Guide to Using Outlook Calendar for Meeting Arrangements Using Outlook Calendar to arrange meetings and share information on availability across the university can help to save time on administration and contribute towards team efficiency. This guide will show you how to do the following: Page No. View your Outlook Calendar 2 Arrange a meeting 3 Reply to a meeting request 6 Invite a new attendee to a meeting that has already been set up 8 Reschedule your meeting 9 Keep track of your meeting 9 Cancel your meeting 10 Set up a series of recurring meetings 11 Reschedule a meeting that is part of a series of meetings 12 Cancel a meeting that is part of a series of meetings 13 View a shared calendar 14 Show annual or flexi leave on a team calendar 16 Delete annual or flexi leave from a team calendar 16 1
How to View your Outlook Calendar Click on then click on a particular date from the monthly calendar at the top of the page. The default will be to show today s date: Click on a particular date from the monthly calendar The day will be displayed on the right with time slots listed for the main part of the day You can use the scroll bar to find times earlier than 08:00 or later than 17:00 You can choose a different view by clicking the selection buttons on the ruler at the top of your screen: 2
How to Arrange a Meeting You can create and send requests for meetings. When you create a meeting, you identify the people to invite and you pick a meeting time. Responses to your meeting request appear in your Inbox. Follow these steps to set up a meeting: From your Calendar view click on 1 Enter a Subject and Location 2 Enter a Start and End time using the date and time fields You can set a reminder to alert all attendees before the meeting starts The default will show this time as busy in your calendar You will need to consider the best time to set up your meeting. Outlook can help you check when people are available or busy. To do this you must invite people to your meeting. 3 To invite the people to your meeting click and then click the button which has appeared above the Subject line. 4 Type the name of the person you want to invite then click Required to add them to your list of attendees If you cannot find the person listed make sure that you have selected Global Address List 5 When you have selected all the people required click OK for them to be transferred to your meeting request 3
6 To check whether your attendees are available at this time click on the Scheduling tab Your attendees will be listed to the left Coloured bands will show when they are busy Your proposed meeting time will be highlighted. If there are no coloured bands shown at your proposed meeting time then your attendees are available. Please be aware that the accuracy of this view depends on how up to date these attendees have kept their own personal calendars within Outlook. 7 When you are happy that you have chosen the most appropriate time for everyone, go back to your meeting request by clicking the tab. Check the details of your meeting then click the button on the top left corner of your meeting request screen. You will receive replies to your meeting request in your inbox. These can vary depending on whether the people can attend. Note: Also see How to Keep Track of your Meeting What should I do if I can t see my colleague s availability? Sometimes you may find a colleague s calendar is blocked out with black diagonal lines This means that their calendar does not have advance viewing of this time period. To make their calendar available your colleague should open their calendar and carry out these steps: 4
1 Click Tools -> Options 2 Under the Calendar section click Calendar Options 3 Under the Advance Options section click Free/Busy Options 4 Enter the number of months ahead to be viewed in advance Then click on all screens to return to the normal calendar view Can I use Distribution Lists to invite attendees? Yes, using distribution lists is a quick way to invite a lot of attendees. However, care should be taken because some people are included in more than one distribution list and this may result in them receiving your meeting request a number of times. Check for duplicates as follows: 1 Create your meeting request and add the distribution lists to the field 2 Click the sign next to each distribution list to expand them Click The distribution lists will be expanded and you can check if any names are duplicated. Use the scroll bars to check through the whole list as some names may be out of your immediate view 3 Delete all duplicates before sending your meeting request 5
How to Reply to a Meeting Request You will received a meeting request in your inbox 1 Double click on the meeting request to view the details 2 There are various buttons at the top of the screen for you to choose from: Accept Tentative Decline Propose New Time Click Accept if you are able to go to the meeting. This will send a reply to the meeting organiser and the meeting request will be transferred from your inbox to your calendar. Click on and you will see your meeting listed there. Your calendar is marked with a solid band indicating that you are busy at this time Click Tentative if you are not sure if you can attend the meeting. Click Edit the response before sending if you wish to send an explanation with your reply Enter your explanation and click This will send a reply to the meeting organiser and the meeting request will be transferred from your inbox to your calendar. Click on and you will see your meeting listed there. 6
Your calendar is marked with a striped band indicating that you may be busy at this time If, at a later date, you find that you can accept or need to decline the meeting you can sent a new reply. Just double click on the meeting in your calendar and click the appropriate button. This will keep the meeting organiser up to date on how many people will be attending. Click Propose New Time if you would like to attend the meeting but would prefer it to be held at a different time. Use the drop down menus to enter your proposed date or time Then click Propose Time Check that your proposed time is correct You can add a message if you wish Then click A message will be sent to the meeting organiser Click Decline if you cannot attend the meeting. A message will be sent to the meeting organiser. The details of the meeting will NOT appear in your calendar 7
