Calendar Booking Etiquette

Confession time! I find the process of booking meetings or arranging when someone should call me, stressful. I did as an Executive Assistant and I still do running my own business! For that reason, I like to have processes in place that minimise stress at any opportunity.

Here are some of my processes that NOW help make booking meetings a breeze:

1. It’s best to say the actual date of the day that you mean.

Have you had that experience of confusing THIS Tuesday with NEXT Tuesday? Because your THIS is different to the other person’s understanding of NEXT? It’s confusing isn’t it?!

There was a video I saw a while ago, sadly I can’t find it now, which shared the results of a survey. They’d asked people what time they thought a meeting was that had originally been planned for 10 am but had been pushed back an hour. Many thought it was 11 am but some thought it was 9 am. That’s the power of language – so being clear is immensely important when booking meetings.

2. Also, be explicit about when you are free. If you are available between 10 am and 3 pm but have a meeting that will be finishing at 10 am and another starting at 3 pm, change that availability to 10:30 am to 2:30 pm so that you allow for transition time.

3. If sending a meeting invite to someone, put both your names in the subject line and be descriptive. “Chat with Sally” doesn’t tell Sally anything about the meeting, let alone who it is with. But “Chat about report Simon<>Sally” reminds both you and Sally of who’s involved and what the meeting will be about.

4. Save everyone time! Apparently, it takes an average of eight emails back and forth to set up a meeting. That’s why apps such as Calendar Hero LINK and Calendly LINK are awesome! I think people used to feel awkward or rude when sending a link. As if they were suggesting that they are SOOOO important. I personally got over that pretty quickly once I realised how much easier it is. And now they are everywhere so most people are quite comfortable receiving such a link.

Let me know if you use any or all of these suggestions. And if you want more help with making meetings even more of a breeze then my new Flexible Twenty Pack Program might just be the ticket. It’s a great way to help you upskill your organisation skills and put in place a thorough process that isn’t going to feel restrictive. For more information, book in for a chat here.

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