What is Match Working Hours?
Match Working Hours is an opt-in setting on any Intros channel. When it's on, Donut only pairs people whose set working hours overlap by at least one hour. If two people don't share at least an hour — say, someone wrapping up their day in Sydney and someone just starting in San Francisco — Donut won't match them with each other.
A few things to know:
It's off by default and set per channel, so you choose exactly where to use it.
It uses the working hours each person sets for themselves (more on that below).
It's a hard requirement while on, not a soft nudge: every match needs at least an hour of overlap. On a small channel, that can mean someone has no eligible match and sits out a round.
Why turn it on
Better matches for distributed teams: When your team spans time zones, working-hours overlap is often the difference between a meeting that happens and one that never gets scheduled.
Fewer dead-end pairings: People are less likely to be matched with someone they can't realistically find time with.
No time zone math: Donut factors in everyone's hours for you, so you don't have to think about who overlaps with whom.
Why some teams leave it off
Match Working Hours isn't the right call for every channel — and that's intentional.
Your team already overlaps. If everyone works in the same or nearby time zones, turning it on won't change much.
You connect asynchronously. If your team uses Intros for flexible, written catch-ups rather than live meetings, schedule overlap may matter less.
Your channel is small. Narrowing matches by schedule leaves Donut fewer options to work with — and with a strict overlap requirement, someone may go unmatched in a round.
How to turn it on
Match Working Hours uses the working hours each person sets for themselves. Members can set theirs anytime from the Home tab in Slack or the Donut dashboard — the default is 9am-6pm in their Slack time zone. For the best matches, encourage your team to keep their hours up to date.
Sign in to your Donut dashboard with your Slack credentials.
Click Donut Channels > All Channels in the left sidebar.
Click the ⚙️ gear icon on the Intros channel you want to edit.
Go to Scheduling & Meetings to find Match Working Hours and toggle it on.
Click Save.