Using scheduling polls in Outlook to arrange a time for a meeting

Scheduling polls are a feature of Outlook that allows meetings to be scheduled more conveniently. The organiser can send multiple time options to the attendees, who can then respond with their preferences and availability.

To set up a Scheduling poll:

• Create a new email or create a reply to an existing email
• Put the required attendees in the 'To' field and optional attendees in the 'Cc' field
• Click the  icon to add a Scheduling poll. This can be found in both the Home and Message tabs. 
• This will open the Scheduling poll tool
• Adjust the meeting duration, if necessary
• Choose the date of the meeting
• You will then be shown a list of time slots and the calendar availability for each attendee

• You can hover over the time slot or press the drop-down arrow to view the availability details
• Select the time slot options that you would like to add to the poll
• Click Next
• Add the location
• If the meeting is in person, deselect Teams meeting
• Click Create poll
• This has added the Scheduling poll to your email. Finish writing your email and send it

The attendees will then be able to vote on each of the time slot options with 'Yes', 'No' or 'Prefer'.

The organiser will receive an email when each attendee submits their response.

If the poll reaches a consensus, the meeting will automatically be scheduled and invites will be sent out to attendees.

If a consensus is not reached, the organiser can schedule the meeting manually by:

• Clicking View poll in one of the response emails
• The responses from each attendee will be listed for each time slot
• Pick a time slot and click Schedule meeting next to it
• This will open a meeting invite, which you can adjust if need be.
• Send the invite to the attendees.