Category: Business Insights

As more and more companies expand globally and source employees from around the world, working in different time zones is becoming increasingly common. Working with clients and employees in different time zones can be a challenge. It also requires making some changes to the way you think about conducting business. If you’re new to international business, this may take some time to get used to, especially when it comes to remembering everyone’s current time zone. Here are some tips and tools to help.

Benefits of Working in Different Time Zones

Multinational companies and large enterprises often have office bases in more than one country or location. This helps them grow their geographic coverage and sell to more customers across the globe. Even small businesses are trying to break out of geographical boundaries and increase international sales. So, why work across multiple time zones? Here are some benefits of expanding your company and working in different time zones:

• Grow as an international business.
• Establish a local presence for your business in multiple locations.
• Improve business awareness and visibility.
• Make it easy for global customers to connect with your business for sales or assistance.
• Adopt a Follow the Sun model for global customer support.

Tools for Working in Different Time Zones

There are many services and tools available to make it easy for businesses to work across time zones and countries. These services and tools help improve communication, productivity, and collaboration:

• Call forwarding and time-based routing to route customer calls coming from across the time zones.
• Time zone trackers (more on this below) to be aware of different time zones.
• Virtual voice and video communication tools to communicate effectively.
• Project management software to track projects and tasks and support team collaboration.
• Customer relationship management systems (CRMs) to keep track of customer information.

Besides using these tools and services, what can your business and teams do to make working in different time zones easier?

Working in Multiple Time Zones: Best Practices

Let’s looks at the best practices you and your teams should pay attention to when working across different time zones and dealing with global customers:

1. Mind the Time

Make the most of the clock features on your mobile phone or tablet. If you have employees or clients in multiple geographic locations, set up a world clock for each of them so you can see at a glance what the time is wherever they are.

2. Set Time Zone Boundaries

Each time you begin working with a new employee or client in a different time zone, discuss issues that may arise because of time differences. This is particularly important when arranging meetings, setting deadlines, and any other time-sensitive communications. You will need to decide whether to book the dates and times in your zone or theirs.

3. Be Considerate Of Time Differences

If you’re working with clients or employees in a time zone that is very different from yours, show some consideration. Don’t book meetings or set deadlines that are very early in the morning in their time zone unless they specifically request that. Bear the same thing in mind when you are texting or calling people.

4. Keep Communication Channels Open

If you are rarely going to meet with your clients or employees in person, it’s important to maintain regular communication. Otherwise, they will begin to feel left out of the loop. Schedule a Skype or Facetime call now and again so that your communications don’t become too depersonalized.

5. Offer 24/7 Customer Support

If you own an online company and provide products, services, or both and your reach is global, your customers will need 24/7 access to your customer service team. If you’re a small business and don’t have a call center, an easy and affordable way to get around is with international call forwarding. You can give your customers virtual, toll-free international numbers that are local to them, and the calls will be forwarded to the number of your choice at various times of the day.

Related: 5 Ways to Leverage Time-Based Routing for Global Expansion

6. Maintain Realistic Boundaries

Although it may be dinner time in your time zone, it might be breakfast time in your client’s region. Although you may be gung-ho about working 24-7, not everyone else can handle that kind of rigor, especially if they are part of a different culture. Remember that your employees and clients may have family responsibilities, and it is important to be reasonable with your expectations.

Tools for Managing Time Zones

Here’s a rundown of some tools and apps that can help you manage time zone differences.

World Clock Meeting Planner: Things can get tricky when you’re trying to schedule a meeting with three different people, each of whom is located in a different time zone. But it doesn’t have to get too confusing. This tool will let you pick a date and plug in your location and the locations of your clients. The app will then generate a series of suggested times that may be feasible for your meeting. It even color-codes the times into sleeping, non-working, and working hours to clearly find a suitable time for everyone involved.

Spacetime.am: Slack has become one of the most popular cloud-based collaboration tools available today. If you are one of the 3 million users, you might want to add Slack bot Spacetime.am to benefit your whole team. Each member of your group can add their location and schedule their work hours so everyone can see who is available online, when, and for how long. This tool also allows you to arrange meetings and automatically adjust the time zone to suit each user.

