You’ve Got A Meeting

But what if you have to schedule a meeting where associates from all over the country are required to meet at a particular date? The task gets daunting, doesn’t it? People might not be available when you call them up, your message might end up in a voice-mail box, and even if you do get them, verbal communication is not considered the most effective medium.

So you fall back on your trusted e-mail client to push the message across. But then, there is more to Microsoft Outlook than just Send/Receive. There are tons of features built into this nifty utility, which can help you manage your work-related tasks.

Thankfully, there’s a way to reach out to multiple recipients and schedule meetings. You can also keep a tab on the run-up to the meeting, and make changes, either in the agenda or the timing.

Step 1. How To Get There
To schedule a meeting using Microsoft Outlook, click on the Calendar tab. Select the date when you want the meeting scheduled. Right-click on the date to open up the dialog box with options such as ‘New Appointment’, ‘New Recurring Meeting’, ‘New Meeting Request’, etc.

Click on ‘New Appointment’ and a new window will open. In this window, you will be presented with options such as Appointment, Schedule, Reminder, etc.

Step 2. Enter Names
Now let’s get the names of people from the Address Book. Click on ‘Address Book’;this will open it up.Double-click on each of the contacts to add them to the recipient list. Click ‘OK’ once you are done. Selected contacts will be displayed beside the ‘To…’ tab. Clicking the ‘To’ tab also brings up the Address Book.

Step 3. Where And Why?
Write the ‘Subject’ and ‘Location’ in their respective fields. This gives the recipients the purpose of the meeting and the location of the meeting at a glance.

Step 4. What Time?
To assign the ‘Start’ and ‘End’ times for the meeting, click on the drop- down menu, or click on the ‘Schedule’ tab, and then set the time. This will reflect in the Start/End Time drop-down menu.

The agenda for the meeting can be described in detail later, while you are drafting the mail, which will get sent to everyone. But once you are through with the above settings, you don’t have to worry about the scheduled time, place, and recipients.

Step 5. Hit The Send Button
When you mail this schedule to the recipients, the task will get added to their calendar. They, however, must accept the schedule. If any of the recipients declines the request, he/she will be out of the loop.

You can also make this a recurring task, if the meeting takes place at regular intervals.

When this is enabled, the recipient will be reminded in advance every time the meeting is due.