How to Set Up a Meeting Using Microsoft Outlook

Microsoft Outlook has a meeting feature that allows you to schedule meetings easily. If you are using this program for work purposes, you can easily invite your co-workers to participate in a meeting by using the directory. If you are using this for personal use, the only thing you'll need is the email address of the person you would like to set the meeting with. With a few simple steps, you can create meeting invites that will help you keep track of where you should be and what time you should be there.

Instructions

1. Open the Microsoft Outlook program and go to the Calendar bar on the lower left hand side of the screen. This will bring up your personal/professional calendar. You can view this calendar by day, work week, week or month. To schedule a meeting, you should be looking at the "day" view.

2. Choose from the calendar on the left side of the screen the date you would like to schedule the meeting. Click on whatever date you choose. On the right hand side of the screen your calendar for that day will appear and be arranged by time of day. It is arranged in half hour increments. So, for example, if you want to schedule a meeting for ten o'clock that day, put your cursor next to the ten o'clock time frame so that it is highlighted.

3. Double click on the highlighted section. A box will pop up on your screen that says "Untitled - Appointment." There are two tabs in the appointment planner. The one that opens automatically will be the appointment tab. Here you can insert all of the important information regarding the meeting. Fill out the subject line with the reason for the meeting and fill out the location line with where the meeting will be held. Under that section is the time and date. Make sure that this section displays the correct time and date of your meeting.

4. Click on the scheduling tab to invite attendees once all of the appointment information has been inserted. On the left hand side of the screen in the box that says "All Attendees," you can insert the email addresses of the people who are supposed to attend the meeting. If you are adding a contact from your address book, you can click at the bottom of the screen on the left hand side where it says "Add Others" and choose the "Add from Address Book" option. This will bring up your contacts and you can click on the names of the people who should be in attendance.

5. Go to the top left hand side of the screen once all of the information is included and click on the "Send Invite" button found under the "File" button on the tool bar. This will send the meeting invite out to the people you sent it to. They have the option to accept, modify or deny your meeting request. You will receive a response back by email with the reply.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want the program to remind you of your meeting, you can click on the "Reminder" box under the Appointment Tab.

• You can choose how often you want a reminder by pulling down the box next to the reminder box.

• On the Scheduling Tab, you can move the time of your meeting by putting your cursor over the green and red lines under the time table by clicking and dragging them back and forth.

• Make sure that you are sending out the right time and date of your meeting. Sometimes looking at the calendar and scheduling on the intended day can be tricky.

• Pay attention to your calendar if you do not use the reminder button. It is easy to forget meetings when you have a busy schedule.