Chapter10: HowtoWorkinDifferentTimezones 104 6ConsofRemoteWork,andHowtoOvercome Them Even if you’ve never stepped foot in a “traditional” workplace, TV shows like “The Office” paint a grim picture: Endless meetings, random interruptions, anddroningwatercoolerchats.Thosemaybeexaggeratedstereotypes—and traditional offices do have some redeeming qualities—but they’re universal, nonetheless. Remoteteamsneedtheirownconventionsandtools,too,tomakeeverything flowsmoothlytogether.Whiteboardsandcorkboardsareobsoleteinaremote environment, and even paper calendars and analogue clocks feel archaic. As Virtuali CEOSeanGraberwroteintheHarvardBusinessReview,“It’simportant to create formal processes that simulate the informal ways we touch base whenwearephysicallycollocated.” You’ll need new ways to make your work, well, work, so here are a few challenges the distributed teams at Zapier and other remote companies have faced while working remotely with a time shift, and how they overcome them.