The quickest way to schedule across time zones is to compare working hours before you compare clocks. Add every attendee's city to a planner, set the date of the meeting, and look for the hours when everyone is at work. Then write the time so each person can read their own city's version without doing any arithmetic.
Six steps for scheduling across time zones#
- List the cities and the real working hours. Use cities, not zone labels, and ask people for their actual hours. Start from 9:00 to 17:00 and adjust for anyone who starts earlier or finishes later.
- Fix the date before you compare. A city's UTC offset changes with daylight saving, and countries change on different days (UTC vs GMT: What Is the Difference and Which Should You Use? explains the reference time). Compare zones on the day of the meeting, not today.
- Find the shared window. Line the working days up in a planner, or convert everyone to UTC (How to Convert Time Between Time Zones, Step by Step (With Examples) shows the arithmetic). If no hour is shared, try wider hours such as 8:00 to 18:00 before asking anyone to work well outside their day.
- Write the invitation so it cannot be misread. Give the weekday and date, then the time in every attendee's city with its offset.
- Check recurring meetings around clock changes. This is where a settled series goes wrong.
- Share the awkward slot. If one city always takes the early start or late finish, rotate it.
A worked example: New York, London and San Francisco#
Suppose a manager in New York needs a weekly call with colleagues in London and San Francisco. In the Timelive meeting planner, add the three cities, set the date to Tuesday, October 13, 2026, and try each working-hours preset. The planner scans in half-hour steps and counts a slot only if every city is at work for the whole slot.
| Working hours | Shared window (New York / London / San Francisco) |
|---|---|
| 9:00 to 17:00 | None. Closest compromise: 11:30 / 16:30 / 08:30 |
| 10:00 to 16:00 | None |
| 8:00 to 18:00 | 11:00 to 13:00 / 16:00 to 18:00 / 08:00 to 10:00 |
| 7:00 to 19:00 | 10:00 to 14:00 / 15:00 to 19:00 / 07:00 to 11:00 |
London is 8 hours ahead of San Francisco on that date, so 9:00 in San Francisco is already 17:00 in London. The two standard working days touch without overlapping, and New York in between cannot change that.
At 8:00 to 18:00 a two-hour window opens. A one-hour call at 11:00 New York time is 16:00 in London and 08:00 in San Francisco, so the West Coast starts early. A call at 12:00 New York time is 17:00 in London and 09:00 in San Francisco, so London finishes its day on the call. Neither is perfect, which is why step 6 exists.
The daylight saving trap for recurring meetings#
Calendar apps typically tie a repeating event to one time zone. A 2011 Google developer blog post, for example, says a recurring event needs a time zone identifier so that occurrences on either side of a clock change are placed correctly (Google Workspace Developers Blog, 2011). A series created in New York time therefore holds its New York clock time, and people in places that change clocks on other dates see it move. Doodle's help center warns that recurring meetings can show up an hour earlier or later for some participants around a daylight saving change (Doodle).
The US and Europe are the common cause. Under US law, states that observe daylight saving put clocks forward at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March and back on the first Sunday in November (15 U.S.C. 260a). EU law sets the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October (Directive 2000/84/EC), and the UK changes on the same last Sundays.
In 2026 that opens two windows when New York to London is 4 hours instead of 5, and San Francisco to London is 7 hours instead of 8: March 8 to 29, when only the US has changed, and October 25 to November 1, when only the UK has. In 2027 the windows are March 14 to 28 and October 31 to November 7 (computed from the IANA time zone database, rules as of October 2026). When Do the Clocks Change? Daylight Saving Dates for 2026 and 2027 has the full calendar.
Here is a weekly call created at 11:00 in New York:
| Tuesday | New York (host) | London | San Francisco |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 13, 2026 | 11:00 EDT | 16:00 BST | 08:00 PDT |
| October 27, 2026 | 11:00 EDT | 15:00 GMT | 08:00 PDT |
| November 3, 2026 | 11:00 EST | 16:00 GMT | 08:00 PST |
New York and San Francisco never notice, because both follow US rules. London sees the call an hour earlier for one Tuesday. Had the host created the series at 16:00 London time, London would stay put and New York would see 11:00, 12:00 and 11:00 again, with San Francisco at 08:00, 09:00 and 08:00.
Cities that never change their clocks are caught too. A 9:00 a.m. New York series is 18:30 in Kolkata on October 13 and 19:30 on November 3, because India stays on UTC+5:30 all year while New York moves.
