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Appointment schedules have landed - creating one allows you to share a link with your clients so they can book meetings themselves, without asking you.
Today, we will look at how appointment schedules can make Calendar work exactly like you want.
Need time for a glass of water and finishing your meeting minutes? Want 2 client meetings per day, maximum? Want several schedules? Let's look at how to get you set up.
If you aren't familiar, read how to set up your first appointment schedule here! It's quick and easy.
Appointment schedules allow you to design your own calendar from the ground up
Before we start: There cannot be conflicts between appointment schedules and your normal calendar
Before we start: There cannot be conflicts between appointment schedules and your normal calendar
I get this question a lot: Since appointment schedules and normal events live on the same calendar, aren't there clashes?
Any event on your calendar blocks your time, even before you have accepted the meeting. The only exceptions are a) meetings you decline b) meetings you set to "free".
This avoids double booking - when a client picks a time slot, it will become a normal meeting on your calendar, showing as "busy" to your team. When your team invites you, it will remove an appointment slot from your external schedule.
Having multiple appointment schedules is not crazy
Having multiple appointment schedules is not crazy
Limited or forever schedules
Limited or forever schedules
The scheduling window option lets you create limited schedules! Maybe July is a busy month for you. Maybe that project really does have an end date.
Meet on your own terms
Meet on your own terms
Working from home, from the office, the client? Google Calendar's Working Location has you covered. If you need, your appointment schedule can include the meeting details already (such as location and conferencing).
Maybe your in-person office days are different and you need a dedicated schedule. No problem!
Overlapping schedules
Overlapping schedules
Your appointment schedules can overlap. First come, first serve!
Whether "red team" or "blue team" takes the spot on your calendar first, the resulting event will remove the available slot on the other schedule.
Build in breathing room
Build in breathing room
Buffer time
Buffer time
Nobody likes back-to-back meetings. If you prefer 4 minute breaks between meetings, because that's how long it takes you to get a coffee: Set appointment duration to 26 minutes and 4 minute buffer time.
No more meetings
No more meetings
You can have a maximum of 3 bookings per day. When the limit is hit, Google Calendar will remove all remaining appointment slots for that day, helping spread your workload evenly.
Even more use cases for appointment schedules
Even more use cases for appointment schedules
End the "send me your times" game
End the "send me your times" game
The original and most powerful use case: Everyone using Calendar should have a default appointment schedule. When asked: Yes, you can absolutely send people "some times", in fact you can send them all of your times.
No other calendar does this without expensive add-ons, so show off the tech.
Better office hours
Better office hours
Many managers set up repeating public events with a Google Meet link and hope nobody joins while a) they're on with someone else b) they are alone and email. With Google, we can do better.
Set up your office hour as an appointment schedule. This allows you to cram 4x15 minutes into an hour and set end times, giving others a chance to talk to you too. It's demeaning to have to lurk in Meet's ante-room and wait for the other person to leave. Plus it gives you time back if nobody joins.
Limited availability for specialists
Limited availability for specialists
If you make a portion of your time available for consultation, appointment slots are for you. Your clients can provide information (or qualify themselves) using required fields in your booking form. Once booked, your guests can cancel the meeting themselves without your intervention - and free up space for others. And they get automated reminders to show up.
Special occasions
Special occasions
Time-limited appointment schedules work perfectly for year-end opportunities, career conversations ("Chris, I need access to your calendar to set up a bunch of 1:1s") and project crunch times.
Grab those slots while they're available.
I hope I convinced you of the amazing power of appointment schedules. Over to you - create your default schedule so you have it ready when the next person asks. Adding it to your email signature is a great way to make it even easier for clients, so they don't even have to ask. Thank you for reading!
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