Photo by Aron Visuals on Unsplash

Introduction 

At iThink 365, we want to help you work smarter and not harder. Our CEO, Simon Doy, spends a lot of time organising meetings with customers and potential customers. Finding a date and time that everyone can do is hard and a massive waste of time. 

That is where FindTime comes in, it is a free tool in Microsoft 365 that is part of the Outlook add-in space. In the same way that Doodle and WhenAvailable work it allows you to create a poll with a set of suggested dates and times that you can do. You then send out the FindTime poll and everyone can respond back with times they can do and which ones they prefer. 

How does it work? 

It starts with an email, so create an email asking them for some dates and times when they are available. 

When you are ready to suggest some dates and times, then click New Meeting Poll. 

A task pane will appear on the right-hand side of your Outlook message.  

• Choose the duration that you are looking for. 
• Select the time zone if you need to. 
• Use the selectors to flick through the months and the days and select the right day. 
• Click on the rows to select them as options for your meeting. 

• You can choose times from multiple days. 
• Click Next when you have made all your selections. 

Because FindTime is within your Outlook it can read your calendar and remove the times when you are not available due to other appointments. 

If you are arranging a meeting with someone who you have access to their calendar, then it will also let you know what options work for them. 

There are two icons for each time.  

Once you have clicked Next you are taken to a screen to provide the location and provide your settings for the poll. 

At iThink 365 we like the following settings: 

• Know when people have responded to our poll.  
• Switch on the Schedule when attendees reach consensus. 
• Hold selected times on my calendar 

• Require attendees to verify their identity 

In particular “Hold selected times” will add calendar entries so I do not double book myself and, also scheduling when attendees reach consensus means that we get a meeting invite sent.

The only thing is that it is then important to make it a productive meeting by adding an agenda and context to the meeting. 

Once you are happy with your Meeting Poll, click “Add to email” 

This will add the poll to your email. 

How do I get access to FindTime? 

Firstly, of all if you have an IT team, then speak with them to check if ok to add. 

Secondly, FindTime is an Outlook Add-in.  

So, to add an add-in: 

• Browse to Outlook Web https://outlook.office.com 
• Open an email 
• Click on the icon shown below 

• Click Get add-ins 

• Search for FindTime  
• Select FindTime 

• Click Add 

Next, you need to make it available if you are using Outlook from the Web. 

• From https://outlook.office.com 
• Click on Settings -> at the bottom of the pane click “View All Outlook Settings” 
• Choose Customise actions 
• Find Message Surface and tick “FindTime” 

• Close the settings pane. 

Now when you add a new message you can insert a FindTime Poll. 

Conclusion 

FindTime can make organising meetings a whole lot easier by getting rid of all that effort spent trying to get people to agree on a date and time that will work for all! 

So next time you find yourself having to organise a meeting, try FindTime! 

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