10 Tips for Collaborative Calendaring

Source: Malvestida Magazine/Unsplash

Want to signal to new and established colleagues alike that you are a good collaborator? Here are 10 calendaring moves you can use to communicate that you take others’ needs into account and that you’re willing to pitch in a little extra for the good of the group.

Calendaring is one of those situations where the little things make a big difference in how people perceive you.

Moves That Matter

1. Present your availability in terms of their time zone, not yours. Doing so signals perspective-taking and an enthusiasm for making their life a little easier.
2. Present your availability to correspond to times when they’re likely to be available. If you know a colleague has kids and has previously shared how important evening family time is to them, don’t suggest meeting at 5:30 p.m. Honoring their boundaries subtly signals that you’re paying attention to what they value and that you realize your project is by far not the only thing they have going on in their lives.
3. Reply promptly to requests for your availability. Jenny Lambe, associate professor of communication at the University of Delaware, recommends, “When trying to schedule for multiple people, respond quickly to requests for availability via Doodle or When2Meet.” Doing so enables the scheduler to lock in a time sooner rather than later, which decreases the chances that an otherwise promising window of shared availability will disappear (which might then mean another annoying round of scheduling emails).
4. For off-site in-person meetings, hold the other person’s convenience in mind when suggesting locations. Dawn Zerbs, co-founder of The Essential Pencil, suggests, “Ask which part of the city they’ll be coming from that day—or even better, ask them what their favorite coffee shop is and offer to meet them there.” Sure, this might mean you have to go out of your way, but doing so communicates volumes about your enthusiasm for working together. At the very least, work to find a place that’s mutually convenient for you both versus assuming they should trek to your neck of the woods.
5. Invite other options. When you send a scheduling link (e.g., Calendly), invite the other person to let you know if your windows don’t match up with theirs. While it is important to protect your time (e.g., I hold mornings for writing), it is just as important for the other person to protect their time. If your windows of availability don’t happen to align, don’t be the jerk who always insists everyone adjusts their calendars to accommodate you. Offering flexibility when it’s needed signals a willingness and ability to compromise in service to meeting both people’s goals.
6. Send the calendar invite. This is such a simple gesture that says, “No reason we should both spend the few minutes it would take to get this in our calendars when one of us can knock it out for both.”
7. Include both of your names in the calendar event title. Doing so enables both of you to know at a glance who will be in the meeting without clicking through to examine the invite list. The calendar entry needs to make sense to both of you, so think about how it will look from the other person’s perspective. Personally, I include three pieces of information: the meeting type (i.e., platform, phone, in-person), the meeting focus (i.e., “get to know,” or a particular project), and meeting attendees (e.g., either the names of the individuals or the working group). My calendar is thus filled with entries that look like this... [PHONE] Get to know: Alice<>Deb.
8. Thank the admin. Administrative assistants juggle an incredible number of details while navigating shifting sands. An admin who finds you time on a busy executive’s calendars deserves a quick note of thanks. And, when you express your gratitude, you’re also saying that you understand that it takes real humans to make business work.
9. Ask first. Even if you have scheduling access to someone else’s calendar, ask before you hold time. One of the surest ways to create psychological reactance in another human is to impinge on their autonomy. Imposing yourself on someone else’s time is a huge no-no in my book. Instead, just ask: “Hey, Deb, I’d like to talk for 15 minutes about the Smith account. Would you prefer that I add a meeting to your calendar directly or shall I schedule through you?”
10. Lighten the cognitive load. Sarah Douville and her team at Academic Progress Intelligence, Inc. maintain a calendar that just shows availability. This is the only calendar they share with external partners, which means people can easily look for overlap in availability as opposed to seeking out gaps in a busy calendar. Douville adds, “As a fully remote team, calendaring has become an important issue for us!”

Caveats and Cautions

While all these calendaring moves send the signal that you’re someone who is easy to work with, a few caveats are in order.

First, I think of these as opening moves, a way to step out on the right foot. After that, I pay attention to whether the other person makes similar moves on my behalf down the line. If I’m always the one accommodating another person, that’s a huge red flag. Quite frankly, I’m not eager to collaborate with someone who is comfortable always being in the receiving role of good deeds.

Second, be cautious of gender and other power dynamics that could be at play. Ladies, you’re not expected to be the organizer. Fellas, step up to the plate. Everyone, genuinely thank others for doing the extra legwork.

Third, the truth is some people really do have less flexibility than others. If you’re one of those poor souls who has to spend eight hours every day in meetings, some of these tips (like trekking to a different part of the city) are probably not going to suit your reality. In that case, just be sure to make a point of noticing and appreciating others’ efforts to make your life a little bit easier.