How can I calculate and show Multiple Time Zones for tasks

[Angie]

My project team members are located across multiple major time zones (US
Pacific, US Eastern, Europe, Asia, India...).
How can I calculate and show the times that each task will occur in each of
these zones?
Is there a way to customize a field, add a column and auto calculate say
+3hrs, +8hrs etc onto the PST time so that team members in each of these
Geo's can see local times and we can monitor/schedule tasks accordingly.

 

[Rod Gill]

Certainly you can create formulae to calculate dates and times in different
zones, but usually that' more effort than required. I would have a ground
zero (single time zone) for the project then everyone else uses that. Get
each team to buy a clock and calendar for the wall that shows project date
and time. This is simpler and usually more effective!

--

Rod Gill
Microsoft MVP for Project

Author of the only book on Project VBA, see:
http://www.projectvbabook.com

 

[Steve House]

I second Rod's suggestion - the issue you describe is exactly why
astronomers, the military, the aviation industry, NASA, etc all use Zulu
Time, ie, UTC or Greenwich Mean Time, to coordinate events. Your flight
from Chicago to St Louis might be leaving at 1pm today according to your
watch but the pilot's flight plan and ATC clearances will call for push-back
at 1700Z or 20-1700Z. There's no reason projects can't use the same
technique to schedule across multiple timezones when really needed. But you
should ask yourself if you really NEED that level of precision in your
scheduling or are you trying to excessively micromanage. If you're
coordinating a shuttle launch, certainly. But if you're developing
software, isn't it good enough for Joe Programmer to know he'll get the
specs sometime Wednesday or Thursday - is it really important for him to be
told to expect to receive them at 10am on Thursday? Given normal human
variability we can't predict when preparation of the specs will be complete
with that level of precision and certainty anyway. So before going to all
the trouble of scheduling to the minute like that, you might ask yourself if
you really NEED to. Just a point to ponder is all...