Remote employee’s move causes challenges
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DEAR HARRIETTE: I am writing to ask for advice about how I should handle my employee moving out of the country while we remain a fully remote team. Obviously, she is allowed to work from anywhere she wants to, but scheduling has become a challenge because of the time difference. I’m struggling with finding ways to keep the team connected and feeling like a cohesive unit, and my employee moving out of the country hasn’t made anything easier. I need her to be more accommodating to the majority of the company and the time zone that we all work in. What should I do? — Time Difference
DEAR TIME DIFFERENCE: The remote workplace comes with a unique set of challenges — not the least of which is managing time zones. You need to talk to this employee about the realities that her move has had on the dynamic of the team and the ability to get work done. Point out the obvious: Now that the time zones don’t match up, there is less time for one-on-one interaction between her and her teammates. Explain that you need her to carve out more time to interact with them.
What some remote workers do is to vary their office hours to match the majority time zone as much as possible. That could mean that the person in the most remote time zone works a night shift in order to be available during what is a day shift for the majority of the team. There can be variations on that, where the person works one or two days per week for extended hours and otherwise reports with updates and deliverables electronically. You can design a schedule that accommodates your team’s needs and that allows for the one who is abroad to feel seen and honored if you work together.
DEAR HARRIETTE: I’ve always known I didn’t want children, but now that all of my friends have them, it’s hard to navigate the expectations and opinions that have become a part of our relationships. They never directly say that my life is less meaningful because I do not have children, but the subtle implications make it feel like that’s what they’re trying to convey. Is there any way to find peace in my decision to stay child-free and show them that my life has value? — Childless By Choice
DEAR CHILDLESS BY CHOICE: You may want to expand your friend base to include other people who do not have children. With them, there will be no expectations around your family status. Then, when you are around your friends with children, there may be less internal pressure on your part to react to the differences in your lives. Right now you are particularly sensitive on this subject, which could mean that you are reading judgment into their comments that may not even be there. Even if you are not, by choosing to spend time with people whose worldview is different from that of new parents, you should be able to create space to entertain a different type of conversation.