World Time Buddy: This tool has a three-fold application; it converts world clocks and time zones and can schedule meetings. You can plug in numerous locations, and each time you revisit the site, they will load up. The neat color-coding system helps you keep track of business hours and where they sync.

Every Time Zone: If you’re looking for a tool that can keep track of your time zones with a pleasing and easy-to-use overlay, this is the one. Wherever in the world you and your clients are, Every Time Zone makes it easy to see the location and the time and how they correspond.

Time Zone Converter: When you need a simple tool that quickly converts the time across any time zone, this is a great choice. It’s a great app for people who are constantly making business trips all over the world.

24 Time Zones: This app’s colorful interactive world map makes it easy for users to see where in the world it’s time for business and where it is nighttime. Just click on a city to see the time there.

Time.is: Designed for time zone management, this tool displays the atomic clock, which can be set for any time zone in the world. Other useful graphics accompany the clock. It’s also a good app for telling if your computer’s clock is slightly off.

Time Zone Abbreviations: Are you familiar with AEDT (Australian Eastern Daylight Time), CAT (Central Africa Time), and PYT (Paraguay Time)? Time zone abbreviations can be confusing, especially when you come across one you haven’t seen before. This tool provides a list of all of them, so you can easily look them up and avoid confusion. Now you won’t get mixed up between British Summer Time and Bangladesh Standard Time.

With more than 24 global times zones, it can be difficult to keep up with everyone if you’re conducting business internationally. Following these tips and using the suggested tools can help you keep your time under control.

Being active in your trade involves quite a lot these days. Pursuits such as continuing education and constant networking can really take a toll on the average professional, and conferencing may seem like one of these time-consuming activities. However, when done the right way, participating in regular conferences offers a return on your investment that makes it ultimately worthwhile.

A conference – also known as a trade show, seminar, or convention – often seems like a waste of time and resources. This is especially true if you spend a few days out of the office and shell out revenue for plane tickets, hotel reservations, and meals. Sponsors of conferences also set aside budgets for marketing materials. But you should know that if you have attended conferences in the past and have seen little to no results, you might be attending the wrong types of conferences. Read below to learn how you can purposefully choose a trade show to reach your business goals.

Choosing the Right Type of Professional Conference

There are many different types of events out there, and millions are planned on an international level every year. Workshops, for instance, are focused on educating professionals, while a consumer show is open to the general public. Not every event will be beneficial for your company, however. Here’s a list to guide you through the decision-making process.

• Business goals – Before you begin searching for events this year, ask yourself these questions: “What do we want to get out of this conference? What are our goals?” For instance, you might be looking to generate new leads or meet new vendors. By keeping your ultimate goal in mind, it is easier to pick which will be best for you.
• Cost – Add up the total cost of attending the event, and then consider your potential return on investment. If gaining just one or two new customers covers your cost, then it might be worth your time to go.
• Attendees – Who is your target audience, and will they be in attendance at the event? For instance, if you are only looking to meet C-level executives, then an academic networking event is not necessarily the best fit.
• Speakers and topics – Make sure that any topics covered are relevant to your field. It won’t do you much good to attend an accounting seminar if you’re in the auto industry.
• Networking opportunities – Some conferences will have events specifically for down time and social activities. You need to decide whether or not these can be used as time for connecting with other professionals.

How to Prepare for a Professional Conference

Even if a conference lasts through a long weekend, it can still fly by pretty quickly. This is why planning everything ahead of time is absolutely essential.

This includes making the right travel arrangements. Consider reservations for hotel rooms, rental cars, and transportation. Sometimes conferences will give you a discount on specific vendors, so it doesn’t hurt to give them a call and ask. Because there will be hundreds of other attendees, you want to make sure you have all the accommodations in place beforehand. Otherwise, you will waste valuable time.

Right before you travel, gather all of the necessary travel documents and confirmation numbers. These should all be in one place for easy access. This is especially true when traveling with a team of other people.

