Follow-the-Sun (FTS) teams sound great in theory: 24/7 productivity, round-the-clock development, and global talent powering your operations non-stop.

But many teams learn the hard way—FTS isn’t always the productivity booster it claims to be. In fact, when not implemented with great care, it can lead to miscommunication, context loss, burnout, and expensive delays.

Here’s a closer look at the downsides of FTS teams, and why offshore teams working in the same time zone may actually be the smarter move for most fast-moving companies.

The Real-World Challenges of Follow-the-Sun

1. Poor Handoffs = Lost Context

Even with the best tools and templates, transferring a task across continents often means things get lost in translation. The nuance of a decision, the reason behind a workaround, or a change in scope—all can slip through the cracks in a handoff document.

Result: repeated work, misaligned output, and more time spent clarifying than creating.

2. Async Isn’t Always Agile

Async communication is powerful—but not when a project requires frequent alignment or quick iteration. FTS teams often experience delays simply because the right person won’t see a message for 8+ hours.

For product launches, urgent bug fixes, or design reviews, this delay kills momentum.

3. Burnout from Reverse-Time Collaboration

Even if the FTS model promises “no one needs to work odd hours,” in reality, people often bend their schedules to overlap—just to make things work. And over time, this leads to fatigue and reduced team morale.

4. Tool Overload, Not Clarity

To “make up” for the lack of real-time collaboration, teams overload on documentation tools—Notion, Confluence, Slack, Jira, Loom, etc. Ironically, the effort to stay aligned becomes a job of its own.

A More Practical Alternative: Same-Time-Zone Offshore Teams

Instead of building across time zones just for the sake of 24/7 handoffs, what if your offshore team worked during the same hours as your core team?

• Real-time collaboration without the time zone headaches

With teams operating on the same clock, you get all the benefits of live communication, brainstorming, and fast feedback loops.

• Still cost-efficient

You still gain the cost advantage of offshore hiring—but without the coordination chaos.

• Easier to build trust and culture

It’s much easier to foster rapport, shared goals, and culture when teams can talk, joke, and solve problems in real time.

Not Anti-FTS, Just Pro-Context

FTS can work—for the right types of organizations, with robust handoff processes, and a deep async culture. But for most scaling teams, especially those with fast-moving projects, real-time collaboration still wins.

Before chasing the sun, consider whether your team just needs to talk more—and sleep better.

Want to learn how to build a high-performing, offshore team in your time zone?

Let’s talk. We’ve helped clients build agile, cost-effective, and fully aligned global teams—without the timezone tax.