When a company has many different office locations, often people in one office aren't familiar with people in other offices due to a lack of interaction. This problem is particularly pronounced where you have offices that span multiple time zones or countries.
Tip: You can use a time zone converter to know the time difference between offices. You may also install one of the numerous apps to help with that info.
It is crucial to build interaction between all company offices because it often improves the following:
Think about what your company can do to increase interaction. There are tonnes of ways that interaction can be developed. Examples include:
Team building activities
Playing a game/solving a puzzle together
Reviewing/updating a company standard together
Having a company retreat to bring everyone together
Going on a group trip (e.g., to the Great Wall of China)
Visiting local companies together
Cultural Exchange programs
Mentoring
Working together
Pair programming
Mob programming
Rotating Daily Scrum
Creating cross-office teams and events
Putting developers from the China office onto a project with Australian developers
People from different offices are paired up to have virtual coffee
A Chinese dev does a presentation at the Sydney User Group
Cultural events and videos
Celebrating holidays from other countries
Organize meetings to discuss culturally different issues
Have a weekly language exchange catchup
Organize a cultural performance day where everyone shares a piece from their culture
Product videos about other offices
What is it like to work in the China office?
What is your reaction if you see Chinese on a web page?
What are the differences in the app market in China and Australia? I.e. WeChat vs Facebook
Fun weekly company meetings