An availability poll collects, from every member of a group, which of a set of proposed dates they can make. The important part is that everyone answers the same closed question: free-form availability replies cannot be combined, while yes, maybe and no against a fixed list of dates add up automatically. Who can when? runs one free, with no account for anyone.
Open questions do not add up
"Let me know when you're free" produces answers in a dozen incompatible shapes: a week, a day, a rule about Tuesdays, a maybe that depends on something else. You cannot stack them, so you end up reconciling them in your head and getting it wrong.
Give people a list and three buttons and the reconciliation is arithmetic that happens on its own.
What to put on the list
- Real candidate dates only. Anything you cannot actually host will win.
- A spread, not a run: two weeknights and a weekend beats three consecutive Tuesdays.
- Times, where the time is the deciding factor for people.
- Room to add. If your options all miss, let participants propose their own.
When the answers are in
The count under each date is the answer. If nothing clears, that is information rather than failure - the group is more constrained than the question assumed, and the fix is more dates, a smaller required group, or two sessions instead of one.
Common questions
- Can people mark partial availability?
- Maybe covers the awkward-but-possible case, and comments cover the detail - "only after 7" belongs there.
- Can I see who has not answered yet?
- Yes, for anyone you invited by email. They can also be reminded, capped at two reminders each.
- How long should I leave it open?
- Two to three days for most groups, a week if it spans a weekend or people are travelling.
Ready when you are
The basics
What a date poll is, and how to run one that people actually answer.
Related
- "When are you free?" The most expensive question you can ask a group. Here is what to ask instead, and a free tool that asks it for you.
- Sports team scheduling Find out who can make which game before you book the pitch. One link, three taps each, no accounts, and the count is right there under every date.
- Team offsite scheduling An offsite is a booking, a travel plan and twenty calendars. Fix the dates first, with one poll, then commit to the rest.
Read next
- How to schedule a meeting with a group A short, practical method for getting a group of people onto one date: how many options to offer, how far ahead to ask, and how to close it out.
Or see everything we have written in one list.