If you are setting up a meeting using Microsoft Outlook 365, this article will be very useful to you. I will explain how to setup a meeting from start to finish, including participant selection, room selection, etc. Setting up meetings using Outlook is a crucial skill to have for all employees.
How to Setup a Meeting with Outlook 365
1) Open Outlook 365. Click on New Items and select Meeting. A new window will appear for entering meeting information.
2) Type in the names or click the To button to select the meeting participants. You can have a single or multiple participants.
3) Give your meeting a name by filling up the Subject field. It is important to give your meetings a clear and precise title so the participants are aware of what the meeting is about.
4) Choose a location for your meeting by clicking on the Rooms button. Your organization will have a list of registered meeting rooms which can be booked. If you are holding an informal meeting like in a restaurant, someone’s office or at your desk, simply type in the location manually in the Location field. For example, “Meeting @ My Desk”, “Joe’s Office” or “Burger King near Main and Queens”, etc.
If you are booking a specific room, double click on the room name from the Room Selection list (shown after the Rooms button is clicked). You can select multiple rooms and then delete the ones which are not available during your time slot later on. Once you have selected all the rooms, click OK to return back to the meeting window.
5) Choose a time and date where everyone is available. This is a bit tricky but can be done in a few simple steps. First of all, pick a time and date to start with.
Next, click on Scheduling Assistant to see whether the participants are available. Scheduling Assistant can also display whether the room you booked is free during your selected time slot.
If a participant is free, the Scheduling Assistant will have a blank slot as shown below. If the participant is busy, there will be a solid blue area to cover the time slot.
Find a time slot where all participants are free and your selected room is available. The time slot can be selected by clicking on the available time slot and then adjusting the duration by clicking and dragging the thick outer line.
6) Once you have identified a suitable time slot and selected it, click on the Appointment button.
7) Type in details of your meeting in the text field located below the Start and End time fields.
At this point, your meeting invitation is ready for sending. Click on the Send button to send your meeting invite. Outlook will send you confirmation emails when the participants accept your meeting invite.
