Calendar Management's main aim is to maximize our limited available time by being as productive and effective as possible. This process includes busy yet necessary activities like scheduling meetings and responding to meeting requests and longer-term, strategic tasks like setting an executive's daily priorities and employing .
Agendas that are appropriately managed must reflect core values and priorities, providing executives with an invaluable way to shape both daily operations and long-term success. Therefore calendar management should be one of the main skills an executive assistant develops.
The Best Calendar Management Practices
Prioritize Your Tasks With The Handy Matrix
Prioritize your executive's focus time by using an Action Priority Matrix. You can use this to determine the return on investment (ROI) of the executive's time and identify opportunities to balance the portfolio. Avoid any activity that doesn't produce the same output as travel time spent.
You Can Use Calendars To Plan More Than Just Meetings And Events
Use the calendar to schedule reminders and deadlines. Also, block out time for exercise and wellness activities.
Create Your Perfect Coding System
Create an organization scheme for your calendars using labels, color coding, and folders (or any combination). It makes scanning all the calendars and finding important information easier. You could color-code folders to represent the following categories: personal calendar , internal, client and recurring reminders.
Document Your Executive's Priorities
EAs ensure that executives spend time only on important tasks. Calendaring is an important executive assistant task. Together with the executive, document and identify key priorities. Use your document to justify rejecting any invitations which do not reflect these priorities.
Set Up Multiple Times Zones
You can schedule your personal events more quickly and easily if your Outlook calendar has the appropriate time zones with customization options in task management with calendar integration for ideal times management with smart calendar assistant and also available in default calendar app for mobile devices, scheduling app for productive time usage in all time slots.
Clarify Calendar Roles And Permissions
Have you heard this saying: 'Too many cooks spoil the broth?' Too many calendars can create scheduling challenges; controlling and overseeing calendars makes managing them more strategic and effective. Establish and document which has permission to accept and add meetings on behalf of executives in your organization.
Create an environment in your office where all approval requests go directly through. Your training has given you all the skills to manage calendars effectively - don't allow anything or anyone to prevent you from fulfilling this goal.
You Can Allocate Time For Calendar Management Alone
Time management takes effort. Plan your daily planners, to-do lists, calendars and blocks of time for scheduling, follow-ups and long-term planning.
Making Your Life Easier With Tech Tools And Integrations
Make sure to do your research when choosing tech tools to make managing calendars simpler. Once you've selected your suite of tech tools, learn about their various extra features and how they integrate with other applications. This investment of your time could save countless hours later on.
Calendar App Features to Manage Your Business Better
Growing businesses and entrepreneurs often need help organizing personal and professional appointments and events. A quality calendar app with all the necessary advanced features can assist with this goal.
As businesses experience growing complexity in managing their schedules more effectively, an overwhelming variety of calendar applications on the market today provide many additional features for companies to utilize. You may find it challenging to navigate all your options effectively - we have provided this handy list with key amazing features you should watch in each app to help make the decision simpler. Here is our pick for the best powerful features of calendar apps that could make managing your business more efficient.
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Event Scheduling
As working professionals (particularly remote ones), scheduling meetings may take some work. One effective solution could be an app with premium features for scheduling events that team members can access from anywhere - perfect if scheduling events requires team collaboration.
Planning is often the hardest part of organizing any activity or event, so some smart calendars include event scheduling standout features that automatically extract details from sentences you type to help plan events more quickly and reduce planning time by up to 50%. With its automated event scheduler api feature and smart meeting planner, these intelligent meeting organizers save time and energy when planning meetings or events of all types - saving both yourself and attendees the trouble.
Planning meetings around attendees' availability can be tricky when planning important appointments and events. Let's say you're working on an important sales deal, and your team needs to meet for an important sales meeting; smart calendars will show when invitees will be free or busy when planning events.
Any reliable will have key features to schedule meetings easily. Begin your search with event scheduling, and ensure the app allows for creating recurring events to keep on schedule each day.
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Embedding And Sharing
As a professional, it can be challenging to keep up with all that lies before you. Chatting to all your coworkers to inform them when you will be available will not do. An effective calendar app provides everyone with updated information regarding your activities.
Personalize and share your calendar using apps with embedding and sharing capabilities. Choose from various templates to customize it further and embed team calendars or even public group calendars so your organization always syncs with your team members.
Are You Done Making Public Calendars? Choose Arion ERP calendar software that allows for private sharing - that way, select individuals that should access it before sending out the link so they can see all your events.
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Cross-Platform Synchronization
Approving calendar applications that help keep you organized is invaluable, particularly cross-platform calendar apps, which enable you to sync all your calendars across platforms.
