Tips and Tools for Managing Remote Teams and Scheduling Across Time Zones

Remote work and scheduling across time zones are now the norm. To keep pace with the evolving world of work, employers are embracing remote work with team members stationed all over the world. But managing a distributed team across different time zones requires excellent organizational skills. 

From coordinating working hours to scheduling international meetings, there are many moving parts when keeping global teams connected. These tips, tools, and strategies can help.

Managing across time zones: Core challenges and best practices

According to Gallup, as of May 2025, 28% of U.S. employees work exclusively from a remote location. Meanwhile, 51% of workers do their jobs in a hybrid setting. This is overwhelmingly the preference; six in 10 workers with a remote-capable job prefer a hybrid arrangement, while 33% prefer something fully remote. Only 6% of those surveyed preferred to work exclusively on site.

Given this reality, managing time differences is one of the most important factors in leading a remote team. Even a one-hour difference in time zones can cause an 11% decline in real-time communication. And when team members aren't communicating, work can fall through the cracks.

Some of the most common remote work challenges and potential solutions include:

• Meeting planning. Coordinating conference calls and online meetings can be tricky. A world clock or time converter tool can help find the best time slots for everyone, and take into account UTC and DST regions.
• Delays in follow-ups. Employers should set clear expectations for response times and follow-ups upfront. An async project management platform or chat tool can help keep everyone in the loop.
• Cultural and regional holidays. Remote workers outside the U.S. will have different national or religious holidays. Keep this in mind when planning online meetings.
• Daylight savings time (DST). In the U.S., all states participate in DST except for Hawaii and Arizona. A third of countries worldwide also have daylight savings, but clock changes may occur on different days — or even different months.
• Staying aligned. Remote workers need to be able to stay on the same page. To facilitate this, team leads need to set meeting agendas and provide shared session notes after calls.

Tools for managing remote teams across time zones

Don't get overwhelmed when trying to schedule teams across time zones. The right tools can help streamline workflows and simplify the process. 

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World Time Buddy

Sometimes, all you need is a world clock. World Time Buddy is exactly that. This simple time zone converter doubles as a meeting planner. Just enter the location of each party, and you'll get an at-a-glance overview of the current time and date for each one. 

It's a fast way to ensure you're scheduling something at an appropriate time. For example, your London-based workers may agree to meet with their NYC colleagues at 2:00 pm their time, which would be 9:00 am in NYC.

Pricing: Free

Ideal for: Small and mid-sized teams that need a visual template to map out meeting times across time zones

Google Calendar

Google Calendar is another great tool to simplify meeting scheduling across multiple time zones. Through the platform, you can set a meeting time in your own time zone, and all invited participants will see it on their calendars in their own local time zone. Through Google Calendar, participants can also respond yes or no to a meeting invite, as well as request a different time.

Pricing: Free with a Google account; more features available with a paid Google Workspace account starting at $7 per user per month (with a one-year commitment)

Ideal for: Teams that hold a lot of meetings and need reliable time zone syncing during communications

Doodle

Doodle makes meeting planning so much easier. And it does so in a fun way by sending out a survey. Simply create a group poll via email or Slack link and let your distributed team members vote on the best meeting time. That way, everyone gets a say.

Doodle also offers multiple integrations with other async online meeting tools, like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Calendar, Webex, and more.

Pricing: Free forever plan for one user; team plans start at $6.95 per user per month (when billed annually) 

Ideal for: Large teams that need structured group coordination without time zone confusion

Slack

Although it's not a scheduling platform, Slack is still a popular tool for keeping remote teams in touch. Through its thread-based messaging, reminders, and channel organization, remote teams can tackle much of their day-to-day tasks: sending reminders, taking notes, coordinating meetings, and so on.

In addition, Slack integrates with over 2,600 other apps to make your workflow a seamless one. You can connect it to project management tools like Jira or Asana, file management hubs like Google Drive or Dropbox, and even developer tools like GitHub and GitLab.

Pricing: Free forever plan with limited features; Pro plans start at $7.25 per user per month (when billed annually)

Ideal for: Mid-size to large teams that need a robust communication app and means of effective follow-up

Calendly

Calendly simplifies meeting scheduling down to a few clicks. Just connect the app to your calendars (like Google Calendar or Outlook Calendar), update your availability, connect your conferencing tool of choice (like Zoom or Webex), and share the link with your teammates. There, they can choose from one of your designated available time slots. 

As a plus, the app automatically adjusts for different time zones, so no extra math is needed on your end.

Pricing: Free forever plan for personal use; team plans start at $10 per seat per month (when billed annually)

Ideal for: Mid-size and large teams who frequently participate in client calls and collaborative meetings 

How Upwork supports time zone-diverse teams

When you're ready to grow your team, hiring freelancers on Upwork can be the perfect solution. Built-in scheduling tools, flexible messaging, and time-tracking make it easy to facilitate an async workflow. Plus, many of the independent professionals on Upwork are already well-versed in working with remote, globally distributed teams, which means less effort on your end to keep everyone connected.

If you're a freelancer looking to grow your client base, check out the available jobs on Upwork.

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Upwork is not affiliated with and does not sponsor or endorse any of the tools or services discussed in this article. These tools and services are provided only as potential options, and each reader and company should take the time needed to adequately analyze and determine the tools or services that would best fit their specific needs and situation.

Prices are current at the time of writing and may change over time based on each service's offerings.