Throw out the back and forth email! Google has multiple options that make it easy to coordinate meeting times. Try out these 3 ways to make options to see what works best for you.
- 1:1 meetings coordinated from Gmail
- 1:1 meeting scheduled with an appointment booking page
- Multi-attendee meetings coordinated from Google Calendar event
1:1 meetings coordinated from Gmail
You can now choose a range of suggested meeting times directly from the Gmail interface to insert into an email. This works perfectly for quickly scheduling 1:1 meeting and automatically creates a Google Calendar event.
- Start composing your email in Gmail
- Click the calendar icon in the email menu
- Choose Offer times you’re free
A sidebar will now appear with the calendar options. You can choose time blocks to show as available, choose how long the meeting should be, and specify other details.
- Click to drag blocks on the calendar to choose availability OR
- Manually enter them in the Availability section of the menu.
Clicking the up arrow expands the options menu. The full menu is shown here will all the options of
- Event title (this is the title that will display in Google Calendar)
- Even duration
- Availability
- Add event location or conferencing information
- Add description
After completing all options, click Add to Email to insert suggested event links into the email. Below is pictured the draft email with the meeting event links. I selected a duration of 1 hour for the meeting so it shows 2 1-hour meeting options. The Proposed Times box will look exactly the same in the recipients email.
When the email recipient clicks an meeting time link, they will be redirected to a popup to
- Confirm their contact information
- Click Confirm
The recipient now receives an event confirmation screen. The event is automatically added to Google Calendar and event confirmation emails sent. Quick and easy event created!
1:1 meeting scheduled with an appointment booking page
Another option to set up 1:1 meetings is by using the Google Calendar booking page option. This is very similar to scheduling software such as Calendly.
A booking page contains a whole calendar of appointment times that can be shared out with a link to anyone who needs it. I find it helpful to add to my email signature.
If you are interested in setting up your own booking page, check out our post about Google Calendar booking pages.
*Although this the appointment times only allow for 1 person to sign up, you can also edit the Calendar event later to add more attendees.
Multi-attendee meetings coordinated from Google Calendar event
You can coordinate meeting times between multiple attendees by utilizing Google Calendar’s option to share your calendar.
Now sharing your calendar may not sound fun. You don’t need everyone seeing what you are doing all the time. But with the Google Calendar options you can share your calendar with colleagues and keep your privacy.
Let’s walk through how to share calendars and then use that to coordinate meeting times.
Sharing your calendar with Meredith colleagues
By following these directions, you will share your Google Calendar and
- it only shares among Meredith employees
- times only show as free/busy, not your event titles
- sharing can be turned off any time
View the video below to change your settings to share your calendar.
This has not been a widely publicized setting so you may need to encourage other colleagues to share their calendars for this to work well.
Coordinate calendars with “Find a Time” option
With shared calendars, it is now so easy to find a common meeting time. Just use the Find a Time tab when creating a calendar event. Watch the video below for step-by-step instructions.
We hope you can use at least one of these methods regularly to create a smoother, quicker scheduling experience. If you have any questions about this or other Google Calendar options, please contact IDAT services.