Scheduling across time zones is one of the most common challenges for remote teams, global businesses, and anyone with international contacts. A meeting that is convenient for one participant can fall during dinner, sleep, or early morning for another. With the right approach and tools, you can find times that work reasonably well for everyone.
Find the overlap window
The key to cross-timezone scheduling is finding the hours where all participants have reasonable working times. Start by identifying each participant's timezone and their typical working hours (usually 9 AM to 6 PM local time). Then look for overlapping windows. For teams spanning the US (EST to PST), the overlap is roughly 12:00 PM to 6:00 PM EST / 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM PST. For US to Europe, the overlap is typically morning in the US and afternoon in Europe. For extreme spreads (US to Asia-Pacific), there may be no comfortable overlap, and you may need to rotate meeting times.
Rotate meeting times for fairness
When your team spans many zones and no single time is convenient for everyone, rotate the meeting time. Alternate between slots that favor different regions. For example, one week the meeting is at 9 AM PST (convenient for Americas, late for Europe, very late for Asia), the next at 9 AM CET (convenient for Europe, early for Americas, evening for Asia), and the next at 9 AM JST (convenient for Asia, late evening for Americas, early morning for Europe). This distributes the inconvenience fairly.
Account for Daylight Saving Time
DST transitions happen at different times in different regions — and some regions do not observe DST at all. This means the time difference between two cities can temporarily change by an hour. Review your recurring meetings in March/April and October/November when most transitions occur. Set calendar reminders to check meeting times during transition weeks. Use scheduling tools that automatically account for DST changes.
Use UTC as a common reference
When coordinating with people across multiple zones, stating times in UTC removes ambiguity. "Let's meet at 14:00 UTC" is unambiguous — each participant can convert to their local time. This is especially useful in written communication like emails, Slack messages, and documentation where the reader's timezone may be unknown.
Leverage async communication
Not every interaction needs a real-time meeting. For teams spread across the globe, asynchronous communication — recorded video updates, shared documents, threaded discussions — can reduce the need for meetings during inconvenient hours. Reserve synchronous meetings for discussions that truly require real-time interaction: brainstorming, decision-making, and relationship building. Use async methods for status updates, reviews, and information sharing.
Practical scheduling checklist
Before scheduling a cross-timezone meeting: (1) List all participants' timezones. (2) Use a meeting planner tool to visualize the overlap. (3) Check for upcoming DST transitions. (4) Include timezone information in the calendar invitation (most calendar apps do this automatically). (5) Provide a timezone-converted link so participants can see the time in their own zone. (6) For recurring meetings, review the schedule after DST changes. (7) Record meetings for participants who cannot attend live.