Pack accordingly. Since you will be on your feet for most of the events, bring a pair of comfortable shoes for walking in. If the weather is cold, bring a few layers of clothing. Extra phone chargers and small snacks also come in handy. Just be sure to make a list of everything that needs to travel with you so you won’t run into surprises if something necessary is forgotten.

When it comes to the actual seminars, are you prepared to promote your business? This is a very common mistake for conference attendees. When a potential customer is interested in your products or services, and you don’t have anything to show them, this can cost you revenue in the long run. Instead, print out additional business cards and marketing materials like brochures (if relevant). Most companies order promotional items like keychains and pens ahead of time. Keep business cards with you at all times, because you never know when you will run into a new opportunity.

By the way, don’t forget to follow up with new connections as soon as the conference is over! Gather their workplace email, phone number, and website if possible. There are many opportunities to sell to a potential lead by offering a special discount simply because you met in person at a seminar.

How to Make the Most Out of a Professional Conference

Gain visibility with active participation. Become a presenter, facilitator, or volunteer for just a few hours. Organizers are always looking for an extra set of hands to help. This is a proven way to strengthen professional relationships and get in front of your target audience.

Our next tip is to make sure to choose the sessions that will benefit your business the most. There are many different types of sessions, ranging from skill-building to simple meet and greets. Each type of event will have a host of different attendees, so plan your time wisely. Ideally, your agenda should be fairly full. However, if you need to take a quick break away from the crowds, plan a time for rest during the “less busy” hours of the conference.

Finally, participate in the conference through popular social media channels. Major attendees and speakers will already have Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn accounts, so you can follow and connect with these accounts before the conference even begins. Have your social media coordinator write about the event and make several announcements about your attendance. This helps build excitement for the event.

Additionally, conferences should have a designated hashtag that everyone can use. For example, this year’s popular Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has the official hashtag #CES2018. Be sure to take plenty of photos and use this hashtag when you post them. Hundreds (or even thousands) of people will potentially view the hashtag, so your account will most likely get noticed!

Working at a desk all day long does not seem physically taxing at first. You are only sitting, right? Yes, but sitting for hours at a stretch comes with its own share of drawbacks. And we all know, being sedentary is far more dangerous than being active. It eventually leads to our bodies being incapable of performing important physical tasks.

With virtual offices on the rise and an increasing number of people choosing to work from home, a vast majority of employed people now spend their days hunched over a desk in front of a monitor. The result? Nearly 80 percent of Americans suffer from lower back pain, stiff neck, and other joint pain because of a sedentary lifestyle. Even when you exercise every day for an hour or two, the long hours spent at a desk can still be detrimental.

According to a study, spending eight to 12 hours sitting down daily can lead to high rates of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Considering there are millions of people who go through decades of their life in this scenario, the findings are alarming.

But all is not hopeless. It is possible to survive long hours working at a desk if one is willing to add a little change in the routine. These following tips help counteract the negative effects of a sedentary job.

Pick the right chair

More often than not, the reason for lower back pain is using the wrong chair. The chair that you use at home or the office may be either too low or too high, causing you to strain your neck as you look at the monitor. The remedy? An ergonomically designed chair that’s just the right height to the desk.

You might need to try out a few different chairs to find the perfect one, but once you do, it may be the answer to your aches and pains.

2. The right desk and monitor height

Once you have found the right chair, it will be time to adjust the height of your desk and the monitor. Most of the time, a desk that is either too low or too high, can cause aches and pains. Make sure you are looking straight at the monitor and not bending or hunching over the desk.

You don’t need any fancy equipment; just placing your computer atop a few books should do the job.

3. Use a standing desk

Counter the debilitating effects of prolonged sitting by getting a standing desk. Research shows that you can burn up to fifty extra calories every hour just by working at a standing desk, instead of sitting down. Although it doesn’t seem like a big deal, standing actually helps improve your posture and strengthens your legs.

Considering the amount of time we spend sitting, using the same time to stand will burn so many more calories. Adjusting the height of your monitor is all you need to do.

4. Get up and walk

While sitting and working at a desk for long hours, we often lose track of time. We forget to get up and walk at frequent intervals, leading to stiff neck, joint pain, and backache. Whether you work from home or from an office, it is important to get up and walk around to avoid muscle stiffness.

