Yohan on Bridging Global Teams

Bonjour, hola, and hello from Brussels. I’m Yohan, the roaming product lead who spends more time in airport lounges than is strictly reasonable. Working with clients in Montréal, Nairobi, and Sydney means our day never quite sleeps. Timeforce became the translator we didn’t realise we needed.

Respect the Local Rhythms

Every region keeps its own tempo. Kenyan agencies like an early stand-up, while partners in Québec prefer a late-morning check-in once the school run is done. Instead of forcing one timetable, we set “quiet hours” in Timeforce so timers don’t ping colleagues while they’re eating tea or catching the tram home.

We also log public holidays directly on the project timeline. It may look belt-and-braces, but it stops me scheduling a kickoff on Diwali. I did that once. Never again.

Celebrate the Overlap

Some collaborators share barely two overlapping hours, so we stage the knotty conversations there. Reports, invoices, and briefings live in Timeforce comments the rest of the time. That way no-one wakes up lost – except me before the first espresso.

I adore sprinkling little cultural nods into updates: a quick “gracias” or “cheers” paired with a GIF. Silly perhaps, but it shows we’ve clocked who’s on the other side of the screen and clients often reply with photos of their team lunches, which absolutely makes my day.

Iterate the Playbook

Every quarter we host a retrospective that rotates between regions. This round Sam is steering; last time it was Andy with a shambolic yet charming playlist. We gather metrics – turnaround time, billable ratio, happiness emoji count – and adjust the playbook again. Somewhere in the shuffle we crept past fourteen thousand active seats, which still makes me blink.

Working globally isn’t effortless. Flights delay, accents mingle, and occasionally the Wi-Fi simply sulks. But when everyone sees their effort reflected in clean, honest hours, the trust stays strong. Timeforce gives us that shared footing, plus an excuse to swap snack recipes.