According to one aspect of the invention, a method is provided in which a scheduling agent is assigned to each user in a system. Each scheduling agent is responsible for coordinating meeting activities for its associated user. Each user in the system is allowed to specify preferences for meeting scheduling based upon his corresponding calendar. In response to a meeting request initiated by one of the users, the scheduling agent for the meeting initiator and the scheduling agents for the attendees negotiate with each other to schedule the requested meeting at a most suitable time that is accepted by all attendees through their associated scheduling agents, based upon a set of scheduling criteria including the meeting timing information and the attendees preferences for meeting scheduling.