How can you use Outlook to schedule meetings with multiple attendees?

1 Send meeting requests

The first step to schedule a meeting with multiple attendees is to send a meeting request. A meeting request is an email that invites the recipients to a meeting and includes the date, time, location, and agenda. To create a meeting request, you need to open a new email and click on the Meeting button in the Home tab. This will open a new window where you can enter the details of the meeting. You can also use the Scheduling Assistant to see the availability of the attendees and avoid conflicts. To add attendees, you can type their names or email addresses in the To field, or click on the To button to select them from your contacts or address book. You can also choose the level of response you want from the attendees: Required, Optional, or Resource. Required means that the attendee must accept or decline the meeting request. Optional means that the attendee can choose to attend or not. Resource means that the attendee is a room or equipment that you need for the meeting.

2 Find the best time

One of the most difficult aspects of scheduling a meeting with multiple attendees is finding the best time for everyone. Outlook can help you with this by using the Scheduling Assistant and the Find Time feature. The Scheduling Assistant is a tool that shows you a calendar view of the availability of the attendees based on their free/busy information. You can access it by clicking on the Scheduling Assistant button in the Meeting tab. You can use the slider to adjust the duration of the meeting and the arrows to change the date and time. You can also see the conflicts and suggestions for each attendee by hovering over their name. The Find Time feature is an add-in that helps you find the optimal time for a meeting based on the preferences and votes of the attendees. You can access it by clicking on the Find Time button in the Home tab. You can select up to five possible times for the meeting and send them to the attendees for them to vote. The add-in will then show you the most preferred time and automatically schedule the meeting for you.

3 Manage responses

The final step to schedule a meeting with multiple attendees is to manage the responses. Outlook will notify you when an attendee accepts, declines, or proposes a new time for the meeting. You can view and track the responses by opening the meeting request and clicking on the Tracking button in the Meeting tab. You can also update or cancel the meeting if needed. To update the meeting, you can make changes to the details of the meeting and click on the Send Update button. This will send a new email to the attendees with the updated information. To cancel the meeting, you can click on the Cancel Meeting button and send a cancellation email to the attendees. You can also include a message to explain why the meeting is cancelled.

4 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?