Online Whiteboard Guide
How do you collaborate on an online whiteboard with people in different time zones?
Key Takeaways
- Establish Clear Communication Guidelines: Determine the best times for meetings and communication expectations.
- Set a Schedule: Create a transparent schedule that accommodates team members across different time zones.
- Use Time Zone Converters: Avoid scheduling conflicts by using time zone converters to coordinate meeting times.
- Assign Tasks with Deadlines: Provide clear deadlines for tasks to help team members prioritize their work.
- Record Meetings: Record meetings to allow those who couldn’t attend to catch up later.
- Use Online Tools to Enhance Collaboration: Integrate various collaboration tools with your online whiteboard to streamline communication.
- Be Respectful of Different Time Zones: Be considerate of team members’ schedules and avoid off-hours communication.
- Clarify Expectations: Ensure team members understand their responsibilities and the project’s goals.
- Use Visual Cues: Utilize colors, shapes, and images to enhance communication on the online whiteboard.
- Be Flexible: Adjust schedules or deadlines when necessary to accommodate team members across different time zones.
Introduction
Online whiteboards can be fabulous tools for teams to work when they’re far apart. However, it can come with loads of challenges when members of the team are working in different time zones. That’s why it’s crucial to understand how to work with people from different time zones. In this post, we’re going to review some tips in this regard and make successful cooperation from different time zones.
1. Establish Clear Communication Guidelines
When working with people in different time zones, it is essential to establish clear communication guidelines upfront. Determine the best time to hold meetings, when team members are expected to be available, and how to communicate urgent information. Make sure all team members understand the communication guidelines and follow them.
2. Set a Schedule
To ensure that all team members can collaborate on the online whiteboard, set a schedule that fits everyone’s time zone. To do so, you might need to schedule meetings at unusual times or adjust work schedules. Make sure the schedule is transparent and visible to all team members.
3. Use Time Zone Converters
A wonderful solution to prevent confusion among team members when they’re working in different time zones is to use time zone converters. This will make it easy to determine what time it is in different time zones and avoid scheduling conflicts.
4. Assign Tasks with Deadlines
When collaborating on an online whiteboard, assign tasks with clear deadlines. This will help team members prioritize their work and ensure that deadlines are met. Make sure that the deadlines are clear and that all team members understand them.
5. Record Meetings
When collaborating on an online whiteboard, a wise approach is to record meetings. This is perfect for those who were unable to attend as this way they can catch up later. Make sure that all team members are comfortable with the recording and that it is stored securely.
6. Use Online Tools to Enhance Collaboration
Except for online whiteboards, you can use other online tools to boost collaboration too. You can integrate different collaboration tools with your online whiteboard, including video conferencing, chat, and project management software. This integration helps you and your team members connect to each other with ease, no matter what their time zones are. Discover how online whiteboards can be integrated with video conferencing tools.
7. Be Respectful of Different Time Zones
If your team members are working with you from different time zones, the wise move is to be respectful of their schedules. Avoid scheduling meetings or sending messages during their off-hours. Keep in mind that it’s always difficult to equalize your life with your work, and this is even more difficult when you’re working across different time zones.
8. Clarify Expectations
When you collaborate on an online whiteboard with people in other time zones, the key point is to clarify your expectations. You have to make sure that the team vividly understands their responsibilities and knows well how to push the project forward.
9. Use Visual Cues
When collaborating on an online whiteboard, use visual cues to enhance communication. To do so, you can work with different tools such as colors, shapes, and images to help members of the team grab the information speedily. Look at our guide on how to use interactive whiteboard features for design thinking.
10. Be Flexible
Finally, be flexible when collaborating on an online whiteboard with people in different time zones. Your plans can’t always go according to your expectations. That’s why you may be forced into adjusting your schedules or deadlines to help members working across different time zones be more comfortable.
Final Words
Collaborating on online whiteboards with those who are in different time zones can be problematic, but it’s also an opportunity to work with diverse standpoints and ideas. Following the tips in this post enable you to collaborate purposefully and produce fantastic work.