Real-time meetings can be hard to schedule, especially in distributed teams. Before scheduling a calendar event, always ask yourself if you can achieve the same outcome in some other way.
If not, you'll need to find a time that works. Here are some tips on that…
Who needs to be there?
It takes surprisingly few meetings to fill up a calendar, especially if they’re recurring. Think carefully about the goal of your meeting and who needs to be there to achieve that goal. Remember you can always record the call to keep others in the loop afterwards.
The 8-18-1800 rule can help here…
- If you're solving a problem or making a decision, invite no more than 8 people.
- If you need to brainstorm, invite no more than 18 people. (Large brainstorms can be really useful, but remember that more people means more prep and facilitation work for you.)
- If you're rallying the troops, invite 1,800 (or do it via a recorded video!)
When’s a good time?
Once you know who needs to be there, you’ve got to find a time that works for everyone. For small meetings, you can use scheduling assistant to find a good time (see Using Your Calendar Effectively). Here are some tips:
- Think ahead and book as far in advance as possible.
- Respect other's working hours - if you need to book outside these ask first or make it clear they can decline in the invite.
- Consider defaulting to 25 or 50 minutes so busy folks have time to reset between calls.
- If you can't find a slot that works, send a scheduling link so attendees can choose their own.
- Think carefully before booking meetings which...
- Are adjacent to an obviously important meeting. (Eg. Don't book a coffee with the CEO right before a board meeting.)
- Eat into an obvious "precious zone". (Eg. If I'm in UTC & need to book a with someone also in UTC and I see they have lots of late afternoon meetings, I can assume they work with folks in the Americas and that time is precious to them. Since we can speak anytime, I should avoid booking late afternoon.)
The golden rule is to be as considerate as possible when choosing a time slot ❤️
Recurring Meetings
For recurring meetings with multiple attendees, you might need to give it a bit more thought….
- Think about what you're trying to achieve and ask yourself if you need a weekly call... could you achieve the same goal with less frequent meetings? What if you made them longer but less frequent? (This is especially important if someone has to join at an awkward time of day... we're much more willing to accept this if it's infrequent and provides real value. Optimise for this.)
- If your team is spread across many time zones, any time you choose will be awkward (or impossible) for someone. The bigger the team, the more this is a problem. Consider scheduling two or three meetings with similar goals or agendas (Eg. one each for LATAM, EMEA & APAC, or for each sub-team or project squad.) If one group is discussing or brainstorming, they could hand off their work for the next group to continue. Orchestrating this can take some thought, but can really build a sense of team across sub-groups.
- Consider varying the time on a schedule, so it’s not always at an inconvenient time for the same person/people.
- If you've scheduled a recurring meeting and just one of your team routinely declines it, you should think seriously about how to include them.
- Always record meetings so people can catch up afterwards. Even better, summarise the key points in a document or Loom video and share that with the wider team.
Sending an invite
Follow the guidance in Using Your Calendar Effectively when sending your calendar invite.