The shift can even help. On Tuesday, October 27, 2026, the standard 9:00 to 17:00 hours do share one hour: 12:00 to 13:00 in New York, 16:00 to 17:00 in London and 09:00 to 10:00 in San Francisco. Three habits keep recurring meetings under control:
- Name the anchor city. Decide whose clock the series follows and write it in the event description.
- Check the first meeting after each change. As of October 2026 the next US and Europe gap starts on Sunday, October 25.
- Adjust the gap week on purpose. If the shift hurts someone, edit that one occurrence and tell people.
How to write the invitation#
Give the weekday, the date, every city and its offset, and the time in UTC as a neutral reference:
Tuesday, October 13, 2026: 11:00 New York (EDT, UTC-4), 16:00 London (BST, UTC+1), 08:00 San Francisco (PDT, UTC-7). That is 15:00 UTC.
If the time falls on a different date for someone, such as a late evening in Los Angeles that is the next morning in Kolkata, name that date too.
Calendar tips#
- Invitees see local time. Google says guests see events in their own time zone, and Outlook saves meeting times in UTC and shows each attendee the local equivalent (Google Calendar Help, Microsoft Support). Still write the cities in the text, because the view depends on each person's own time zone setting.
- Set the event's time zone to the anchor city. Google's help page says that when you create an event, More options leads to a Time zone control; the exact label and location may differ in your version.
- Ask one person in the farthest zone to confirm. Their view is the quickest test of the invitation.
Making it fair: rotate the awkward slot#
When the shared window is thin, someone will be early or late. Scheduling guides such as Owl Labs' recommend rotating the meeting time so everyone gets a turn at the least convenient hours, rather than leaving the cost with the same people every week.
In the worked example, alternate the two options: 11:00 New York time one week (08:00 in San Francisco, 16:00 in London) and 12:00 the next (09:00 and 17:00). Publish the pattern, and agree a hard limit with the team, such as no routine meeting before 07:00 or after 21:00 local time. That limit is an example to adapt, not a rule from any source.
For the common US, Europe and India triangle, see Best Meeting Times for US, Europe and India Teams (Winter and Summer Overlap Tables).
Frequently asked questions
What is the best time to schedule a meeting across time zones?
Choose a time inside the hours when everyone is at work, usually 9:00 to 17:00 in each city, and compare the cities on the day of the meeting because offsets change with daylight saving. If no hour is shared, pick the slot with the smallest early start or late finish and rotate it.
For New York, London and San Francisco on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, 9:00 to 17:00 hours share nothing, but 8:00 to 18:00 hours give 11:00 to 13:00 New York time.
How do I schedule a recurring meeting across time zones when clocks change?
Pick the city whose clock the series should follow, create the series in that city's time zone, and say so in the description. The meeting then keeps its clock time there, while people in places that change clocks on other dates see it shift by an hour for a short time.
The US and Europe differ from March 8 to 29 and October 25 to November 1 in 2026. Check the first meeting after each change.
What should I put in a meeting invitation for different time zones?
Put the weekday and date, then the time in each attendee's city with its UTC offset, for example "Tuesday, October 13, 2026: 11:00 New York (UTC-4), 16:00 London (UTC+1), 08:00 San Francisco (UTC-7)". Adding the UTC time gives everyone a neutral reference.
Avoid bare abbreviations such as EST or IST, which can point to a different clock than the one you meant.
Will invitees see the meeting in their own time zone?
Usually. Google says guests see events in their own time zone, and Outlook stores meeting times in UTC and shows each attendee the local time on their calendar. The view depends on each person's calendar time zone setting, so also write the cities in the invitation.
What if there is no time when everyone is at work?
Decide openly who stretches, and rotate it. Try a wider working-hours preset first, and use a planner's closest compromise to see who will be early or late. If the gap is still too wide, consider two regional meetings, or ask whether the discussion needs to be live.
Sources and further reading
- 15 U.S.C. 260a, Advancement of time or changeover dates — U.S. Government Publishing Office
- Directive 2000/84/EC on summer-time arrangements — EUR-Lex, Publications Office of the European Union
- Daylight saving time rules for 2026 — Doodle Help Center
- Use Google Calendar in different time zones — Google Calendar Help
- Manage time zone settings in Outlook — Microsoft Support
- Calendar v3 best practices: recurring events — Google Workspace Developers Blog
- Meetings and time zones — Owl Labs