How coverage works
When a team is built across time zones, work keeps moving between shifts instead of waiting for one office to wake up. Here's what that overlap looks like over a single day.
All times shown in UTC. With one region in each of APAC, EMEA, and the Americas working standard local business hours, the combined coverage spans 22 of 24 hours — leaving one short, predictable handoff gap (roughly 23:00–01:00 UTC) rather than a full overnight wait. This is one illustrative configuration; your actual coverage depends on which regions and shifts you staff.
Two regions can already close most of the overnight gap. Three gets you close to continuous coverage without anyone working a permanent night shift.
Some teams want a deliberate handoff window where both shifts are online together for a stand-up; others prefer a clean break. We staff for either.
Coverage maps shift around regional public holidays. We flag these in advance so a gap on the calendar doesn't surprise you mid-sprint.
In practice
That means agreeing on which regions, how much overlap, and who owns the handoff — so the diagram above turns into an actual schedule your team can rely on, not just a sales graphic.