No matter if it is Google Calendar or Outlook. ArionERP Calendar syncs calendars between both platforms in real time, making updating schedules much simpler than before. Plus, there's Arion ERP's range of plug-ins that help connect various platforms quickly for maximum accessibility.
Cross-platform synchronization can be invaluable to any small business. But it becomes even more essential for those tasked with overseeing multiple organizations. Calendar apps offering cross-platform sync do planning and organizing key events like shareholder meetings, M&A deals, or selling your company easier. With this robust feature, you could save considerable amounts of time switching platforms.
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Team Calendars
Do You Want To Keep All Your Team Members Up-To-Date on Upcoming Events? Calendar apps offer one way of monitoring team events from one convenient source. Do You Manage Remote Teams of Employees with Multiple Schedules? Team Calendar Features Allow For Easy Tracking Of Their Schedules In One Location
Human nature requires some level of distraction from time to time; even the best of us need time to regain focus after scanning our mailboxes - roughly 23 minutes, to be exact. Why not utilize a team calendar as an effective strategy for increasing productivity while saving time?
Social media monitoring is often overlooked when creating team calendars. A content calendar is essential if you wish to expand your social media efforts, making planning social media posts simpler using calendar apps; give each marketing department its calendar so they can discuss and schedule posts together.
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Mobile Access
No matter your field, running part or all of your business remotely may sometimes become necessary. Busy business people likely conduct much of their work from mobile devices; thus, an easy-to-use calendar for mobile is ideal.
To help manage upcoming events seamlessly, we advise using a calendar app that syncs to mobile devices and PCs - such as Arion ERP Calendar, enabling users to schedule events on mobile phones. Do you want to wait until your desktop computer to create or manage events? Now it is time to switch over and use mobile-friendly calendar software.
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Importing and Exporting
Importing and exporting events are an effective way of moving them between calendars. You can efficiently manage all your calendar events using an event management calendar that supports import/export capabilities.
Import and export features in your calendar allow you to ensure everything online is included within it. Do you want to include one from an external website calendar in your schedule? Use import/export features of import/export features of import/export feature of import/export feature grab its public address then include it in your calendar.
Most calendar apps allow you to subscribe to specific calendars. Join one of your colleagues' calendars so you'll stay abreast of their activities; also import/export subscription events that you subscribed to; import your calendars for notifications - then sit tight.
Calendar Software Has Many Benefits
Scheduling can seem complex. Keep track of the following:
- Holidays for Companies
- Vacations for employees
- Shift coverage
- Conformity requirements
- Meeting room availability
Your job becomes even more complex if you manage multiple companies with differing schedules. Manually overseeing employee schedules for an entire staff can be challenging, and communicating updates to everyone can be time-consuming and complicated.
Calendar management software makes organizing tasks easier for the HR team, managers and members. Manual scheduling cannot compete with this automated method.
Read More: A Overview Of Calendar Management Software In Planning And Scheduling Meeting In Advance
Save Time And Money
Calendar software allows you to copy schedules from one week to the next with ease, which is especially helpful for repeatable obligations like meetings.
The software can simplify this task even when creating new schedules weekly. Calendar software lets you drag and drop shifts for quicker schedule creation or modification without using multiple spreadsheets - a valuable time saver.
Automatic Time-Off And Leave Requests
Calendar software can automate approval processes, whether an employee is requesting a few sick hours or a whole week's vacation. You can save time by using calendar software to track employee requests.
You or your designated manager may still be able to approve or deny requests for lengthy leaves or other things that require additional scrutiny.
Fewer Scheduling Conflicts
Software that manages your calendar allows you to be proactive in preventing scheduling conflicts. The best calendar management software will send you automatic alerts in the event of:
- Schedule conflicts
- Understaffed or unstaffed shifts
- Overstaffed shifts
Staffing Strategies
Software to manage your calendar can also assist in optimizing coverage. By identifying periods with no employees present or significant downtime, employees can gain new skills or cross-train. By giving employees this chance, employees will feel more satisfied in their jobs if given this chance to develop; when done strategically, this won't compromise customer service or the overall operations of your business.
With some solutions, scheduling employees according to their skill levels may also be possible, ensuring your business runs efficiently during events or peak periods.
Labour Cost Reduction
Your biggest expense is likely to be your labor costs. You can reduce costs by using software that tracks:
- Actual versus scheduled hours of work
- Overtime
- Breaks
You can use this to calculate your correct salary each pay period and plan for the future more effectively.
Communication is key
Communicating schedule changes with employees using paper prints or emails can be cumbersome; calendar management software makes communicating easy while helping minimize scheduling conflicts.
