How can you ensure remote team members are available during core hours?

Defining core hours can be a challenge, especially with international teams. I personally find it important to at least define the working hours in the calendar and ensure that the direct team is aware of standard working hours. If you are not available within the normal hours, as defined, that is fine but this should not be the day-to-day behaviour.

Respecting individual preferences works when you use human connection to build trust and confidence in each individual. A team member who knows that the other members have his or her back, who knows he/she is supported, and who knows that the others count on his/her contribution, will rise to the occasion. It's about building a culture of connection and belonging, where you want to give that little extra. In such a culture, the members will take into consideration what works for the other members and they will adapt accordingly.

To the annoyance of some remote workers, I think platforms like Asana, Trello, etc, can be very useful for all of this. As long as you don't overdo it and ask people to update every little task, you can easily use these platforms to check in and ensure progress is being made and people are on the same page about what is happening and what needs to be done.

Video conferencing helps to relay non-verbal cues that could be missed with strictly voice chats. Seeing someone who is uncomfortable or dismissive of an idea may indicate hidden knowledge about a previous attempt or prior work experience that would counter the planned course of action.

Feedback and support are essential to making remote or hybrid teams function. It's a fundamental human need to feel seen, heard, and valued, and feedback, acknowledgment, and celebrations do that. But so does recognizing struggles, and asking the team member in question what they need. A great way to create a culture based in human connection, is to allow for opportunities to share personal stories. Stories are a great way for teams to get to know each other, to realize that we're not so different after all, and to create relational energy. Taking a few minutes each week for sharing stories is a small investment for increased engagement and productivity.

Working across time zones and cultures can pose difficulties, particularly around work holidays. As part of a global business, even during holidays, coverage may need to be maintained. Just as with personal days, out-of-office delegations should be set and a responsible party identified. I've worked with employers in Europe who take a large part of August off and spent days trying to find who was responsible for making a critical decision during this time. It nearly resulted in a line shutdown and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue because EVERYONE was on vacation, and no one would respond until it was made clear that this would result in a line stoppage (and a response was received in 24 hours).