Calendar & Scheduling

What's Changing

Google Calendar becomes Outlook Calendar. Your calendar now lives inside Outlook (the same app as your email) and also inside Microsoft Teams. Same purpose, same concept - just a new home.

What Stays the Same

• Your appointments and meetings - they're all migrated over
• Meeting invites - send and receive them the same way
• Shared calendars - still viewable and shareable
• Reminders and notifications - still pop up before meetings
• Recurring events - they transfer as-is

Finding Your Calendar

In Outlook (Desktop or Web)

1. Open Outlook
2. Click the Calendar icon at the bottom of the left sidebar
3. Your full calendar appears with all your events

Here's what the Outlook Calendar looks like on the web — a week view with your events colour-coded and a "People's calendars" panel on the right:

On the desktop, you can overlay multiple calendars to see everyone's schedule at once — each calendar is colour-coded so you can quickly spot conflicts and availability.

In Teams

1. Open Microsoft Teams
2. Click Calendar in the left sidebar
3. You'll see today's meetings with a Join button when it's time

On Your Phone

1. Open the Outlook app
2. Tap the Calendar tab at the bottom
3. Swipe left/right to change days

Google Calendar to Outlook Calendar - Quick Comparison

Common Tasks

Scheduling a Meeting

1. Click New Event (or New Meeting in Teams)
2. Add a title, date, and time
3. Add attendees by typing their names
4. Use Scheduling Assistant to find a time when everyone is free
5. Add a Teams meeting link if you want a video call option (click "Teams Meeting" toggle)
6. Click Send

Viewing a Colleague's Calendar

1. In Outlook Calendar, click Add Calendar > From Directory
2. Search for your colleague's name
3. Their calendar appears side by side with yours (busy/free times only, unless they've shared details)

Setting a Reminder

• When creating an event, set the Reminder dropdown to your preferred time (15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, etc.)
• Default reminders apply to all new events

Scheduling Assistant - Your Best Friend for Group Meetings

The Scheduling Assistant is one of the biggest upgrades over Google Calendar's "Find a time" feature:

1. When creating a new meeting, click the Scheduling Assistant tab
2. You'll see a timeline for each attendee showing their free/busy blocks
3. Green = free, Blue/Purple = busy, Striped = tentative
4. Drag the meeting block left or right to find a slot where everyone is available
5. Outlook will also suggest times at the top where all attendees are free

This is especially useful for booking meetings with managers or staff across multiple departments - no more back-and-forth emails asking "when are you free?"

Required vs Optional Attendees

When adding people to a meeting:

• Required - they need to be there. If they decline, you'll see a notification
• Optional - they're welcome to attend but the meeting happens without them

This helps attendees prioritize. A team member who's "optional" on a cross-department meeting knows they can skip it if a deadline needs them.

Recurring Meetings

For weekly team meetings or monthly reviews:

1. Create a new meeting as usual
2. Click the Recurrence or Repeat option
3. Choose Weekly, Monthly, or a custom pattern
4. Set an end date or "No end date"

To change just one occurrence (e.g., "this week's meeting is moved to Thursday"): open the event, and choose "Edit this event" instead of "Edit series."

Room Booking

If your office has bookable rooms (boardroom, training room):

1. When creating a meeting, look for "Add a room" or type the room name in the Location field
2. Rooms show up like people in the Scheduling Assistant - you can see if they're free or booked
3. Once you add the room, it's reserved automatically when you send the invite

Ask your IT team which rooms are set up for booking in your office.

Calendar Sharing

Let a colleague see your schedule without giving them edit access:

1. Right-click My Calendar in the left sidebar
2. Select Sharing and Permissions
3. Add the person and choose what they can see (free/busy only, titles, or full details)

This is useful for sales managers who need to see their team's availability, or assistants who coordinate schedules.

RSVP Etiquette

When you get a meeting invite, always respond:

• Accept - you'll be there
• Tentative - you might be there (shows as striped on your calendar)
• Decline - you can't make it (optionally add a reason)

Responding helps the organizer plan. An unanswered invite shows as "None" on their tracking, which creates uncertainty.

Tips for Staff

• Every Teams meeting automatically gets a calendar event - no need to create separate entries
• Use Scheduling Assistant when booking meetings with multiple people - it shows everyone's availability at a glance
• Colour-code your events using Categories (right-click an event > Categorize) to tell apart customer meetings, internal meetings, and personal time
• The Outlook app on your phone shows your calendar and email in one place - super convenient for checking your schedule on the go
• Your Outlook Calendar and Teams Calendar are the same - book in one and it appears in both

Need Help?

1. Most calendar features work just like Google Calendar - try the same steps
2. Contact IT Support
3. Email the Blue Ant Media IT team at it@blueantmedia.com