Microsoft Office 2007 Help!

Calendar maintenance is a primary concern when you are trying to schedule for multiple people, let alone an entire office! To streamline this process, I have been attempting to update the entire firm’s individual calendars with our 2010 holiday schedule, along with some specific recurring team meetings. This update should have been fairly simple, as Outlook supposedly has a group update feature that allows for multiple updates instead of my having to go into every calendar and input the information.

Alas, my simple solution is turning out to be far from it. After two hours of searching, I have not yet discovered a way for me to update everyone’s schedules in one swoop without them having to see or respond to a meeting request. Outlook does, however, have the ability to create group schedules but this method remains flawed for our needs as each individual would need to accept each meeting invite or set up an automatic acceptance (another potentially flawed feature). Neither of these options is the most efficient use of time.

As a Boston venture capital firm, we have prospective portfolio companies actively looking for investors and our current expansion stage portfolio companies looking for assistance. Our partners, associates, analysts and operational support people need to take the time necessary to help each of these companies. Scheduling is of utmost importance but not everyone has the time, or forethought, to maintain their individual calendars with the precision necessary. Figuring out a way for me to take over a portion of everyone’s calendars opens up time for OpenView team members to focus on our portfolio companies and ensures that firm-wide meetings and dates are known to all. By taking on this responsibility, I am enabling everyone to focus more on what we specialize in, building great companies.

Wish me luck on my continued search for an Outlook 2007 Calendar solution! (Suggestions are always welcome!)