Key takeaways
- Protect a daily overlap window for collaboration and keep the rest for focused work.
- Write things down. Async-friendly specs and hand-overs are the backbone of distributed teams.
- Use the offset for follow-the-sun testing, reviews and support.
Sri Lanka runs on Sri Lanka Standard Time (UTC+5:30) all year round. The UK moves between GMT and BST, so the gap is 5.5 hours in winter and 4.5 hours in summer. With typical office hours, that leaves roughly three and a half to four and a half hours of shared working time, and if teams shift their day slightly, more.
Handled well, that difference is an advantage. Here's the playbook we use with clients.
1. Design the overlap window
Agree on a daily window, for example 09:00–12:30 UK time, for anything that needs real-time collaboration: stand-ups, refinement, pairing and decisions. Keep the rest of the day free for deep work on both sides.
| UK time (BST) | Colombo time | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 04:30 | 09:00 | Colombo team starts: reviews, tests and focused build time |
| 09:00 | 13:30 | UK starts, joint stand-up, questions answered |
| 09:30 – 12:30 | 14:00 – 17:00 | Overlap: pairing, refinement, demos |
| 13:30 | 18:00 | Colombo hand-over note posted |
| 13:30 – 17:30 | — | UK reviews, feedback ready for the next morning |
2. Make hand-overs a habit
A short written hand-over at the end of each day saves hours: what was done, what's blocked, what needs a decision. Keep it in the team channel, not in private messages, so everybody stays in the loop.
3. Write specs for people who can't ask you right away
Good tickets include the why, acceptance criteria, links to designs, and the edge cases you already know about. If someone can start work without a meeting, you've won back half a day.
4. Use the offset for follow-the-sun work
- Code review overnight: UK pull requests get reviewed before the UK team logs on.
- Testing ahead of release: QA in Colombo tests the previous day's work before UK stand-up.
- Extended support hours: issues raised early in the morning UK time are already being picked up.
Time zones only hurt when teams try to behave as if they don't exist.
5. Meet in person occasionally
Even one visit a year, in either direction, builds relationships that make every remote conversation easier afterwards. Many of our clients plan a kickoff visit and an annual planning session.
Written by
Itrowin Delivery Team
Delivery managers, Colombo. We share what we learn building engineering teams and software for clients across the UK and beyond.