Committee meetings are usually scheduled in members' own time rather than work time, which makes evenings and weekday-versus-weekend choices decisive and makes any sign-up requirement costly. Propose three to six dates, collect answers through a single link that needs no account, and settle a term or a quarter at a time rather than meeting by meeting.
Schedule the term, not the meeting
Asking every month costs the same effort every month and gets a slightly worse answer each time as people's diaries fill. Poll the whole term or quarter in one go - six dates in one poll - and you buy yourself one conversation instead of four.
It also surfaces the structural problem early: if one member can never make the third Tuesday, you find out in September rather than in March.
Things that decide it for volunteers
- Start time. Anything before 19:00 excludes commuters; anything after 20:00 excludes people with young children.
- Weekday consistency. A fixed weekday is worth more than an optimal date.
- School terms and half terms, which decide it for a good share of most committees.
- Whether it can be joined remotely, which turns some noes into yeses.
- No sign-up, because a committee always contains at least one person who will not make an account.
Keeping a record
The poll page keeps showing who said what and which date was chosen, which is a useful thing to be able to point at when someone asks why the meeting is on a Wednesday. It is deleted 90 days after the last activity, so use the minutes for anything that has to last.
Common questions
- Can members propose dates themselves?
- Yes, if you switch it on. They can add dates and remove ones they added.
- How do I chase the people who have not answered?
- Anyone invited by email can be reminded, capped at two reminders each. After that, message them directly.
- Is it free for a charity or a club?
- It is free for everybody. There is no paid tier at all.
Ready when you are
Meetings and work
Getting a room full of calendars to agree without eight rounds of email.
Related
- PTA meeting scheduling Parents, teachers and a school calendar that decides most of it. Propose the dates that fit around the school day and let the answers pick one.
- 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.
- Church group scheduling A group that spans every age and every level of comfort with technology. One link, three taps, no account, and a code that can be read out loud.
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.