3 ms·
Ask HN: What is the most annoying part of scheduling meetings?
^^ title says it all. Looking to see what parts people hate the most, and what could be made easier.
- rkhassen9 6mo agoCoordinating the best available time for all, esp with folks at diff companies.
- preston-kwei 6mo agoI think the back and forth is one of the most time-consuming parts. How do you manage it?
- rkhassen9 6mo agoYup. It’s the back and forth. We offer a number of times/dates and if it’s a high profile meeting we have to block them all on our side until they respond. It’s a lot of steps for something that could be automated somehow, especially if there are key folks who may need to change at the last moment.
- preston-kwei 6mo agoHow many emails does it usually take for you to lock something in? And do you end up following up manually if they don’t respond?
- rkhassen9 6mo agoIt varies widely. Often enough they pick a time and within a round of emails and we set a meeting for 6-8 folks. Occasionally it can take a couple of rounds. It’s the uncertainty of it and owning it that’s the thing.
- magicalhippo 6mo agoHaving the people I need available be available. When important stuff needs to be discussed, it's often red all day with no or very small gaps.
- preston-kwei 6mo agoHow much of this issue is availability vs just getting them to respond and commit to the meeting?
- magicalhippo 6mo agoPrimarily former. Stakeholders for the important stuff get overloaded with meetings, so on a horizon of less than a week it's hard to get something in. Of course, it's hard for me to know which meetings they really need to be in and which they accepted just to listen in on, they're red in my calendar regardless. If it's just one I can ask, but if I need more than one it gets quite tedious.
- MattGaiser 6mo agoNo easy way to fight against them happening. Can I spend $40 on my productivity? Not easily. Can I spend $1000 on a meeting? Trivially.
- preston-kwei 6mo agoInteresting. Do you end up just accepting the meetings or do you try to push back?
- MattGaiser 6mo agoI end up accepting as it’s far easier to just turn it on low volume and listen for my name.
- turtleyacht 6mo agoHaving to solve the availability constraint manually. "Next earliest" could be a button click. Say the meeting's been sent, and someone has an exception. Should be a single click again for next-next earliest. This would solve most of my one-off meet needs.