Google Calendar is one of the most underrated features provided by the search engine giant. People tend to use it like a regular calendar without realizing it is an interactive app that can be used in a host of useful ways.
For instance, you can use Google Calendar to create an alert during a meeting. The alert will automatically inform other participants in the meeting when you are running late for a group conference. Below are the steps to activating this feature on your Google Calendar.
Notifying Your Colleagues
Open the Google Calendar application and sign in to your Google Account. This will bring up all the information that Google has with regards to your dates and appointments.
If you use Google Calendar on your computer, your schedule should appear, complete with a list of people who are going to be joining you for the meeting and the means of getting in touch with them.
Select from among the three “Going” options: yes, no and maybe.
Click on the “Email Guests” icon in the top-right corner.
Compose an email to send to the other guests explaining your late arrival.
Alternatively, you can tap on the pencil icon at the top of your event notification. This will take you to a page with a variety of options to modify the events. Click on “Add Note/Guests” to send a message to other members of the group regarding your late arrival.
Via Android App
Go to your Google Calendar app on your Android phone.
Select “Settings -> General -> Quick Responses.”
Choose one of the pre-set messages or create a new one.
Touch “Email guests” in the notification menu. This will save you the time of contacting each member of the group individually.
Postponing the Meeting
It is possible that you might have to postpone the meeting altogether if you are not only late but find yourself unable to attend the meeting at all. In that case, Google Calendar lets other members of the group give their input on what future time will work best for them as the new meeting time.
Simply create a new event and add all the members of the meeting to the group. Now tap on the suggested times below each of your guest’s names. A drop-down menu will appear revealing the list of times when all the guests are free to have another meeting.
Conclusion
Apart from notifying the others that you are going to be late, it is usually considered common courtesy to send them a message, which can also be pre-set using Google Calendar. The message can be anything from a brief sentence letting the others know you are going to be late, to an explanation of the reason behind your lateness or simply an apology. The main goal is to allow the other participants of the meeting know that you have been held up so they can decide whether or not to start without you.
