catch up with colleagues. My main base during all this time has been my home in England (first the south, and now the north) while most of the people I communicate with each day are in the U.S., five or six time zones behind me. This means that over the last decade, we’ve all had to adopt a successful, shared strategy of international communication.
I View the Past Decade in Three Phases
Phase 1 (2013-2019): The concept of remote work was in its infancy. Quite simply, not many people did it, and it was viewed by many as the ultimate luxury. I soon found out that the reality of working like this, at that time, was actually quite challenging. Technology and business cultures were not fully developed to support it.
I worked hard to find ways to communicate regularly and effectively with clients and colleagues all over the world. I signed up for international call packages to make long distance phone calls from my land line more affordable. Skype was the go-to medium for my video call into Monday morning staff meetings in the States, but it still felt like a big ask to arrange a Skype call with clients. Recording calls was a headache, as was manual call transcription.
Eventually, WhatsApp came along, making it free and easy to communicate globally by text and share media. Viber became my preferred cellphone app for making free international phone calls. WhatsApp then began to offer video calling, and Viber became obsolete. Towards the end of this phase, the rise of Zoom and Microsoft Teams for video calls began to make international communications much, much easier.
Phase 2 (The "Covid Years," 2020-2021): The U.S. closed its borders to international travel in March 2020 for one year and eight months, finally opening them again in November 2021. During this time, the video call became king and completely changed mainstream business communication, both internationally and domestically. Fortunately, this was not new to Foster Marketing.
Phase 3 (From 2022 Onward): The present marks a period where there are no longer any significant technological or cultural barriers to international business communications. Working remotely or working from home, at least part of the time, is feasible and normalized like never before.
My Top 10 Tips for Success
However feasible remote work is today, it doesn’t come easy. Here are some of my Top 10 tips for success if you, your colleagues or your clients find yourselves in different time zones or even working remotely from the same time zone:
1. Choose a dominant work time zone, and think in it.
During my working week in England, I think in Houston time. I set my work computer to Houston time to make sure any meeting invites I send out are correct. Whether you’re in a different time zone permanently or temporarily, be prepared to make the mental shift and incorporate it into your lifestyle.
2. Work in chunks of time, not 9 to 5.
You need to live your daily life according to your own time zone, but you also need to make sure your work times overlap with when people in the other time zones are working. For me, this usually means working in chunks of time throughout the day and extending my work day into the evening. A 9 to 5 working pattern is not possible.
3. Commit to a flexible way of working.
There are perks to working in different time zones, including the ability to structure your day in a way that works for you, but there are also the drawbacks of working unsociable hours with late night (or early morning) meetings being common. Commit to taking the rough with the smooth and maintain a flexible approach to your availability.
4. Manage appropriate expectations.
Although it is important to remain flexible, make sure everyone is aware of your general personal schedule so they know what they can reasonably expect from you. If you draw the line at regularly taking calls during your night hours, or cannot attend to emails during certain hours of the day, make it clear that you need to work around these.
5. Be responsive.
When people cannot see you sitting at your desk in the office, it is easy for them to either forget about you or wonder what you are doing, if anything at all. Make sure to reassure people that you are not in bed all day or sipping cocktails on a beach during regular work hours. Regular check-ins communicate that you are available and working, just like they are.
6. Invest in reliable technology.
It is worth investing in dependable, high-quality technology since you will be depending on it so much. Make sure both your computer and phone can handle multiple participant Teams calls, so you can meet while on the road. Also make sure you have a strong connection to high-speed internet to avoid the frustration of dropped calls.
7. Choose your favorite meetings software and have a backup.
Microsoft Teams is the go-to meeting software these days, but it helps to have a backup plan and an awareness of other options on the market (Zoom, Google Meet, or WhatsApp video conferencing) in case there is an in-call issue with your primary one.
8. Switch the video on whenever you call someone.
If you hardly see anyone in person, maximize the time you can make eye contact and see each other’s faces whenever you can. This means not hiding away during video calls. Just a little bit of extra connection can go a long way in strengthening your working relationships.
9. Be mindful of cultural traditions and norms.
Every country has their own way of doing things. For example, they say the U.S. and the U.K. are two countries separated by a common language. But they are also separated by diverse norms, customs, holidays, work styles and general communication styles. Spend some time considering these differences and how best to be respectful of them.
10. Meet in person whenever you can.
Simply nothing compares to meeting in real life, so even though remote meetings are the new normal, don’t stop visiting and traveling to see people in their offices as often as you can. Not only does it improve overall business relationships, but it's also a whole lot more fun than sitting alone at your desk!
Whether in the United States or abroad, if you need marketing support, contact Foster Marketing’s international team of experts today. Call us on 281-448-3435, contact us online or connect with us on LinkedIn.
Foster Marketing's founder George Foster and Anna Scordos-Brooke celebrate her 10th anniversary at Foster Marketing with a 10-year-old bottle of wine in Lancashire.
While chasing down the next big article and traveling to meet with clients, Anna has landed some great stories of her own!