Board meeting scheduling

For most meetings, the best-attended date wins and the stragglers catch up. A board meeting either has the people it needs or it does not happen, which means the count matters less than which specific names are on it.

So read the grid by name rather than by number, and put the chair and anyone with a required vote at the top of your mind when you pick. A date with more yeses but missing one of them is not the better date.

• Poll a quarter ahead, or a year ahead for the full schedule of meetings.
• Offer several dates at once - up to 20, which comfortably covers four quarters.
• Turn maybe off. For a quorum question a soft yes is worse than a no.
• Include the time and the expected length, since a half day and two hours are different answers.
• Send the calendar invitation the moment you decide, because external diaries fill fast.

Use the description to say where papers will be and by when. It is not what the poll is for, but it is the question you will otherwise be asked nine times separately, and answering it once in the place everyone is already looking is free.

Can I schedule a whole year of meetings in one poll?

Yes. Up to 20 dates in one poll covers a year of quarterly meetings with alternatives for each.

Do external directors need an account?

No. They open the link and answer, or answer from the invitation email without opening anything.

Is the poll page private?

It is never indexed by search engines and carries no referer, but it is a link, not a password. Keep the title neutral.

Poll the board → Free, and nobody needs an account.

• Workshop date poll
• Interview panel scheduling
• Scheduling a team dinner
• Committee meeting scheduling
• Team offsite scheduling
• Client meeting scheduling

• Meeting poll Send one meeting poll instead of eight emails. Propose the dates, everyone marks what they can make, and the winner is the one with the most yeses.
• Committee meeting scheduling Committees run on goodwill and evenings. Propose the dates, let everyone mark them, and pick the one that keeps the most members in the room.
• A Calendly alternative for group dates Calendly books a slot in one person's calendar. This gets a whole group onto one date. Free, no account, and no calendar to connect.

• 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.