How to Schedule Meetings Across Time Zones Without Making Anyone Miserable

📅 June 23, 2026 · ⏱ 7 min read · 🏷 Meetings, Remote Work, Time Zones

You need to schedule a meeting with people in New York, London, and Bangalore. It's 9 AM in New York, 2 PM in London, and 7:30 PM in Mumbai. That works for the first two, but your Indian colleague is eating dinner. Push it to 10 AM New York, and it's 8:30 PM in India. Still not great.

This is the daily reality of global teams. Here's how to handle it.

Find the Overlap Window

First, figure out when everyone's working hours overlap. For a 3-person team in New York (9–5 EST), London (9–5 GMT), and Mumbai (9:30–6 IST):

New York 9 AM = London 2 PM = Mumbai 7:30 PM ✓ (everyone's working)
New York 11 AM = London 4 PM = Mumbai 9:30 PM ✗ (Mumbai's late)

The overlap window is roughly 9–10:30 AM EST (2–3:30 PM GMT, 7:30–9 PM IST). It's tight, but it exists.

For US-West-to-Asia calls, the overlap is even tighter. You may need to accept that someone will always be inconvenienced.

Rotate the Pain

If you have a recurring meeting across very different time zones, rotate the meeting time so the same person isn't always the one staying late. Week 1 at 9 AM EST, Week 2 at 9 PM EST (9 AM IST next day). This shares the burden.

Not everyone likes this approach — some people prefer a consistent schedule even if it's inconvenient. But it's worth discussing with your team.

Use the Right Tools

Calendar tools: Google Calendar and Outlook both handle time zones well. When creating an event, set the time zone explicitly. Google Calendar will show each attendee the meeting in their local time.

Scheduling tools: Calendly, Doodle, and When2meet let participants indicate their availability in their own time zone. This eliminates the back-and-forth of "what time works for you?"

World clock: Our meeting planner lets you compare multiple cities at once and find overlap windows visually.

Meeting Etiquette for Global Teams

Always specify the time zone when proposing a time. "10 AM EST" not just "10 AM." Better yet: "10 AM EST / 3 PM GMT / 8:30 PM IST."
Use IANA timezone names in calendar invites (e.g., "America/New_York"). These handle DST automatically.
Record the meeting for people who can't attend due to time zone constraints.
Share notes after every meeting. Not everyone will be at their best at 8 PM or 6 AM.
Be flexible. If you're the one in the convenient time zone, offer to adjust occasionally.

The DST Trap for Recurring Meetings

This catches people every year. You set a recurring meeting for "every Thursday at 10 AM Eastern." When DST changes, the UTC time of the meeting shifts. For participants in other time zones, the local time of the meeting changes too.

Solution: set the meeting in a specific time zone (e.g., "10 AM America/New_York"). Google Calendar and Outlook will keep it at 10 AM Eastern even after DST changes. Participants in other time zones will see their local time shift, but the meeting stays consistent for the organizer.

Alternatively, set the meeting in UTC. This keeps the UTC time constant, but the local time for everyone shifts with DST. Pick one approach and stick with it.

When There's No Good Time

Sometimes there's simply no overlap. US West Coast (PST) and India (IST) have almost no business-hour overlap. In these cases:

Asynchronous communication: Use Slack, email, or Loom videos instead of live meetings.
Split the meeting: Have two shorter meetings, each convenient for one group.
Take turns: Alternate between morning and evening sessions.

The best global teams don't try to force synchronous meetings when the time zones don't work. They build processes that don't require everyone to be online at the same time.