Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that when you are scheduling things, communicate when
Speaker 1: you are currently available and when that might change. That way,
Speaker 1: you aren't stuck holding more time than you need to
Speaker 1: or no longer available when someone finally confirms so. I
Speaker 1: have always found it a bit unfortunate when people request
Speaker 1: lots of slots of availability as an please list the
Speaker 1: times you are available next week. I mean, what is
Speaker 1: one supposed to do with that? If it's a meeting
Speaker 1: with your most important client, I mean, of course you
Speaker 1: want to give them options. Same befo're talking about a
Speaker 1: job interview, had a place where you are dying to work.
Speaker 1: But for most run of the mill stuff, giving people
Speaker 1: half a dozen multi hour options and then having them
Speaker 1: not come back to you immediately is going to result
Speaker 1: in schedule chaos. That's because schedules are dynamic. If someone
Speaker 1: asks today, you may be available any morning next week,
Speaker 1: but three days from now you will probably not be
Speaker 1: available any morning next week. Things will come up plenty
Speaker 1: of work meetings, of course, or even your need to
Speaker 1: schedule a follow up dentist appointment. If the person who
Speaker 1: asked for your availability doesn't confirm for three days, you
Speaker 1: are going to have a problem. So instead it might
Speaker 1: help to indicate that your availability windows won't last forever.
Speaker 1: I am currently available Tuesday evening anytime and Wednesday evening
Speaker 1: between six and eight. I am also in the process
Speaker 1: of scheduling a few other things, so I'll need to
Speaker 1: know in the next day if we are going to
Speaker 1: confirm for one of those times, or you could just
Speaker 1: indicate but my availability may change quickly as I'm trying
Speaker 1: to schedule some other things too. That way, the person
Speaker 1: you are scheduling with will hopefully go ahead and confirm
Speaker 1: a time, or will at least not be surprised if
Speaker 1: your schedule changes if they delay. You can communicate this
Speaker 1: with scheduling apps too. If a doodle pole or similar
Speaker 1: tool is collecting availability and the organizer gives you a deadline,
Speaker 1: you may want to wait until close to that deadline
Speaker 1: to reply so you can provide the most up to
Speaker 1: date availability. That way, you won't have to go back
Speaker 1: and rework things if your answer changes. On the other hand,
Speaker 1: if you are the one requesting availability using doodle or
Speaker 1: in an email. Consider requesting availability with a quick deadline,
Speaker 1: for instance, by clothes of business tomorrow, please provide your availability.
Speaker 1: Then you can be equally polite by indicating when you
Speaker 1: will announce the time. This should follow swiftly, as in
Speaker 1: tomorrow by six pm, I will confirm the meeting time.
Speaker 1: This benefits everyone by letting you determine a mutually acceptable
Speaker 1: time before everyone's schedule changes. They promise to let you
Speaker 1: know their current availability at five pm or so, and
Speaker 1: they will only have to wait or hold the time
Speaker 1: for an hour to know when you are all confirmed.
Speaker 1: I would note that if all these scheduling logistics give
Speaker 1: you headaches, you also might want to provide a little
Speaker 1: less availability. Some people use calendly type software, and I
Speaker 1: am always intrigued by people who literally offer like four
Speaker 1: spots for an entire month. Okay, but that does mean
Speaker 1: that they are not forced to give a lot of availability.
Speaker 1: If someone emails you and asks when you are available,
Speaker 1: you might just offer two options or three options, ideally
Speaker 1: ones that you are mostly okay with not scheduling over
Speaker 1: in the next day or two. But you are under
Speaker 1: no obligation to hold multiple slots forever. As you wait
Speaker 1: for confirmation. Just let people know this is when you
Speaker 1: are currently available and hopefully they will act fast. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
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