What’s on my mind? Calling your mom, time zones and The Denver Nuggets

I remember my first week of work when I first moved to England.?I was getting used to an hour and 40-minute commute.?I was getting used to not speaking to anyone on the train.?I was getting used to sitting in the forward-facing seats so that I did not get “train sick”.?Most of all, I was getting used to not calling my mom on the way into the office.

When I lived in Denver, I would call my mom almost every day on my way to work.?She would be grabbing a coffee and I would be driving to the office.?I would put the phone on “hands-free” and my routine was to dial her up before I left my driveway and then hang up when I got to the office.?I got used to calling her even if I really did not have much to talk about.?I used her as a bit of a “life coach” on my morning commute and I took her advice “most” of the time as kids do ?? LOL!

When I moved to London, I had a seven-hour time zone difference.?If I kept this routine of calling her on my way to work – I would be dialing her up in the middle of the night (which I, unfortunately, did one time in Singapore as I was so messed up on what time zone I was in!).?So, I had to adjust.?I had to start calling her on my way home from work and be more aware of what she might be doing in her life as I would be calling her in the middle of the day.?I was no longer able to talk to her every day as both our lives got busy and the time zone difference made it impossible to have a regular call.

Over time, I learned to put three time zones on my Outlook calendar so that I would be aware of what time I was calling her.?I had two clocks in my kitchen – one in my time zone and one in theirs.?I bought a watch that would show multiple time zones and I started living with the daily responsibility of “finding the best time to call” as well as learning how to dial “international”?and use data networks and FaceTime to reduce cost.?My mom and I still talk at least once a week and although we don’t have a “regular” catch-up time, we have sort of figured out the best times to call.

This came to my mind this weekend as I saw my US home town team, the Denver Nuggets beat the Miami Heat in Game 4 and enter into Game 5 in the National Basketball Championship Finals.?Game 5 could be the game that names the champion and I really want to watch it.?

However, there is a problem. Time zone.?

If I want to watch it live – it means that I have to get up at 1:30 am tomorrow morning and then stay up until 3:30 am.?If I don’t watch it live, the result will be on the front page of every news outlet that I open my phone up to in the morning, ruining the fun and excitement of watching the game live.?It has been 47 years since they made the playoffs and the first time they have EVER made it into the NBA finals.?The team is so creative and innovative in how they play.??They are the essence of a high-performing team, with their star player Nikola Jokic “playing the game” rather than having a big ego and putting individual points on the board.?They understand how to “pass the ball” as a team to put themselves in a better position to score.?They inherently know when to “make the call”, like I have figured out with my mom – at the right time and in the right location to shoot the ball or enable someone else to do so.

I have had to make a personal decision – and I decided to pass the ball.?I bought my mom and dad tickets to the game and I will let them go and then live vicariously through them as they retell the play-by-play.?I will do my best to not read the headlines before I am able to watch the highlights.?Most importantly, I will be sending good luck their direction and my belief that they can win, because they have figured out the hardest thing for global teams to work – what time to call the shots and what zone to be in.

As a business serving 54 countries, it is so important to be respectful of time zones so that we are not calling people in the middle of the night, or asking them to work beyond normal business hours when they don’t need to.?If you work across time zones, I recommend putting your colleagues’ time zone in your Outlook calendar – it is very easy to do and a great tool to ensure you are mindful of the “zones” you have to work with so that everyone feels included and no one is always taking on the brunt of the early or late meeting.

I am often asked what is the hardest thing about running a global team and by far this is it.?Time zones.?They can make or break both an individual and a team.?I had to adjust to calling my mom in the morning when I went to work, I had to be aware of her schedule as much as mine.?If we do this for our colleagues, we will create the base of a high-performing global team.

Oh…. And GO NUGGETS, I will be dreaming of your win!