How to Create a Group Calendar in Outlook

Group Calendars allow you to track the schedules of other team members.

When you organize a team at work it is helpful to know what everyone is doing and when they are doing it. Tracking everyone's schedules helps with meetings, allocating projects and ensuring deadlines are met. You can set up a Group Calendar in Outlook to track schedules. The Group Calendar is an effective tool for business teams, office schedules and business functions, and they are a feature available only with Outlook on Microsoft Exchange Servers.

Instructions

1. Open Outlook.

2. Click the "Action" menu and select "View Group Schedules." This opens a window with a list of all existing group schedules.

3. Select one of the groups or create a new group. Creating a new group opens a window. Name the group and select "OK."

4. Add members to the group from an address book, a public source such as a company directory or individually. Group members from outside the internal Exchange Server can be added if they are either on an Exchange Server and "share" the calendar or publish their calendars to the Internet, which is another Outlook feature. Double-click on a name or drag and drop one into the "To" field.

5. Check schedules by selecting the "Action" menu and choosing "View Group Schedules, highlighting the appropriate schedule and clicking "Open." A window with each group member's name and availability will appear.

6. Use the "New Meeting Request" to open an appointment window. You can also view group schedules when creating the appointment. The Scheduling Option on the Meeting Request's ribbon opens the group calendar to show availability for a common appointment time. When sending the Meeting Request, it's only necessary to enter the group name in the "To" field. Outlook will automatically populate the email addresses.

Tips & Warnings

• A home computer network or a non-Exchange Server network can overlay separate calendars in Outlook 2007 and 2010 using "Shared Calendars."

• Using "Shared Calendars" rather than "Group Schedules" allows separate shared calendars to be displayed with all appointment information available.

• Group members must keep Outlook calendars on the Exchange Server, otherwise the system cannot accurately show schedules.

• Personal and private appointments need to be checked when creating the item on a calendar. Depending on Exchange Server security options, holding the cursor over a "tentative," "busy," or "out-of-office" block can show calendar details.

References

• Microsoft: Create, View, or Delete a Group Schedule
• Microsoft: Send a Meeting Request or E-mail Message From a Group Schedule