Poll: Do you adjust your work schedule to your clients' time zones? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you adjust your work schedule to your clients' time zones?".
This poll was originally submitted by Nicole Schnell
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, ... See more This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you adjust your work schedule to your clients' time zones?".
This poll was originally submitted by Nicole Schnell
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629 ▲ Collapse
| | | | Rebecca Garber 
Local time: 10:29
Member (2005)
German to English
+ ...
| We work with the time difference | Nov 22, 2008 |
Most of my agencies are in England or Europe, and I live in the US, Eastern Standard.
They like sending me short projects in their afternoon, which arrive in my morning, which I then return in my evening, and they have first thing the next day. Their clients are happy with the fast turn around.
Otherwise, I simply send longer projects the evening before they are 'due'.
Intelligent agencies/clients make the time difference work for them.
Because of the time diffe... See more Most of my agencies are in England or Europe, and I live in the US, Eastern Standard.
They like sending me short projects in their afternoon, which arrive in my morning, which I then return in my evening, and they have first thing the next day. Their clients are happy with the fast turn around.
Otherwise, I simply send longer projects the evening before they are 'due'.
Intelligent agencies/clients make the time difference work for them.
Because of the time difference, I don't bid on or accept 'rush jobs' that are sent in the European am to be completed by that evening. It's simply not possible to do a full day's work between 9 and 11am...
I don't get up early to match European hours. I have a family, and their schedule is mine. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | | | most of my clients are local or in my time zone | Nov 23, 2008 |
or maybe an hour behind...
only one or two are overseas, so when I get emails about jobs they get here at 6 am when I'm asleep. By the time I get back to them the jobs are often assigned. But it works out sometimes. Rush jobs from Europe can be kind of tricky, since 8pm their time means 3pm my time...so sometimes i have to say it can't be done!
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| Clients and we need to make good use of time zone differences... | Nov 23, 2008 |
Rebecca Garber wrote:
Most of my agencies are in England or Europe, and I live in the US, Eastern Standard.
They like sending me short projects in their afternoon, which arrive in my morning, which I then return in my evening, and they have first thing the next day. Their clients are happy with the fast turn around.
Otherwise, I simply send longer projects the evening before they are 'due'.
Intelligent agencies/clients make the time difference work for them.
I don't get up early to match European hours. I have a family, and their schedule is mine.
I agree with Rebecca that "Intelligent agencies/clients make the time difference work for them."
I have worked for clients from Europe and the US, and I have found at least a couple of clients / agencies who can succesfully "make the time difference work for them".
However, there are also the others who expect me to respond to an email sent in the middle of my night, within an hour!
Like Rebecca, I too have a family - and I need to get up in time to wake my sons up for school - and cannot afford to oversleep just because a client wishes me to work to European or (for me) worse, US times!
| | | | Oleg Osipov
Russian Federation
Local time: 17:29
English to Russian
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Yes, it is an advantage for either party to have a time difference as a window for scheduled delivery and more.
This works particularly well for clients in the US. Not a bad thing for them to wake up and have the job done.
Apart from doing global translations, I also do some secretarial work for a company in the US like writing letters to clients, contacting them by emails and phone, shipping fedex envelopes, etc.
Three-hour difference with European clients is... See more Yes, it is an advantage for either party to have a time difference as a window for scheduled delivery and more.
This works particularly well for clients in the US. Not a bad thing for them to wake up and have the job done.
Apart from doing global translations, I also do some secretarial work for a company in the US like writing letters to clients, contacting them by emails and phone, shipping fedex envelopes, etc.
Three-hour difference with European clients is greatly appreciated too. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Interlangue (X)
Angola
Local time: 16:29
English to French
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Rebecca Garber wrote:
Intelligent agencies/clients make the time difference work for them.
Indeed, even though some clients are not aware of this.
For family reasons, I get up and get started "in the Moscow time zone" - a delight to get quite a bit of work done before the rush of the CET (my real, physical time zone) clients. I have a few customers in North and South America, so I always check my mail just before going to bed in order to accept or refuse work for them.
South America usually gives me larger projects but during conferences, when they need shorter jobs very urgently, I know I may have to work between 9.00 PM and 1.00 or 2.00 AM CET - does not happen very often and during those conferences, I usually take a nap in the CET afternoon
[Modifié le 2008-11-23 15:10 GMT]
| | | | Nadja Balogh
Germany
Local time: 16:29
Member (2007)
Japanese to German
+ ...
I have clients from all over the world - Asia, the US and Europe.
So no, I simply stick to my own time, otherwise I wouldn't get any sleep at all!
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lillkakan
Local time: 16:29
English to Swedish
My daily rhythm is irregular by itself, I don't change anything to suit a certain client. I've never managed to live my life in tune with the 24 hrs, I usually need 28-30 hrs to really make a full "round", so I'm more or less constantly off schedule.
Needless to say I'm also fascinated by those clients who seem oblivious of the whole thing with timezones... Not to mention those who propose deadlines without giving a time zone! I constantly have to ask.
| | | | | most of us have irregular hours | Nov 24, 2008 |
it's the nature of the work.
When i DO get jobs from overseas, I also send them in on the evening before they are 'due'...since 9 am their time is 3 am my time. Also with any early morning deadline, i'd rather stay up late and finish than get up early...i'm sure that's the case for most of us.
| | | | | No need to in my case | Nov 24, 2008 |
I only work with WET (London/Lisbon, etc) and CET (Amsterdam/Brussels, etc) clients.
Apart from the fact my rates are generally too high for clients based on other continents, I want to be able to use a European Enforcement Order to recover debt should the need ever arise. It's relatively cheap and effective.
Most of my clients are CET clients, so they are an hour ahead of me. As I'm an early bird anyhow - normally up and working by 04h00 - 05h00 - delivering jobs at 0... See more I only work with WET (London/Lisbon, etc) and CET (Amsterdam/Brussels, etc) clients.
Apart from the fact my rates are generally too high for clients based on other continents, I want to be able to use a European Enforcement Order to recover debt should the need ever arise. It's relatively cheap and effective.
Most of my clients are CET clients, so they are an hour ahead of me. As I'm an early bird anyhow - normally up and working by 04h00 - 05h00 - delivering jobs at 08h00 local time (09h00 CET) doesn't mean I have to adjust my schedule. ▲ Collapse
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