Outlook Group Calendar Vs Shared Calendar: Choose the Right One
Communication and collaboration are the two main pillars of the organization’s productivity. To increase the productivity of an organization, planning, and scheduling of work are very necessary. Assigning tasks and managing schedules is always a difficult task. Microsoft Outlook offers calendars for effective scheduling of tasks to maintain seamless coordination among employees. Outlook provides two powerful features for managing schedules- A group calendar and a Shared calendar. They both are designed for similar purposes but offer different features based on users’ requirements. Whether you need to manage a team’s schedule or coordinate with some colleagues, knowing how to make use of these features can enhance your communication, collaboration, and productivity efforts. In this article, we will explore Outlook Group calendar Vs Shared calendar and their features and compare them to give users a complete insight into choosing the right one for their business.
Table of Content
Group Calendar in Outlook
A group calendar is basically a single calendar that can be accessed by a particular group of an organization designed to manage schedules. They offer a shared platform for all users within a group to schedule tasks, and meetings efficiently. It is easy to assign group calendars for specific projects to schedule the tasks accordingly.
Collaboration- Group calendars provide a centralized location for teams to view, schedule, and manage tasks. They are part of Microsoft 365 Groups.
Easy Integration- A group calendar easily integrates with Microsoft tools like Teams, Sharepoint, and others to provide a collaborative environment.
Access- The members associated with the group can access group calendars and modify them.
Benefits of Using a Group Calendar
- Easy and flexible sharing allows all group members to access, edit, and modify schedules.
- Scheduling events, and team meetings becomes easy as everyone in the group is notified.
- Changes can made in real-time and visible to all group members.
- Improves time management due to prior scheduling of tasks and events.
- Easily access Teams chat to discuss changes or scheduling.
Steps to Create a Group Calendar in Outlook
- Open the Outlook desktop application on your computer.
- Click on the “Calendar” icon from the left corner of the window.
- Navigate to the “Manage Calendars” group using the home tab.
- Select the “Create New Calendar Group” from the manage calendars dropdown menu.
- Describe the “Calendar Group” by providing a description.
- Click on “Add Members” to add the specific members of your organization. You can give them access to edit or modify the group calendar. Users can also search for members using the search bar.
- Click “OK” to save the changes. You can add existing calendars to your newly created calendar group. Right-click on the new calendar group and select “Add Calendar” to add an existing calendar.
Also Read: How do I Send an Encrypted Email in Outlook?
Shared Calendar in Outlook
A single person’s calendar which has been shared with other users is a shared calendar in Outlook. In easy words, a shared calendar is one in which the tasks and events are scheduled by a single person and shared among the users. The permissions to view, edit, and manage can be enabled by the user with appropriate permissions.
Independently Operated- They can be shared with anyone as they are not limited to groups. Good for broader communication and collaboration.
Easy Accessibility- Easily accessible to anyone with appropriate permissions like view, edit, and modify, and offers flexibility.
Advantages of Using a Shared Calendar
- You can easily share calendars with anyone to schedule events and meetings.
- It allows people to see your availability by seeing the shared calendar. This allows everyone to schedule things accordingly.
- Easily assign view, edit, and management permissions.
- Shared calendars are suitable for broader communication and collaboration.
- Helps in the use of resources efficiently and efficiently to increase work productivity.
Steps to Create a Shared Calendar in Outlook
- Open the Outlook desktop application and go to the “Calendars” section.
- Select the calendar you want to share from the left menu using the Outlook window.
- You can access the sharing option using two ways:
- Use the “Home” tab to access the sharing option.
- Right-click on the selected calendar and click on “Share”.
4. Use the shared calendar window, and add recipients by adding their email addresses.
5. You can set the level of permissions for your shared calendar for each recipient. The options are-
View all details- This option enables recipients to see all your event details.
View when I’m busy- Recipients can only see free/busy time, not details.
Only my free and busy time- Recipients can only see availability.
6. Click on “Share” to share your calendar with the given permissions.
Quick Comparison between Group Calendar and Shared Calendar
| Group Calendar | Shared Calendar |
| Created using a Microsoft 365 group. | Using an existing individual calendar. |
| Group members can access the calendar anytime without any permissions required. | Groups or users have to grant access, edit, and modify permissions from the owner. |
| Easily integrates with Microsoft 365 tools. | Works as standalone functionality. Useful for broader communication. |
| Cannot share with other external users. | Easily share with anyone having appropriate permissions. |
| Improves collaboration and communication for specific projects. | Improved transparency because of broader sharing. |
Conclusion
This article covers the Outlook group vs shared calendars with their benefits and steps to create them. We explore their benefits in detail and their importance for organizations to increase their work productivity. Also, discussed the major differences between them using a quick comparison table. So, understanding their differences and benefits will help you choose the right fit to improve collaboration and work productivity. It will help you manage a team or coordinate with your colleagues to stay organized and productive.
FAQs
1. What is the purpose of using a group calendar?
It enables users to access and see multiple calendars at a time. A group calendar is useful in scenarios like when you schedule a team meeting, you can see the availability of team members and conference rooms. This saves time and promotes better collaboration.
2. What is the use of a shared calendar in Outlook?
As the calendars are shared it enables you to view the team calendar to see the scheduled events, and meetings, and to see other member’s availability. So, each member can plan their work meetings, etc. accordingly.
3. How do I share my calendar in Outlook?
You can follow the below steps to share a calendar:
- Open Outlook desktop or web app and go to Calendar.
- Choose and right-click on the calendar you want to share.
- Select “Share” and then select “Share Calendar”.
- Enter the email address of the user you want to share with and set their permissions.
4. What are the benefits of using a shared calendar in Outlook?
You can easily and quickly assign tasks, events, and deadlines, and manage workloads using a shared team calendar. Easily add or remove members from the team and assign or unassign tasks. Apart from that, you can also control the level of access among your team members.