The gap
Measuring the gap
How big the gap actually is, how to state it so people can compare windows, and what one crossing costs.
three things · four nights
Three things, and the third is the one people skip.
The Unit Is the Night, Not the Hour
Teams with no overlapping hour keep measuring in hours out of habit, and almost every decision gets clearer the moment the unit changes.
Stating Everybody's Hours in a Single Time Zone
Working hours stated in local time cannot be compared. Converting everything to one zone takes ten minutes and settles arguments that otherwise run for weeks.
The Overlap That Is Not Really There
A nominal overlap at the edge of two days is not an overlap. What matters is not how many minutes there are but where in each day they fall.
What One Crossing Actually Costs
A crossing costs between eleven and nineteen hours depending on when it is sent, and the hour it is sent is the only part anybody controls.
The Half-Hour at the Edge of Two Days
Thirty minutes where one group is leaving and another arriving is the least usable half-hour in either day, and counting it as overlap costs more than it gives.
Shifting One Person's Day, and What It Buys
Moving one person's hours to bridge a gap is a real option with a real price, and it usually buys considerably less than whoever proposes it expects.
Counting Crossings Instead of Estimating Hours
Sizing work by how many times it must cross the gap is a counting exercise rather than an estimating one, and it is wrong in a more useful way.
The Week the Clocks Change
Twice a year the gap is a different width for a few weeks, because one end moves its clocks on a weekend the other end does not.
Writing the Gap Down Where People Can See It
Most of what a team needs to know about its own gap already exists in people's heads. Putting it on one page is clerical work with a large return.