To make sure of this, implement the use of regular reminders via apps on your phone or computer that will remind you every couple of hours to leave the chair and walk around. Going for a walk during your lunch break is also a good way to keep active and loosen your muscles.

5. Walk or cycle to work

Cars ruin our health more than we realize. If you commute to and from work daily, you may spend more than two or three hours sitting down every day. If possible, walk or try to bicycle to work sometimes to counteract the negative effects of sitting down. Both cycling and walking are great exercises for the body, and if your office is close by, ditching your car for your bike is a great way to save gas and incorporate a workout into the routine.

6. Exercise while watching TV

Instead of sitting and watching TV on a sofa, bring your treadmill out of retirement and place it in front of the television so you can use that time more constructively (and enjoyably) while watching a fantastic show. This will make sure that you get to watch TV only when you are walking, maximizing your time while taking care of your body.

If you don’t have exercise equipment, walk around the room or march in place while watching TV. Not being a couch potato will not only keep you active but also reduce your chances of cardiac problems.

7. Schedule a weekly walk or hike

After working at a desk the whole week, schedule a family walk or hike during the weekend. This is a fantastic way to keep yourself active and help your muscles relax after a sedentary week. It’s also an ideal way to spend some quality time with your family.

The average American is highly accustomed to sitting down. In fact, our bodies are trained to be seated – while eating, watching TV, and working. Even if you exercise every day, sitting long hours at a desk can negate all the benefits of exercise. For some perspective, there is a rural village in China known as the Longevity Village where people live up to a hundred years on average because of their lifelong active habits.

You don’t have to go to great lengths to be able to lead an active lifestyle. You can incorporate subtle changes in your life to balance out the harmful effects of a sedentary job. You may not be able to change the nature of your work, but you can always change the way you work.

Adjusting your desk and chair, walking around every half hour, and incorporating regular exercise into your work week and weekends are excellent ways to survive long hours working at a desk.

Time and again you read about the many benefits of team building and why it matters in the modern workplace. These may seem like frivolous activities, but there is actual data to prove otherwise. In fact, when team building exercises are regularly incorporated into an office environment, especially ones that include problem-solving, communication, and decision making, you create truly engaged employees and teams who find purpose in their work.

These are the employees who contribute to your ultimate success and end up boosting employers’ bottom line. And this isn’t just because they’re more productive. From a recent Gallup poll, “Teams that work together well (teams in the top 25%) incur lower healthcare costs.” This is likely connected with other studies that show how sitting in a chair for more than 8 hours a day has a direct negative impact on health.

Instead, separating long working hours with team building exercises can give employees a chance to take the breaks they need and “refresh.” If you want to reap some of these amazing benefits for your team, here’s how to get started with team building exercises at work.

When (and How) to Start

When: We’ll start by saying that every employee has their own work schedule and personal priorities. It’s best if you, as a manager, try to work around their time and not cause unneeded interruptions in workflow. That being said, try to get a majority to agree to a time and day that works best for them, and try to schedule activities in advance so no productivity is lost. For example:

• Every Wednesday during lunch

• Every other Friday at 1 pm

• Every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 am

How: To set up team building exercises, you can assign individuals to groups. Every time the group meets, you can choose to “switch it up” by dividing them a different way. For instance, splitting up groups by department or floor. Switching groups or partners frequently and randomly helps you avoid office “cliques” afterward.  

Finally, make the time enjoyable. Your office space may allow for couches and more comfortable seating than desk chairs. Bring food and beverages. Share a meal or even a small snack. The success of this project is entirely dependant on the participants, and if they’d rather be at their desks working, then everyone is missing the point.

Workplace Clubs and Sponsored Teams

This isn’t so much a team building “exercise” as it is a weekly gathering for discussion. Clubs and teams are a great way to promote team building, however, especially since they are voluntary and all participants want to be there. Employees can choose a club by interest (books, photography, Yoga, knitting, volunteering, etc.) or by sport.

If your company chooses to sponsor a league by paying their registration fee, your brand can be advertised on team t-shirts or sweaters. Popular sports include basketball, bowling, soccer, or running. Partner with local charities for marathons and half marathons to raise money or awareness for a cause they feel close to.

