Short overlap windows are usually better for quick decisions than for deep workshops or interviews.
Meeting Planner
Compare up to four cities in single or recurring mode to find the least painful meeting slot, copy a shareable setup link, and export the chosen option as an .ics invite.
Common meeting setups
How to use it
- Choose a primary city, date, and duration.
- Add the other cities involved, then switch to recurring mode if you need a weekly pattern.
- Review the ranked suggestions, pick a slot, then copy the share link or download the .ics file.
Better scheduling for global teams
International meetings often fail because the proposed time is convenient for one office and painful for another. This planner ranks options by overlap across normal working hours so the tradeoff is visible before an invite is sent.
Use single mode for one-off calls and recurring mode to test weekly patterns across several weeks. After choosing a slot, share the configured URL with teammates or export an .ics file for the final invite.
The best meeting time is usually the slot with the highest overlap across normal working hours, not simply the first hour that appears available. A visual comparison helps show who would be joining early, late, or outside work hours.
When teams span the Americas, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, there may be no perfect option. In that case, rotate inconvenient times between regions and record the meeting for people who cannot attend live.
Use the suggested windows as a scheduling filter before checking individual calendars. Time zones tell you whether a meeting is reasonable; personal calendars tell you whether a person is actually free.
A meeting planner is also useful before sending a poll. Narrowing the options to a few humane time slots makes it easier for people to answer and prevents choices that are technically possible but unfair to one region.
For North America and Europe, the most humane windows are often late morning on the US East Coast and mid-to-late afternoon in Europe. For Europe and Asia, early European morning may be late afternoon in India or evening in East Asia.
If a team includes California, New York, London, Berlin, Dubai, Bengaluru, Singapore, and Sydney, fairness matters more than finding one permanent slot. Rotate the burden so the same office is not always joining before breakfast or after dinner.
Use written agendas and asynchronous notes when there is no fair overlap. A meeting planner should reduce unnecessary meetings as much as it helps schedule necessary ones.
What makes a slot workable
The overlap score rewards full meetings inside 9-17 local time, gives partial credit inside 7-21, and penalizes slots outside that range.
Repeating meetings are easier to sustain when the inconvenience rotates fairly across regions.
When there is no shared 9-to-5 window
- Use the least-bad overlap for live discussion, then move the rest to notes or recordings.
- Alternate between a Europe-friendly slot and an Americas-friendly or Asia-friendly slot over time.
- If only one city is outside business hours, make that exception explicit before sending the invite.
Before you send the invite
- Check the planned duration. A 90-minute call can push one location out of normal working hours.
- Verify the date after DST changes, especially if participants are in the US and Europe.
- Write the invite title with the primary timezone so people can confirm the slot quickly.
Worked examples
A 09:00 New York call is 14:00 in London and 22:00 in Tokyo on 2026-06-02, so it is workable for two cities but late for one.
For a weekly New York-London-Berlin meeting, a Europe afternoon slot usually keeps everyone inside normal office hours.
For New York-London-Tokyo, use the score to pick the least-bad live slot, then rotate the burden for recurring calls.
FAQ
What working hours does this use?
Each city scores best when the full meeting fits inside 9:00-17:00 local time, partial credit when it fits inside 7:00-21:00, and no credit outside that shoulder window. Recurring meetings are scored across all selected occurrences.
Can I share a configured setup?
Yes. The tool keeps the selected mode, cities, date, duration, recurring days, and chosen slot in the page URL so you can send the exact setup to someone else.
Does the .ics export handle time zones?
Yes. The export is anchored to the primary city timezone so calendar apps can keep the local meeting time consistent across daylight-saving changes.
Can this replace a team calendar?
No. It finds timezone-friendly windows, but it does not know personal availability, room bookings, or company holidays.
What makes a meeting time fair?
A fair time avoids very early mornings, late evenings, and repeated inconvenience for the same region. For global teams, rotating difficult slots is often fairest.
Should I schedule across lunch hours?
Lunch varies by country and company. A time may be inside 9-17 but still awkward, so use the result as a first filter rather than a final calendar decision.
How should I handle teams with no overlap?
Use asynchronous updates, recordings, written decisions, or rotate live attendance so one region is not always excluded.
Does this check personal calendars?
No. It checks timezone overlap. You still need a calendar app to confirm whether each person is free.