Every distributed team eventually runs up against the same problem: scheduling a meeting that doesn't require someone to join at 6 AM or 11 PM. There's no universal solution, but there are strategies that make the search systematic rather than guesswork.
The Global Overlap Windows
The 'golden window' for global meetings — where reasonable working hours overlap across the most regions — is roughly 8 AM to 12 PM PT (Pacific Time). At 9 AM PT, it's noon in New York (workday in full swing), 5 PM in London (end of business, but reachable), and 10 PM in Singapore (evening — outside business hours but acceptable for occasional meetings). At 8 AM PT, it's 11 PM in India (a stretch), but 2 AM is the only alternative moving the other direction.
US-Only and US-Europe Windows
For US-only meetings, any time between 9 AM ET and 5 PM PT (noon to 5 PM ET) works for most continental US participants. The hardest bridge is US and Europe: the overlap between US Eastern (9 AM–6 PM ET) and Central Europe (9 AM–6 PM CET, which is 3 AM–12 PM ET) is roughly 3–6 hours in the morning ET. Plan European calls for 9–11 AM ET (3–5 PM CET).
US and UK overlap more generously: UK business hours (9 AM–6 PM BST/GMT) overlap with US Eastern hours in the morning. A 9 AM ET meeting is 2 PM in London — solidly midday for the UK team.
Rotating the Pain Fairly
For teams that span more than 12 hours, someone is always outside business hours. The equitable solution is to rotate inconvenient meeting slots so the same people aren't always the ones joining at off-hours. Document a rotation schedule and stick to it — it signals respect and prevents resentment.
Async-first teams avoid this entirely for most recurring topics: post a video or document instead of holding a synchronous meeting, and reserve live meetings for decisions that genuinely require real-time discussion.
