To schedule a meeting with multiple people, propose a small set of specific dates and have every attendee mark which they can make, rather than collecting availability individually. Past roughly four attendees, reconciling replies by hand becomes unreliable. Who can when? collects the answers into one grid with a live count under each date, free and with no account for attendees.
Work out who must be there
The single biggest lever is the required list. Every person who genuinely must attend pushes the first clear date further out, often by more than people expect.
Be honest about it before you propose anything. A meeting that needs any six of ten is a different, far easier problem than one that needs four named people, and the difference changes which dates are worth offering.
Then ask everyone at once
- One message, one link, everyone at the same time. Splitting the ask means chasing two sets of answers.
- Three to six dates, spread across at least two weeks.
- A deadline, and one reminder that names what is still missing.
- Maybe left on for anyone discretionary, off when you need a firm count.
- Results hidden until answered, if you have a group that follows whoever answered first.
If nothing clears
Add later dates to the same poll - everyone who has answered is told once - or drop the everyone-must-attend requirement and take the best count. Running the same poll again with the same dates is the one option that never works.
Common questions
- How many attendees is too many for one poll?
- Fifty is the ceiling here. Practically, above about fifteen you should stop requiring everyone and start taking the best count.
- How far ahead should I ask?
- One to two weeks for a working meeting of under ten. Three to six weeks for anything in people's own time.
- Can attendees see each other's answers?
- Yes, names are on the grid, which is what makes it useful. Email addresses are never shown.
Ready when you are
The basics
What a date poll is, and how to run one that people actually answer.
Related
- 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.
- Interview panel scheduling Get the panel's availability in one pass, then offer the candidate real options. Days faster than the usual round of individual emails.
- Client meeting scheduling Free/busy stops at your company boundary. Propose dates the client can answer in three taps, without an account or a calendar connection.
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.