Egg Drop

This is a team competition and a fun icebreaker for groups just getting to know each other. First, you will need at least two teams of people. Each team is given one raw egg and random office supplies to work with.

Office supplies could be anything, including paper, tape, utensils from the break room, straws, pens, or rubber bands. Once the supplies are distributed, start a timer for 20 minutes. The teams have that much time to build a contraption or package that would help protect the egg from an 8-foot drop. When the timer goes off, take all of the packages and one by one, drop them 8 feet from the ground. Teams with unbroken eggs will be declared the winner!

Two Truths and a Lie

This game allows co-workers to know each other better on a more personal level. First, the entire group starts out by sitting in a circle. Each person will take turns telling two true facts about themselves and one lie, in any random order. However, they cannot reveal which is a lie.

After sharing, everyone else must “vote” on which statement they believe is a lie. If they are right, they can have one point. After every person in the circle has had a turn, the person(s) with the highest number of correct guesses, or points, wins.

There is also another version of the game Two Truths and a Lie in which the statements are written down on pieces of paper. Once they are all written down, everyone in the group must “mingle” for 20 minutes while to try to figure out who is lying. Or they can spend time convincing others of their own lie. When the conversations are over, then the voting can begin.

Scavenger Hunt

This can be an individual or team challenge. While it is possible to conduct a scavenger hunt in the office, it’s best to try this outdoors since there may be some running involved. Make a list of tasks for each person or team to complete within a limited time frame. They should remember to bring their smartphones because they must snap a photo of someone from their team completing the task. The tasks could be as silly as you want, such as “Give a stranger a high five!”

Once the list is checked off, everyone can meet back at the office to view the photos if they wish. Points are awarded for each list item, so the more difficult the task, the more likely they are to win.

Drawing Back to Back

This is an interesting game of interpretation. Have two people sitting back to back in their office chairs. One person will be given an image or picture, and the other person will have to draw it with a pencil and paper. They can’t look at the image, though – their teammate in the other chair must describe it for them. Set up a timer to keep the game moving fast. At the end of the round, it’s interesting to see how the picture has been interpreted.

Scammers have a history of buying local and 800 phone numbers, using free Google numbers, and pirating phone numbers to conduct fraudulent verifications and other scams. The following article discusses the applicable Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation, telephone verification, two different legal apps for spoofing telephone numbers, a process known as orange boxing, guidance on scams from the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and additional information on avoiding scams.

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Consumer Guide

Spoofing is the deliberate falsification of information transmitted on caller ID displays. However, blocking a number is not spoofing. The federal regulation governing spoofing is the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009, which prohibits the transmission of misleading caller ID information in instances that will:

• Defraud
• Cause harm
• Wrongly obtain anything of value

Illegal spoofing can result in penalties of up to $10,000 for each violation.

Under this regulation, telemarketers are required to transmit or display their telephone numbers or that of the entity on whose behalf they are making the call. Furthermore, if possible, the caller should display the name of the company for which it is selling products or services. They must also display the telephone number that people can call and request the cessation of calls.

FCC Citation for Scamming

In June 2017, the FCC issued a citation to a Miami individual and his associated companies for violating the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2009. The proposed fine is $120 million based on 80,000 calls, which the FCC can verify. The FCC alleges that the scammers made 96 million illegally spoofed calls. “Neighborhood Spoofing” was the technique used by the scammers whereby the caller ID displayed the area code and first three digits of the recipients’ telephone numbers. Consequently, the recipients think the calls come from a neighborhood caller.

Telephone Verification

Telephone verification is a process where a website calls a consumer on their phone to verify their identity. Other names for this process are Phone Verification, Automatic Call Back Service, and Verification Service. Here is how it works. When a person makes a request to a website, that site automatically initiates a call or a text to the person’s phone that contains a randomly generated PIN. Upon receiving the PIN, the person enters it on the website, verifying their identity. However, as shown in the next two sections, spammers can use this process to get information from unwary persons.

