Meetings take up enough time as it is. Atlassian’s research of 5,000 knowledge workers revealed that 78% of people attend so many meetings that it’s hard to finish their work.
That doesn’t account for the amount of time it takes to schedule and coordinate each one of those meetings. Add time zones across distributed workforces, the need to reserve Focus Time for deep work, and personal commitments dispersed across calendars to support flexible working—and before you know it, we’re lost in a deep sea of calendar madness (and wasted time).
There’s a better way. Group meeting schedulers can help team members cut back on meeting coordination chaos. Keep reading to learn what group meeting schedulers can do for you, their advantages, and how Clockwise is the best group scheduler for businesses.
What is a group meeting scheduler?
A group meeting scheduler automates meeting scheduling between meeting attendees for a seamless coordination experience. These tools reduce back-and-forth lengthy email threads and chat app messages in which you share your availability (often feeling like an intense ping-pong game of “I’m available at this time!” and “I’m not, so try again!”).
They allow you to easily share your schedule without giving it much thought. Every individual you add to a meeting is another schedule you must consider during the scheduling process. That’s where group meeting schedulers can help.
What to look for in a group meeting scheduler
Many group meeting schedulers are available, but some tools reign supreme in functionality. Here are some of the key features to look for when choosing which tool will work best for you:
- Ease of use and management: The point of group meeting schedulers is to simplify the meeting coordination process (not add more layers and complexity). Finding a tool that’s easy to use for you and any of your future meeting participants is crucial.
- Internal and external scheduling capabilities: Scheduling links are sometimes thought of as a tool to share your availability with those who don’t have access to your calendar, like clients, vendors, and other third parties. However, the best scheduling link tools make it easy for you to book meetings internally and externally. Even if you have visibility into your teammate’s calendars, coordinating across time zones and priorities can be challenging (and team members don’t always check each other’s calendars).
- Available integrations: Your group meeting scheduler should integrate with your calendar of choice (like Google Calendar or Microsoft Outlook) as a minimum requirement. But the more integrations, the better! Consider all the tools you use daily (e.g., video conferencing software like Zoom, project management tools like Asana, and chat apps like Slack) to manage your schedule and to-dos. Integrations with these tools can help you avoid disrupting your current workflows (or optimize them to make them more efficient).
Advantages of using a group meeting scheduler
There’s a lot to love when using a group meeting scheduler. Here’s what you can expect when you find and use the right tool for you.
Save time for more impactful work
If you spend a fraction of your workday drafting emails or sending Slack messages back and forth to find a time to meet, you’re losing time to administrative work unnecessarily. Instead, a group meeting scheduler (that automates the process without giving it much thought) helps you save time for more impactful work—the type that leads organizations and teams forward to drive results.
Find suitable meeting times
At Clockwise, we champion the inclusion and accessibility of hiring team members, regardless of location and time zone. At the same time, we know it can be difficult to sit down with your calendar and find a time to meet with teammates spread across the globe, such as in California, New York, London, and New Delhi. It’s tough to convert time zones (even with tools that can help), but it’s also tricky to pinpoint a suitable time that works within the overlaps. Group meeting schedulers streamline this process and handle these calculations and considerations behind the scenes.
Maintain control of your workday
If you are in a role that requires a significant amount of meetings with external parties (vendors, clients, prospects, etc.), you may be no stranger to the entire workday slipping away to meetings beyond your control. (Especially if you work with people who send meeting invites without checking to see if it’s a good time slot to meet first.) The best group meeting schedulers help you maintain (or regain) control of your workday by allowing you to balance sharing your availability with time preserved for cranking through your to-do list.
Reduce the likelihood of meeting conflicts
Have you ever received a meeting invite from a teammate and immediately noticed they scheduled over another meeting on your calendar? My initial reaction goes one of two ways: “What gives?” or “Did you even look at my calendar before scheduling a meeting?” Group meeting schedulers can eliminate this friction by helping you find time to meet with your team without causing conflicts.
How Clockwise has become the modern group scheduler for businesses
Clockwise is the modern group scheduler for companies like Shopify, Notion, Headspace, Hotjar, Asana, Atlassian, and many more (and for good reasons—we offer all the features you need to end meeting scheduling madness).
Easily schedule meetings with your team
First, Clockwise makes internal team meeting scheduling a breeze. When you connect your calendar and set your workday preferences (your meeting and working hours, lunch holds, Focus Time preferences, and more), Clockwise can quickly help you find time for your team to meet while accommodating everyone’s schedules. Say goodbye to coordinating meetings across time zones and sending out invites only to update them repeatedly until you find a time that works.
Our new conversational AI calendar assistant makes group scheduling more effortless than ever. You tell Clockwise who you need to meet with on your team and when, and Clockwise AI Scheduler finds (or makes) time. All you have to do is review Clockwise’s suggestions and changes and confirm them.
Schedule group meetings with external contacts
Clockwise works well for scheduling internal group meetings, but we also offer scheduling links and round-robin options to help you share your availability with external stakeholders.
With Clockwise Scheduling Links, you can share your availability without relinquishing total control of your calendar, allowing you to have the type of workday or workweek you want or need. Maximize your Focus Time, availability, or balance both; share your link, and you’re all set! Scheduling Links use AI to suggest meeting times that optimize your schedule, not just share your next available white space. Single-person Scheduling Links are unlimited on our free plan.
Do you need some team members to hop on an external call with you? No problem! Group scheduling aggregates your team's availability and only displays meeting times when everyone is available to external attendees. Scheduling a group meeting has never been easier. Get a meeting on the books without drowning in Slack notifications or unopened Gmail threads.
Round-robin group scheduling for meeting distribution
Within Scheduling Links (or meeting links), we created an option to enable round-robin functionality for shared meeting distribution among team members. That means you can make a group link and share it, and any requests that come in using the team’s link will evenly distribute the scheduling across those who can take the meeting. This setting works well for team members who share the same level of responsibility, for example, a team of customer service representatives who serve the same audience.
We took round-robin scheduling a step further by giving you more options and allowing you to create various combinations based on meeting time availability, followed by teammate availability, and then by priority. Below is an overview of our weighted model, which allows you to customize group scheduling even more.
Off to another group meeting
Don’t waste your time on administrative overhead and calendar chaos. The right group meeting scheduler can help you coordinate meetings so you can focus on the outputs that matter—like effective meeting preparation, impactful work that drives results, and more. Clockwise is a group meeting scheduler that helps teams schedule internal and external meetings in a flash. Try it today.
About the author
Alyssa Towns has written productivity and time management content for Clockwise for several years. Early in her career, she dove into time management strategies to effectively manage her workday calendar and 10+ C-Suite officers' calendars across various organizations. She uses her training in change management to write time management, the future of work, and career content that helps people change their behaviors and habits. In addition, she writes about artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology for G2's Learn Hub. When she isn't writing, Alyssa enjoys trying new restaurants with her husband, playing with her Bengal cats, adventuring outdoors, or reading a book from her TBR list.
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