Using Find A Time In Google Calendar

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@LisaBerghoff

I consider myself a generally patient person. I do have some pet peeves that drive me nuts but none of them are so overwhelming that they interfere with my day to day existence. One thing that interests me is problem-solving ways to save time and be more efficient and many of the things that bug me are really just things that could be taken care of more efficiently. Since time is so precious in our school day, I just hate to see it wasted by people either in person or via email trying to figure out a time to meet. We are spending time trying to find a time? This makes no sense to me. That's why I am a fan of the Find A Time feature in Google calendar. I'm often surprised to find out how many people don't know this exists. Our administrative assistants definitely know how to use this feature and all of you should too. 

What Is Find A Time? 

This is a feature that is built into Google calendar events. It is designed to make it easier to book times that everyone is available without needing to contact them. 

How Do I Use Find A Time?

• Open Google Calendar and click Search For People on the left.
• Start typing the person's name and choose who you want to meet with.
• At the top left click Create + and choose Event.
• Click Find A Time. 

This will open your guests' calendars on top of your own so you can see when there is an opening for all of you. As you move through the calendar, everyone's calendars will move as well.

What Needs To Happen For This To Work Well?

There are a few things to consider. 

First, the people you're looking to meet with must have their Google calendars up to date. If your Google calendar is not up to date, I encourage you to take care of that as soon as possible. 

Next, you should see their calendar times as free/busy. This is a setting within your calendar. If you don't want your colleagues to see every detail of your day, go into your calendar settings and adjust this. You will see it under "Access Permissions For Events".

Finally, this will work with anyone in our domain (district) and anyone who has shared their calendar with you. If you are trying to schedule with someone from outside the district and they have not shared their calendar with you, you will not see the Find A Time feature. 

That's it! I love when there is a simple feature that can help solve for a time consuming problem. Want some help figuring out how to get the most out of your Google calendar? I'm happy to connect and work on it with you.