How to schedule a meeting with a group

Work out two things first: who genuinely has to be there, and roughly when it needs to happen. A meeting that needs four specific people is a different problem from one that needs any eight of twelve, and the second is far easier - you are counting rather than solving.

Be honest about the must-haves. Every name you add to that list roughly doubles how far ahead the first clear date is.

"When are you free?" is the most expensive question you can ask a group. It makes each person do work, produces answers in incompatible shapes, and leaves you to reconcile them.

Offer three to six specific dates instead. Each person makes three cheap decisions and the arithmetic is done. Three is the floor for a real chance of overlap; past six or seven, answer quality drops because people start skimming.

Split the ask across a chat and two emails and you will be chasing three separate sets of answers. One link, one message, everyone at the same time.

Send it somewhere people actually read. For a work group that is usually email; for a social group it is almost never email.

"Please answer by Thursday" outperforms "whenever you get a chance" by a distance. Two to three days is right for most groups: long enough to catch someone who is away, short enough that it stays near the top of the pile.

One reminder is worth sending. Two is not - by then it is not about reminders.

Pick the date, tell everyone, and send a calendar invitation. The invitation is the part people skip and the part that matters: an agreed date that is not in anyone's calendar has a way of stopping being agreed.

If you ran the poll here, picking the date does all of that in one tap - everyone who left an email address is told, with the calendar file attached.

If no date clears, you have learned something real: the group is more constrained than the question assumed. Three ways out, in the order worth trying them - add later dates to the same poll, drop the requirement that everyone attends and go with the best count, or split into two smaller sessions.

What does not work is running the same poll again with the same dates and hoping.

How far ahead should I ask?

For a work meeting of under ten people, one to two weeks. For evenings and weekends, three to six weeks - people's own time gets booked earlier than their working time.

How many date options is too many?

Past six or seven, answers get less careful. If you genuinely need a wide window, offer a spread of six rather than every day in a fortnight.

Should I let people answer maybe?

Usually yes. Maybe distinguishes an awkward date from an impossible one, and on a constrained week that is the distinction that decides it. Turn it off when you need a firm headcount.

• Group scheduling poll Create a scheduling poll for a group in about a minute. Propose dates, share one link, and see at a glance which date the most people can make.
• A free Doodle alternative A free alternative for scheduling a group. Propose dates, share one link, everyone marks yes, maybe or no. No account for you, none for them, and no paid tier.

• How to get people to actually answer your date poll Most people who do not answer a scheduling poll are not refusing - they hit friction. Here is where the drop-off happens and what removes it.