I'm currently available

Be careful when coordinating shifting schedules

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is that when you are scheduling things, communicate when
you are currently available and when that might change. That way,

(00:28):
you aren't stuck holding more time than you need to
or no longer available when someone finally confirms so. I
have always found it a bit unfortunate when people request
lots of slots of availability as an please list the
times you are available next week. I mean, what is

(00:48):
one supposed to do with that? If it's a meeting
with your most important client, I mean, of course you
want to give them options. Same befo're talking about a
job interview, had a place where you are dying to work.
But for most run of the mill stuff, giving people
half a dozen multi hour options and then having them

(01:11):
not come back to you immediately is going to result
in schedule chaos. That's because schedules are dynamic. If someone
asks today, you may be available any morning next week,
but three days from now you will probably not be
available any morning next week. Things will come up plenty

(01:34):
of work meetings, of course, or even your need to
schedule a follow up dentist appointment. If the person who
asked for your availability doesn't confirm for three days, you
are going to have a problem. So instead it might
help to indicate that your availability windows won't last forever.

(01:55):
I am currently available Tuesday evening anytime and Wednesday evening
between six and eight. I am also in the process
of scheduling a few other things, so I'll need to
know in the next day if we are going to
confirm for one of those times, or you could just
indicate but my availability may change quickly as I'm trying

(02:16):
to schedule some other things too. That way, the person
you are scheduling with will hopefully go ahead and confirm
a time, or will at least not be surprised if
your schedule changes if they delay. You can communicate this
with scheduling apps too. If a doodle pole or similar

(02:36):
tool is collecting availability and the organizer gives you a deadline,
you may want to wait until close to that deadline
to reply so you can provide the most up to
date availability. That way, you won't have to go back
and rework things if your answer changes. On the other hand,

(02:59):
if you are the one requesting availability using doodle or
in an email. Consider requesting availability with a quick deadline,
for instance, by clothes of business tomorrow, please provide your availability.
Then you can be equally polite by indicating when you

(03:20):
will announce the time. This should follow swiftly, as in
tomorrow by six pm, I will confirm the meeting time.
This benefits everyone by letting you determine a mutually acceptable
time before everyone's schedule changes. They promise to let you
know their current availability at five pm or so, and

(03:42):
they will only have to wait or hold the time
for an hour to know when you are all confirmed.
I would note that if all these scheduling logistics give
you headaches, you also might want to provide a little
less availability. Some people use calendly type software, and I

(04:03):
am always intrigued by people who literally offer like four
spots for an entire month. Okay, but that does mean
that they are not forced to give a lot of availability.
If someone emails you and asks when you are available,
you might just offer two options or three options, ideally

(04:26):
ones that you are mostly okay with not scheduling over
in the next day or two. But you are under
no obligation to hold multiple slots forever. As you wait
for confirmation. Just let people know this is when you
are currently available and hopefully they will act fast. In

(04:49):
the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening and here's
to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening
to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

(05:10):
you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
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