Notify your staff immediately whenever you update or publish a schedule with software that allows for real-time sharing of shifts, schedules and information - this way, your employees will be caught. Requests for time off will no longer arrive at an unexpected moment.
Employee Experience Can Be Improved
Without using Calendar Management Software, employees must inform their manager directly of any scheduling concerns, such as shift changes and time off requests. This increases both response time and the chances of error; misinterpreting requests could result in scheduling the wrong holidays instead.
The software provides employees with an efficient means of scheduling. Employees can participate actively in this process with collaborative advanced tools, choosing their availability, swapping shifts or requesting leave or time-off requests as appropriate.
Employees can view schedule updates in real-time and avoid arriving late or showing up unscheduled for work by viewing schedule updates in real time, creating a better employee experience while helping to achieve an easier work/life balance.
Convenience
As an added convenience, most scheduling software companies now provide mobile apps. You and your staff can use these to access schedules anytime from their phones - employees can manage or request changes in their schedules anywhere, which is especially helpful for employees working outside traditional offices and traveling frequently.
Performance Management
Calendar software can be used as a calendar management tool for performance management with app integrations in advanced customization for project tasks in enterprise plan in the domain of time tracking of time management apps in advanced calendar control You can easily track tardies and absences with this software. You'll be able to refer back to the record if a problem keeps recurring.
Schedules And Compliance With Them
The laws governing the scheduling of employees are complex and constantly changing. It can be challenging to comply with all Federal, State, and Local government requirements. Software for scheduling has built-in checks and tools to reduce penalties and help you stay in compliance with the following:
- Fair Labor Standards Act
- Predictive scheduling
- Regulations for meals and breaks
- Overtime rules
- Agreements with unions
- Additional state and local requirements
Reasons To Use A Calendar Program
More Work And Less Planning
Calendar management software was designed to automate the planning process by eliminating manual data entry and other tasks that require a lot of work from humans.
Communication Streamlined
Shared features allow everyone to be aware of any changes and updates and reduce the time spent cross-checking.
Save Big On
Cloud versions of paid tools are now more affordable than ever and the significance of cloud-based software has made usage of these systems easier and efficient. The paid tools also promise hassle-free service and upgrades. They are easy to purchase, take less time to implement and can be easily integrated into existing software.
Simple to Use
Many of the software packages are user-friendly and include features such as drag-and-drop events, tasks and reports, accessibility anywhere and one-click creation.
List of Customization
The can be customized to suit your business model and be an excellent marketing tool if the customer provides it. These software packages also offer 24/7 technical support.
What Is The Best Calendar Software?
While we cannot tell you which software will meet all your requirements perfectly, here are a few points you can look out for to narrow your choices and ultimately choose the appropriate option. Calendars all offer scheduling tools, but their uses go beyond simply showing important dates written into them. Calendar tools also serve as personal assistants; for instance, they can tell if you are overbooking yourself or how long each task takes to complete. Feeling more in control, no matter how busy or chaotic life becomes, is invaluable.
These were the key characteristics we looked out for when selecting tools to manage our calendars, features we believed most essential to successful schedule management. You may select any number from this list that is important to your situation.
Read More: Handle Leave Requests By Leave Management Software
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Modern Design
It's about more than just the design (the minimalistic look is crucial, so you feel free). Also, we asked if the calendar was designed to work in today's digital world.
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Integrates
It's almost essential to have compatibility with other applications today, so we chose calendars offering a wide range of integration options for the best experience.
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Intuitive Design
Suppose you use a calendar to organize your schedule. In that case, you may want it to easily view and see all of your appointments. It would be best if you didn't have to do much clicking to schedule and manage team meetings.
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Shareable Capabilities
The ability to share a calendar with family or team members was essential.
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Cross-Platform Versions
People use a variety of platforms, from Android/iPhones to desktops and other devices. Each calendar program needed to work on multiple platforms.
Customization also earned bonus points. It's very important to enjoy the calendar you use. It's also important to stay consistent with your brand if, for example, you manage or are a company member.
Final Thoughts
Calendar apps can help your business run efficiently, but choosing which features should take precedence can be challenging. Schedule events easily using a calendar app to reduce planning time and save yourself from wasted effort. Appropriate apps must offer features like embedding, sharing, cross-platform synchronization, team calendars, and import and export functionality, which Arion ERP calendar does. Arion provides these and many more benefits to entrepreneurs and business owners seeking assistance in organizational matters.
Your schedule no longer needs to be managed through physical planning tools alone. Instead, take back control with one of the calendar software solutions we've suggested here and enjoy its modern design, customizable options and seamless integration across apps - taking back control is no longer required, and scheduling can even become fun. Get in touch with the most reliable and dependable in order to make your business operation smoother.
