How to Find a Meeting Time That Works for Everyone?

Sometimes, finding a perfect meeting time that works for everyone can be a really exhausting task. Organizing an appropriate meeting time might be difficult due to different time zones, work hours, and personal responsibilities.

Did you know that employees spend 392 hours per year in meetings? Even 71% of professionals waste time every week due to unnecessary or canceled meetings.

If you want to improve the overall efficiency of your business and minimize no-shows, keep reading this article. We will cover important advice on how to find a meeting time that works for everyone.   

Different Factors to Consider When Scheduling a Meeting

There are several factors organizations have to consider when choosing a suitable time that works for everyone when it comes to online meetings, including Automated time zone detection. Here is the list of the most important factors that can impact meeting attendance.

• Different Time Zones: Organizations often have teams spread across various regions. Scheduling meetings that accommodate all participants’ local times can be challenging. It’s crucial to find a time that works reasonably well for everyone to ensure maximum attendance and participation.
• Flexible Working Hours:  Employees may have different working hours as remote work and flexible scheduling becomes more common. Some people like early morning meetings, while others may be more productive later in the day. Taking these preferences into account might help you choose a time that works best for the majority.
• Personal Responsibilities: Besides work commitments, employees have personal commitments such as childcare, errands, or other household responsibilities. Understanding and respecting these can lead to better attendance and engagement during meetings, as participants won’t be distracted or unable to join.

Best Tools for Finding Perfect Meeting Time 

1. Wellpin 

Wellpin is a free scheduling assistant that helps people schedule and organize their meetings and calendars in one place. This free cloud-based software integrates well with Google Callendar, Google Meet, and Zoom. 

With this range of integrations, Wellpin makes it easy to keep everything in sync. Users can manage schedules, avoid double-scheduling, and lower the chance of not attending. With all these features in hands, users can easily find a meeting time that works for everyone

2. Google Callendar 

Google Callendar is one of the most popular free online calendar tools. According to statistics, in 2019, about 69.7% of U.S. employees used Google Calendar at work. It integrates well with other tools and software such as Asana, Zoom, and Trello, which makes it great for all kinds of users to manage their tasks, meetings, and deadlines all in one place. 

3. Doodle

Doodle is a platform where users can create scheduling polls to find the best time for a meeting or event. Doodle has a straightforward interface and it’s easy to use. Pool results from Doodle are in real-time, and users don’t need to create an account to vote which makes scheduling accessible to everyone. 

4. Calendly 

Callendly is an online scheduling app that helps users automate the process of finding and booking meeting times. Users can set their available time slots which participants can choose from, without the need for for back-and-forth emails.

Canlendly is highly customizable. Users can set buffer times between meetings and set a maximum number of appointments per day, and it offers advanced notice requirements.

Additionally, this app also integrates with different tools for productivity and collaboration, CRM and sales tools, payment processing, and video conferencing tools. 

5. When2meet

When2meet is an online scheduling tool created to help groups find the best time for meetings or events. It’s similar to Doodle, but unlike Doodle, When2meet offers more basic features. This tool also has a straightforward interface. It’s a good option for users who don’t need additional features. 

Tips for Effective Meeting Scheduling

While the scheduling tools we mentioned above can help users to find a meeting time that works for everyone, there are several general tips for more effective meeting scheduling, Trying to incorporate these few tips can help users to boost their scheduling efforts and minimize misunderstanding. 

1. Set Clear Goals

Setting clear goals is one of the crucial points when scheduling a meeting. To help participants understand the purpose of the meeting, prepare an agenda and set points you want to cover during a meeting.  This way, everyone is on the same page. Prepared participants making meetings more productive 

2. Involve Participants in Time

One of the most successful tips is to ask participants about their availability in advance. Tools such as Doodle or When2meet can help users achieve better engagement and get higher attendance. This way users can pick a time slot that works for most people. 

3. Establish Clear Communication

Clear communication is key to successful meetings. Once users set a meeting time, it should inform all participants on time, including the agenda, preparing materials, and the estimated duration of the meeting. This clarity allows everyone to understand what to expect and how to prepare. 

4. Send Reminders

Sending reminders can help to reduce no-shows. This will make sure that everyone is ready and on time. Reminder feature is available in many different scheduling tools, so the process is automated and there is no manual job to do. 

Simplify Your Scheduling Process with Wellpin

Finding a meeting time that works for everyone can be a challenging task, but it’s a crucial step for a productive and successful meeting. Considering factors like time zones, work hours, and personal responsibilities can help organizations accommodate all participants.

Using scheduling tools makes the scheduling process easier. Wellpin is a great example of a free scheduling assistant that integrates with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, Microsoft Outlook, Zoom, Slack, and Salesforce. With Wellpin, organizers can manage schedules, avoid double-booking, and get no-shows to a minimum.

With important tips for a successful process and the right arsenal of scheduling and organizing tools in your hand, businesses and organizers can simplify the scheduling process and guarantee that meetings are efficient and well-attended.