Introduction to Google Calendar
Saga uses Google Calendar to schedule meetings with other Saga staff, as well as external partners. We also use Google Calendar to keep colleagues informed of days/times individuals are unavailable/offline.
For video calls (with the exception of large training sessions when we use Zoom), Saga uses Google’s video conferencing tool Google Meet, which can be added easily to any calendar invite.
Here's a starter guide from Google: Google's Support Guide
Protocols/Expectations
- Saga staff will make their Google Calendar viewable to other Saga users to facilitate meeting scheduling. It should be set up by default but you can also follow the steps below.
- At the top right of Google Calendar, click the Settings icon and go to Settings.
- On the navigation bar on the left, under Settings for my calendars, click the name of your individual calendar (should be just your full name).
- Click on “Access permissions for events” or just scroll down to the section.
- Check the box next to "Make available for Saga Education.”
- If you don't want other people to see the name and details of your events, select “See only free/busy (hide details)” from the drop-down. (You can also change privacy settings for individual events.)
- Saga staff will keep their individual Google Calendars updated, responding to calendar invites and documenting times they are unavailable/offline.
- Saga staff will use video during Google Meet calls whenever possible.
Resources/Tips
Scheduling events
To schedule a meeting with a colleague/colleagues, utilize these helpful Google Calendar scheduling methods, including the Search for people function and the Suggested Times function.
Workvivo Calendar
There is an organizational calendar on Workvivo that will include official Saga holidays, all staff events (training, meetings, etc.), professional development opportunities. It can be used together with Google Calendar. See steps below.
- Open up the Workvivo calendar. You can use the link above of navigating that manually (Workvivo > Explore > Events).
- Browse the calendar to see if there is any event that interests you. Click on the one you want to join.
- On the event window, click Attend.
- You will now see the option to add the event to your calendar. Click on Add to Calendar and select Google Calendar.
- Verify the details of the event, then click Save.
- You will now see the event on your calendar, and will get notifications for it.
If you have any questions, please reach out to IT by emailing: helpdesk@saga.org, or ask in the #help channels on Slack.