Desktop Outlook was released in ’97 and has made your life miserable ever since. I kid but not delegating your life to the appropriate personal and shared mailboxes will make managing your mailbox a nightmare. The same can be said about making every effort to reduce your junk mail or simply adding a junk mail account to your life, cutting down on LinkedIn notification noise; and in this case, living intentionally by organizing your time for free time through some basic calendar management. Every working professional can cut down the back and forth jibber jabber and start optimizing their schedule for the way they like to work. You can too!!
Scheduling Time Through Email
“Hi Bill, please suggest some dates/times for our meeting to occur”
The same type of question flipped back on you from Bill will require some forward thinking too. Notice how one carefully constructed email can cut the BS down to a minimum?
Send Availability in Outlook Mobile App
Fortunately, the Outlook Mobile app makes this response easy. Don’t have Outlook mobile? Write the email as follows:
“I am available Friday at noon, Tuesday at 1p and 2p”
Personal Appointments – Got a haircut?
Punch it in on the fly with Outlook Mobile. Every personal and professional commitment should be entered to not miss a beat. There’s nothing worse than encountering someone that needs to be reminded of an event, them double booking or a host is not properly communicating the calendar event date.
How to Create the Calendar Invite in Outlook Desktop
Unfortunately, many working professionals do not know how to create an elegant, to the point calendar invite subject line so all parties involve know what to do.
Calendar Subject Line Examples:
Use your business name first followed by the individual you are working with. Insert a dash after if you more specifics on the event. Do not crowd the subject line w overwhelming detail. That’s what the of the message is for. Here are some Outlook calendar invite examples followed by an illustration of what to insert into the body and possibly the location.
External Events
- NetworkAntics/Bill
- NetworkAntics/Bill – Happy Hour
- NetworkAntics/Acme Widgets
- NetworkAntics/Acme Widgets – Calendar invite training
Internal Meetings
- Jane/Joe – Annual Review
How to send a Team Calendar invite
- In Outlook Calendar, select new appointment
- Create a quality subject based on what you learned above about subject lines
- Add Teams Meeting followed by the email address you wish to invite.
Copy and Paste is your best friend
Did someone delegate you the task of relaying meeting information? Simply copy and paste the meeting details in the body of the calendar invite as illustrated above.
I use Google Calendar
The same technique can be applied. Simply add the Zoom plugin if you are the host.
Zoom Scheduler – Chrome Web Store (google.com)
How to add Zoom Meetings and Teams Conference Calls to a calendar invite
The predominant meeting platforms you come across for conference calls these days are Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Desktop Outlook Calendar integration or plugins come by way of installing Teams desktop application and the Outlook plugin for Zoom. Note: Do not bother installing the plugin for Zoom unless you are hosting Zoom conference calls. Watch the Zoom video for scheduling a meeting in Outlook regardless if you are using Teams or Zoom. You can create a Calendar Invite in Outlook the same way with Teams as you do with Zoom. Just click the right icon.
How to Create a Calendar Invite in Outlook Summary
You can’t achieve free time unless you organize your life. Follow these steps and you will be well on your way to lounging. Enjoy!
Additional Resources:
Office 356 Outlook Mobile Email & Webmail Setup – Network Antics
Outlook Email Support and Organizational Tips – Network Antics
