There is software out there that can help you organise all your meetings, we provide some suggestions...
Life is busy right? You need to factor in time for: work (and all its subcategories), family, friends, romantic life, kid’s (care, homework, extra curricular activities, play dates), dog walks, home renovations and upkeep, personal admin, fitness, food prepping, keeping your hobbies and passions afloat, watching the latest trending series and don’t forget factoring in time for that all important self care and sleep! That is just one diary. Trying to arrange and coordinate a meeting of two persons with two such diaries can be an absolute logistical nightmare! You end up stuck in a relentless back and forth - the longest rally you have ever seen!
Enter in our favourite word - software. There is software out there that solves this problem for you and eliminates all the tedious hassle and chasing.
Calendly
At AppDrawn we are big advocates and users of Calendly. How it works is, you can connect your existing calendars (work or personal) to Calendly and it will scan and highlight your spare/free time slots. You can then create different event type templates such as 1 to 1 meetings, coffee catch ups, interviews - whatever that looks like for you - with assigned lengths of time for each type. Calendly will then figure out where these event types can fit within your existing schedule. All you have to do is simply share a link for the relevant event type, with whoever you are trying to organise a time with and Calendly will send them your availability and they can book straight into your calendar without you having to lift a finger! Calendly will not show or divulge the rest of the contents of your diary, so you do not need to worry about accidentally sharing anything private or personal.
How to connect your calendar to Calendly
- Got to Account > Calendar Connection (top right hand corner)
- Select the type of calendar you want to connect ( Google, Office 365 etc)
- Confirm/adjust settings on Calendar Connection page.
How to set up an event template
Calendly provide default event templates which can be accessed on the homepage. However you can customise them to make them work better for you:
- Select an event.
- Select the type of event and enter what you would like to call it. For e.g. Introductory Interview, Coffee etc.
- Enter a location for the event be it a physical address or opt for an online meeting.
- Save and Close.
- Choose when people can book this event.
- Amend the duration as applicable.
- Determine how far into advance people can book in time with you.
- Times marked as busy in the calendar you connected to Calendly will already be marked off but there is the opportunity to block off more times as well.
- Select Save and Close.
Alternatives for coordinating larger groups of people
What is that famous turn of phrase? It is like herding a bunch of cats! There are plenty of software alternatives that help you navigate and consolidate plans within larger groups. But for now we are going to focus on the hive of group activity - WhatsApp Groups.
WhatsApp Polls
In their latest update at the end of last year, WhatsApp introduced a poll function. Instead of trawling back through your chat to see and log who has responded to your message, you can set up a streamlined poll instead - easy to find and way less work!
How to set up a WhatsApp poll?
- Click the paperclip icon in the message box
- Select Poll
- Create a Poll Title
- Add options - Our little top tip for you is to set an option for ‘cannot make any of the above.’ This way you know that everyone has voted and you are not waiting on a reply.