Direct answer
Schedule international meetings inside the natural business-hours overlap (typically 08:00–11:00 in the earliest zone or 15:00–18:00 in the latest), rotate the inconvenience for recurring calls, and always send the invite as a real calendar event so each attendee sees their own local time.
Find the real overlap window first
Subtract the offset of the easternmost city from the westernmost. If the gap is 7 hours or less, a comfortable 09:00–17:00 overlap exists. Anything wider needs compromise.
The overlap is the intersection of each participant's 'fair business hours' (commonly 08:00–18:00). For New York (UTC−5) and London (UTC+0), that intersection is 13:00–18:00 London / 08:00–13:00 New York — five clean hours. For San Francisco (UTC−8) and Tokyo (UTC+9), the only overlap inside fair hours is zero, which is why one side has to take an early or late call.
Three concrete overlap examples
Anchor your scheduling intuition with these recurring patterns.
- New York ↔ London: best window 09:00–11:00 ET / 14:00–16:00 GMT.
- London ↔ Singapore: best window 09:00–11:00 SGT / 02:00–04:00 GMT, or rotate to 16:00–18:00 SGT / 09:00–11:00 GMT.
- San Francisco ↔ Sydney: only 07:00–09:00 AEST / 13:00–15:00 PST (Sydney morning) or vice versa works.
Run a fair rotation for recurring meetings
If a meeting hurts one side every week, attendance and quality decay. Rotate the pain.
For a weekly call across three regions, set three slots — one comfortable for each region — and rotate. Record every session so the off-rotation participants can catch up asynchronously. Treat the recording as a first-class deliverable, not an afterthought.
- Week A: APAC-friendly slot.
- Week B: EMEA-friendly slot.
- Week C: AMER-friendly slot.
- Always: shared recording + written summary within 24 hours.
Remote team patterns that work
The most effective globally distributed teams use a small set of recurring patterns.
- Follow-the-sun: each region owns the active workstream for 8 hours, then hands off.
- Async-first standups: a written update beats a 15-minute call most days.
- One 'all-hands' window per quarter, scheduled months in advance.
- A single shared scheduling tool — never email negotiation.
City-by-city anchor times
Memorize a few default windows so you can quote times without opening a tool.
- EMEA ↔ AMER East: 09:00–11:00 ET = 14:00–16:00 GMT.
- EMEA ↔ APAC: 08:00–10:00 GMT = 16:00–18:00 SGT.
- AMER West ↔ APAC: 16:00–18:00 PT = 09:00–11:00 next-day JST.
- Global all-hands: 07:00 PT / 10:00 ET / 15:00 GMT / 23:00 SGT.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best time to schedule a meeting between the US and Europe?
09:00–11:00 US Eastern (14:00–16:00 London / 15:00–17:00 Central Europe). This sits inside fair business hours on both sides.
How do I schedule a meeting across more than two time zones?
Find the intersection of every participant's 09:00–17:00 window. If no full overlap exists, pick a slot that's late-afternoon for one region and early-morning for the other, then rotate weekly.
Should I send meeting invites in UTC?
Send them as a real calendar event (.ics) with a defined time zone. Modern calendars render each attendee's local time automatically — there is no need to write 'UTC' in the body.
How do I avoid DST scheduling errors?
Use a calendar invite (which adjusts automatically) instead of a hard-coded time. Watch for the three- to four-week window each spring and autumn when the US and EU switch on different weekends.