In today’s connected world, remote teams and global clients are the norm. I have had clients in Ireland, Korea, Brazil, Australia, and other places around the world, so I know scheduling meetings across different time zones can be tricky—and mistakes can lead to missed calls, frustrated participants, and wasted time. Fortunately, with a few best practices and tools, you can schedule meetings smoothly, no matter where your client or team is located.
1. Know Your Participants’ Time Zones
The first step is understanding where everyone is:
- Use a shared document or team roster to track each person’s location and time zone.
- Be aware of Daylight Saving Time shifts, which don’t happen simultaneously worldwide—or at all in some places.
- And speaking of DST shifts, in some places they are only a half-hour!
Tools like World Time Buddy make comparing multiple zones quick and visual.
2. Use Scheduling Tools with Time Zone Support
Instead of manually converting times, rely on scheduling platforms that automatically adjust for participants:
- Google Calendar: Displays event times in the recipient’s local time and allows you to invite attendees to the event, so they will receive any updates to the scheduled time.
- Doodle suggests times and handles conversions automatically.
Always include a calendar invite to reduce confusion.
I personally use Google Calendar, and its time zone conversion has saved me on more than one occasion. For example, for years I had a standing weekly meeting with a client in Vienna, Austria. I entered the meeting into Google Calendar and selected the client’s time zone as the time for the meeting. That way my calendar would adjust to the seasonal time changes in Europe.
3. Pick Overlapping Hours
Find a window that reasonably overlaps working hours for all participants:
- For example, between 7am and 10am Pacific Time overlaps with 3pm to 6pm UK Time.
- Use World Clock Meeting Planners to visualize possible meeting times.
If overlap is minimal, consider rotating inconvenient times to share the burden fairly among your team.
4. Communicate in Time Zone-Aware Formats
When suggesting times, be explicit:
- Write times like “3 PM EST / 9 PM CET / 5 AM AEST” instead of just “3 PM”.
- Include UTC as a reference when dealing with international teams (e.g., “Meeting at 14:00 UTC”).
Clear time zone references help avoid misunderstandings.
By the way, I see this a lot: People in the US use “EST” year round–even during Daylight Saving Time, which is most of the year! (NOTE: EST stands for Eastern Standard Time. EDT stands for Eastern Daylight Time.) While there are some places in the US that stay in Standard Time all year, most of us here do spring forward and fall back. What I do to avoid making that mistake is just leave out the “S” or “D” and stick with “ET”.
5. Record Meetings When Appropriate
If scheduling live attendance is impossible for everyone:
- Record the meeting for those who cannot attend due to time differences.
- Summarize key decisions in follow-up notes or emails.
This ensures that all participants stay informed and included.
Admittedly, this is hard for me to remember, so I set an alarm on my phone for a minute after the meeting is supposed to start — they never start exactly on time, but I’m always there on time. The alarm is my reminder to record the meeting.
6. Be Mindful of Work-Life Balance
Remember, just because someone technically could join a 10 PM call doesn’t mean they should. Respect personal time:
- Schedule meetings during local business hours when possible.
- Rotate early/late meeting times for global teams to share inconvenience.
I learned this from working with people who have boundaries. I personally will happily meet anyone any time, as long as it makes sense for the situation. But I think most people, while they are willing to do that, would much rather have a meeting during their regular business hours, or at least very close to that. I adopted those same boundaries for myself, and I think I’m the better for it.
Conclusion
Scheduling meetings across time zones doesn’t have to be a headache. Use tools that handle conversions, communicate clearly, and respect participants’ local schedules. By planning thoughtfully and using the right resources, you’ll keep your meetings efficient and your clients or team connected—no matter where they are in the world.