How to run an international meeting well
A simple method to find a time slot that works for every team, whatever their time zone.
Finding a time slot that works for teams spread across continents is often frustrating. Here's a simple method.
1. List every participant's time zone. Use the meeting planner to see everyone's business hours at a glance.
2. Look for the widest overlap. Between Europe and the US East Coast, the common window is usually 2–6pm Paris time. Between Europe and Asia, it's more likely mid-morning, 9–11am.
3. Rotate the uncomfortable slot. If no time works for everyone during business hours, alternate: one week the convenience goes to one team, the next week to the other.
4. Always confirm with an explicit link. A time converter avoids "2pm whose time?" mistakes.
5. State the time unambiguously. Avoid abbreviations like "CST" or "EST", which refer to different zones in different countries: name a reference city instead (e.g. "2pm Paris time") or give an explicit UTC offset.
6. Keep daylight saving in mind. Clocks don't move on the same dates everywhere: check our dedicated page to avoid scheduling mistakes during those few transition weeks each year.
Handy tools
Find the time slots that work across several time zones at once.
Convert a time from one city to several others at a glance.
The exact dates for the switch to and from daylight saving time in Europe, the United States, Canada and Australia, calculated automatically every year.