Bad Manners and Brimstone
General Etiquette => The Work Day => Topic started by: LadyCap on July 25, 2020, 01:42:56 pm
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What's the etiquette for scheduling meetings between two people as an admin?
I'm a relatively new admin, and my (remote) boss recently asked me to schedule his one-on-ones with half a dozen direct reports. Most of these people are also remote, and only a few share their Outlook calendar with me.
I've never done this before, so ended up sending preliminary emails to each person saying, "How does Monday 1:30-2:00pm work for you for a one-on-one with Bill?" etc. Then I'd put the meeting in Bill's calendar and send the formal Outlook invite for them to accept/deny.
Was this the right way to do it? Or was it too many emails, and people prefer to receive an Outlook invite and then communicate further only if the time/date don't work for them? No one complained, but I do want to do the most professional way the next time Bill asks me to do this for him.
Thank you in advance for any advice!
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That's the way I'd prefer it. Get the time hashed out before sending the invite. I find back and forth Outlook invites annoying.
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I think you handled it fine.
However, as the admin for their boss, I would now send a request that they open their calendar for you to see their availability. That is pretty much standard protocol in my company.
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Thank you for the confirmation! I'll move forward with more confidence next time.
And, Hmmm, I'll take your advice about asking for their calendars.
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I think you handled it fine.
However, as the admin for their boss, I would now send a request that they open their calendar for you to see their availability. That is pretty much standard protocol in my company.
Once you have access to their calendars, it should relieve you of having to do the back and forth emails before scheduling.
I much prefer people to just send me a meeting request for a time that is clear on my calendar.
Of course that presumes that I'm keeping my calendar up to date. I think meeting scheduling runs so much more smoothly if everyone does.
This is how things are usually done in my organization. Of course, things do come up, and meetings sometimes have to be rescheduled. But I much prefer a minimum of emailing. Check the calendar of everyone who needs to attend, send a meeting request, and generally, no further communication is needed beyond the invitees accepting the request.
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I think you handled it fine.
However, as the admin for their boss, I would now send a request that they open their calendar for you to see their availability. That is pretty much standard protocol in my company.
Once you have access to their calendars, it should relieve you of having to do the back and forth emails before scheduling.
I much prefer people to just send me a meeting request for a time that is clear on my calendar.
Of course that presumes that I'm keeping my calendar up to date. I think meeting scheduling runs so much more smoothly if everyone does.
This is how things are usually done in my organization. Of course, things do come up, and meetings sometimes have to be rescheduled. But I much prefer a minimum of emailing. Check the calendar of everyone who needs to attend, send a meeting request, and generally, no further communication is needed beyond the invitees accepting the request.
When you tell them to give you access to their calendars, mention that you will be using the calendar to schedule meetings, so they need to keep it up to date. And soon you will find who does and who does not update their calendar. :)
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I never receive an email asking what time for a meeting would be good for me. It's always sent as a scheduled meeting via outlook. I can then decline (with reason) or accept.
It works well for me.
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Thanks for the different perspectives, all. I think my plan going forward is to request calendars for sure and then just send invites through Outlook. Our team is small enough that if someone has a different preference, or if they just don't keep their calendar up to date, I should be able to be flexible with them where they are.
Ideally, of course, everyone will keep their calendar up to date!
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I have also seen an email saying something like;
Boss would like to meet with you for one-on-ones.
Please put your name in the desired slot and reply to all.
9:00
10:00
11:00
and then when Bob gets it and answers first, the next email
says
9:00
10:00 Bob
11:00
and so on.
Or you could use a survey monkey to ask for possible date/ times
or you could just use your email system (e.g., Outlook) and look for open times on the employees calendars and tell them if that doesn't work just to contac tyou.
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I would prefer you send me a meeting notice and then we will talk if it doesn't work for me.