Account Verification Scam

If an account holder has a phone tied to their account in the event of a forgotten password, and the scammer knows the victim’s email address or credit account number and their phone number, the account verification scam works as follows.

1. The scammer initiates a password reset on the victim’s account and requests the sending of a verification number to the victim’s phone.
2. The scammer sends a text to the victim posing as the email or credit provider saying, “We have noticed unauthorized activity on your account. Please respond to this text with the verification number being sent to your phone.”
3. If the victim responds with the verification number that they subsequently receive, the scammer will have access to their account.

Double-Digit Google Phone Scam

People that have posted classified ads with their phone number should be wary of this scam. Scammers use it to maintain their anonymity with Google Voice numbers. Since Google requires a valid phone number to be associated with new Google Voice numbers, the scammer picks a victim from published ads and sends them a text. The text may say, “I am interested in your ad.” Text back when you’re ready to talk.” When the scammer receives the response, he or she calls Google Voice and specifies the victim’s number as the link to the new number. Google Voice responds with a double-digit verification code. The scammer then texts the victim saying, “I am on a Google Voice line. When you receive a call, enter the double-digit code to connect.” If this happens to you, do not hit the code.

SpoofCard

SpoofCard is a mobile phone app that changes the caller name and phone number that displays on outgoing calls. The SpoofCard website claims that it works on any cell phone. Your identity is anonymous using SpoofCard caller ID spoofing. Users can also get downloadable recordings of their spoofed calls. In addition, calls can go directly to voicemail making receivers think they missed your call. SpoofCard has a feature to change your voice to a man or woman, or it can add background noise to disguise your identity. SpoofCard also sends anonymous text messages. The following table shows rates for SpoofCard packages.

SpoofTel

SpoofTel is another company that provides spoofing services. Users of the service must first establish a SpoofTel account. Use the spoofing service either through the SpoofTel website, the SpoofTel app, or by calling 1-866-SPOOF-ID (1-866-776-6343). To place a call follow these steps.

1. Log into your account.
2. Enter your telephone number in the top field.
3. Enter the receiving telephone number.
4. Enter the desired display number on the receiver’s display.

The features provided with the SpoofTel account are as follows.

• Short Message Service (SMS) Spoofing and SMS history
• Spoof Fax and Fax History
• Voice Alteration – use higher pitch for female voice or lower pitch for male voice
• Answering Machine Feature – If an answering machine answers the call, SpoofTel can send an uploaded message automatically.
• Auto Redial Option
• Time Limit for Calls
• Call Back URL

SpoofTel offers two different apps, a desktop app, and an iPhone app. The iPhone app requires a jailbroken phone or compatible device. Jailbroken refers to the practice of removing restrictions that Apple places on a device’s operating system.

The cost for caller ID spoofing is $0.10 per minute. SMS costs $0.50 per message. Voice changing costs $0.25 per call. Recording a call costs $0.50 per call. The use of soundboards is free.

Orange Boxing

Orange boxing is a term for call ID hacking. An orange box emulates a caller ID signal to spoof the caller ID display. The following three methods accomplish this emulation.

• A tape recording of a real caller ID signal
• A software program to generate a caller ID signal
• A hardware device that generates the caller ID signal

Follow these steps to use the orange box. First, make the call and wait for an answer. Then, send the caller ID signal. The orange box can also send a caller name and falsified date and time. When using an orange box, the answering phone displays the actual caller ID before receiving the spoofing caller ID signal. This limits the usefulness of the orange box.

Better Business Bureau (BBB) Advice for Dealing with Scammers

1. Do not send money to persons you have never met face-to-face.
2. Beware of unsolicited emails, and do not open links or attachments in them.
3. Question everything that you see.
4. Purchase online using only secure transactions.
5. Be cautious of people that you meet online.
6. Refrain from sharing personal ID information such as banking and credit card information, your birthdate, and your social security number.
7. Avoid acting under pressure.
8. Make all payments using secure, traceable transactions.
9. Whenever possible, work with local businesses that have proper identification, licensing, and insurance.
10. Be cautious when sharing personal information on social media.

Related: How to Prevent Your Numbers from Being Flagged as Spam or Scam Likely