How to invite a new attendee to a meeting that has already been set up You can invite additional people to a meeting even though you have already sent out the original meeting request. Within your calendar double click on the proposed meeting to open up the details 1 Click on Actions -> Add or Remove Attendees 2 Type the name of the additional person you want to invite then click Required to add them to your list of attendees 3 When you have selected all the additional people required click OK for them to be transferred to your meeting request If you cannot find the person listed make sure that you have selected Global Address List You will see that your additional person has been added to your list of attendees 4 Click Send Update 5 Choose whether you want to send the update to everyone involved in the meeting or just to the new attendee. Then click 8
How to Reschedule your Meeting If your meeting has been rescheduled you can change the date, time or location of your meeting and send an update to the people that are involved. Within your calendar double click on the proposed meeting to open up the details 1 Change appropriate details such as: Location Date Time 2 Write a note explaining that the meeting has been rescheduled. 3 Click the button at the top of the screen. A new meeting request will be sent to all the people involved and will update in their calendars with the new details. They can then accept or decline the new appointment. How to Keep Track of your Meeting Once your meeting has been set up and you have received replies from the attendees you can check who will be attending. Within your calendar double click on the proposed meeting to open up the details Your meeting request displays a summary of how many people will be attending, how many have declined and how many are unsure. Click on the Tracking tab for a more detailed list of attendees 9
Within the Tracking tab you will see your list of attendees Details of who will be attending is also listed How to Cancel your Meeting Within your calendar double click on the meeting to open up the details. 1 Click on Action -> Cancel Meeting g 2 Click Send cancellation and delete meeting Then Click 3 Type a message telling the attendees that the meeting has been cancelled. Then Click Outlook does not automatically remove items from individual calendars so it is a good idea to remind people to click the Remove from Calendar button. 10
Attendees will receive a cancellation which looks like this: The Remove from Calendar button is in the top left corner of the screen How to set up a Series of Recurring Meetings Sometimes it is necessary to schedule a meeting every month or every week such as for regular committees or team meetings. Outlook allows you do this in one meeting request. Follow these steps to set up a recurring meeting: From your Calendar view click on 1 Enter the Subject, Location, Start Time and End Time details for your meeting. 2 Invite the attendees for the meeting 3 Click the Recurrence button at the top of the meeting request You will find that the details for your recurring meeting have been itemised 4 Check that the details are correct and make any amendments necessary You can set the start and end time of the series of meetings Then Click OK and Please be aware that attendees must accept the recurring meeting request in order for them to be displayed in their own calendar. 11
How to Reschedule a Meeting that is Part of a Series of Meetings If one meeting in a series has to be rescheduled you can change the date, time or location of your meeting and send an update to the people that are involved. Within your calendar double click on the proposed meeting to open up the details 1 In order to change the details for this meeting Click Open this Occurrence The click 2 Change the Location, date and time as appropriate 3 Type a message explaining that the meeting has been rescheduled 4 Click the button at the top of the screen. A new meeting request will be sent to all the people involved and will update in their calendars with the new details. They can then accept or decline the new appointment. 12
How to Cancel a Meeting that is Part of a Series of Meetings Within your calendar double click on the meeting to open up the details. 1 In order to change the details for this meeting Click Open this Occurrence Then click 2 Click on Action -> Cancel Meeting g 3 Click Delete this occurrence Then click 4 Click Send cancellation and delete meeting Then Click 3 Type a message telling the attendees that the meeting has been cancelled. Then Click Outlook does not automatically remove items from individual calendars so it is a good idea to remind people to click the Remove from Calendar button. 13
Attendees will receive a cancellation which looks something like this: The Remove from Calendar button is in the top left corner of the screen Please note: If you wish to cancel a complete series of meetings then click the series at points 1 and 3. How to View a Shared Calendar Many teams have shared calendars for keeping track of annual leave and meetings attended by that team. In order to view a shared calendar you will need to have your permissions set by the owner of the calendar. Some calendars are owned by and some are owned by School or Service Administrators. To find out the owner of a calendar and further advice on how to proceed please contact the Helpline on 4242. Once you have had your permissions set to access the shared calendar you can add it to your Outlook Calendar view by following these steps: 1 Confirm the name of the calendar and where to find it in the Public Folders 2 Open the Public Folders list. To do this, go to the view of Outlook. You will find a group of icons to the bottom left of your Outlook screen Click on the icon that looks like a folder Scroll down the Folder List and click on the sign next to Public Folders Click on the sign next to All Public Folders and navigate to your shared calendar 3 Right click on your shared calendar and Add to Favorites Check that your chosen folder is highlighted and click 14
You will find your shared calendar listed in your Favorites folder under Public Folders 4 Right click on the shared calendar and select Add to Other Calendars Return to view 5 Your shared calendar will be listed under Other Calendars. Check the tick box for your shared calendar to be displayed Your chosen calendars will be displayed side by side You can see who is on leave and the meetings that are booked 15
How to Show Annual or Flexi Leave on a Team Calendar It is helpful to know when members of your team are on leave or away on a training course. This can easily be indicated on the team calendar so that all members can check on a daily basis who is in and who is out. 1 From the team calendar double click on the date 2 In the Subject field enter the name and reason 3 Check that Reminder is unticked 4 Check that All day event is ticked 5 Click on Save and Close for the details to be transferred to the calendar You will find your new entry has been added to the list for that day How to delete Annual or Flexi Leave from a Team Calendar Double click on the item you want to delete Click on the Delete button The item will be removed from the list 16