When Soma Somasundaram needs to catch up with colleagues in Manila or Hyderabad, he consults his watch, mentally calculates the time difference from his office in Philadelphia, flips open his laptop and greets them using a webcam.
Most of the time, Mr Somasundaram, who heads research and development at Infor, a US-based technology business, finds managing remote teams via today’s virtual media works just fine. However, he is bothered by the attitude of some colleagues who schedule calls at hours that keep their Asia-Pacific counterparts working late into the night. “Accommodating others’ time zones is something, I’ve found, that a lot of people just don’t think about,” he says.
While technologies that allow managers to pick the best brains from anywhere in a global organisation and set them working together in cyberspace help companies to expand and improve career opportunities, there are downsides to the brave new world of cross-border working.