Blog
/
Calendar Management
/
A Recap of our AI Scheduler Webinar: 20 Minutes to a Better Schedule

A Recap of our AI Scheduler Webinar: 20 Minutes to a Better Schedule

Alyssa Towns
Writer
June 21, 2024
Updated on:

A Recap of our AI Scheduler Webinar: 20 Minutes to a Better Schedule
Photo by 

We recently hosted a webinar where Product Manager Michael Tappel shared an overview of how Clockwise AI Scheduler, currently in Beta, can help you eliminate calendar chaos for good. Watch the full webinar recording below, or read on for a summary of what we shared (and how Clockwise will have you on your way to a better schedule!). 

Here at Clockwise, our mission is to make time for what matters. Balancing time get more done with the calendar chaos of finding meeting times that work for everyone is an ongoing challenge for many organizations. 

We’re building AI Scheduler—the first assistant that lets anyone delegate calendar management— because scheduling meetings can sometimes feel like repeatedly hitting your head against a brick wall.

Our vision with AI Scheduler is to do the heavy lifting—scanning others' calendars, parsing through conflicts, and figuring out how to resolve them—for you. 

What is AI Scheduler? 

Think of AI Scheduler as your scheduling assistant, helping you manage your calendar and schedule and reschedule meetings. These core concepts can help you get the most out of AI Scheduler:

  • Flexibility: The more flexible your calendar (using our flexible meetings feature), the more options we have to help schedule your meetings. This allows us to schedule the meeting you need.
  • Permissions: AI Scheduler only has the same permissions to edit or modify calendars you have (or other users have granted for their calendars). It works best as a team product, optimizing calendars based on the preferences you and your team members with whom you meet regularly have set. 
  • Control: You have complete control over how AI Scheduler impacts your calendar. You will receive a proposal, but we won’t change your or others’ calendars unless you explicitly confirm the changes.
  • AI: Chat is one option for scheduling meetings, but it isn’t the only one. You can also schedule and reschedule with point-and-click and drag-and-drop options.

AI Scheduler: The path to a better schedule 

AI Scheduler is a familiar calendar interface with the addition of a chat window on the left. Here’s how it looks. 

Today, Clockwise enables you to mark meetings as flexible and set your workday preferences (and we highly recommend you do both to get the most out of AI Scheduler). Then, you can explore all that AI Scheduler (in Beta) offers. 

We’ll help you make time for what matters (with your approval!). Here’s how to maximize AI Scheduler to improve your workday scheduling headaches. 

Schedule a meeting (without using Chat): You can use AI Scheduler to coordinate a simple meeting without using the full Chat feature. 

  1. Click the “Find time with” button in the chat panel, and a menu with your most frequent collaborators appears. 
  2. Choose who you need to meet with, and Clockwise scans calendars and returns a list of scheduling suggestions. 
  3. Review Clockwise suggestions, and once you’re ready, confirm the meeting. 
  4. The event will be added to your calendars (and address potential conflicts). 

Move a meeting to another time (without using Chat): If you need to move a meeting because something else came up, that's no problem. Click on an event directly in the calendar view, and Clockwise automatically loads times it can reschedule the meeting. We’ve already done the work of scanning calendars and determining the best times to meet.

Use Chat to find a time to meet: Easily schedule meetings with your teammates by entering natural language prompts into the Chat feature. 

  1. Type a prompt like, “Schedule a biweekly meeting with Kacy.”(Clockwise can help you schedule ad hoc or recurring events (just be sure to add these details to your prompt).
  2. We’ll offer some ideal meeting times. 
  3. Clockwise will point out any conflicts with your new meeting. Confirm the new meeting time and accept or reject the conflicts. 

A couple of important notes:

  • Remember, the more meetings you mark as flexible, the more we can help address conflicts as they arise. 
  • We won’t move meetings that we don’t have permission to move, and if we do adjust a flexible meeting, we ensure it’s within the flexibility move range. 

Use Chat to reschedule a meeting: If something comes up and you need to move a meeting, simply enter a prompt. You can use a simple prompt like “Reschedule my 1:1 with Vicky to Tuesday,” or use @ mention to specify the meeting (or attendee name) you need help moving to eliminate any confusion. Confirm changes, and you’re all set! 

Complete scheduling actions in bulk: Use AI Scheduler to complete multiple scheduling actions simultaneously. For example, if you wake up sick and need to take the day off, enter a prompt in AI Scheduler and let Clockwise help you make schedule adjustments so you don’t have to. 

Quickly create scheduling links to share your availability: Many of you love Clockwise Scheduling Links for sharing your availability with external meeting attendees. Now, you can ask Clockwise to create a link on the spot, allowing you or a group of you and your team members to share your availability for one-off meetings. These links expire after one use.

Use Chat to prepare shareable meeting proposals: We know rescheduling meetings is nuanced and might require checking in with your team members before confirming any changes. You can ask AI Scheduler for times to meet with your teammates and then share the meeting proposal using a quick copy-and-paste link. Your teammate can open the proposal and review it before confirming or canceling the request. 

AI Scheduler Q&A

 

  • Will scheduling meetings with other people work if they are not using Clockwise? Yes! Remember, Clockwise has the same permissions you do. If you can see the events on someone else’s calendar, then Clockwise can see the events on their calendar (even if they are not a Clockwise user). If you can only see free/busy details, Clockwise will see the same thing and work within those constraints to find meeting times. As we mentioned, AI Scheduler works better for Clockwise users who have set their preferences (especially flexible meetings), but we can still help if you need to meet with a non-Clockwise user.
  • When will the AI Scheduler be available to current customers? It’s available now! Log into your Clockwise account, and you should see the AI page at the top of the navigation bar on the left. (P.S. AI Scheduler is currently in Beta.)
  • Will AI Scheduler become a paid feature? This is a free feature while it is in Beta. We want your feedback before determining how it fits our packages and pricing. 
  • Do all of the features demoed (or shown above) only work with Clockwise? If you send a shareable proposal to a non-Clockwise user, we will ask permission to connect to their calendar to schedule the meeting. 
  • Can you have AI reschedule your Focus Time? The answer is…sort of! AI Scheduler doesn’t yet know how to treat calendar holds like Focus Time, lunch, and personal calendar holds. We recommend adjusting these settings on the “Your ideal day” page. We will continue working on this in the future!
  • How does AI Scheduler work with non-flexible meetings? If you are scheduling a meeting with a group of people and there are no flexible meetings, Clockwise is limited in what it can do in terms of rescheduling meetings. However, we’ll still recommend moving meetings for which you have edit permissions, and you can confirm or reject the changes. We won’t offer options for others’ calendars where they don’t have any say. 

What’s next for AI Scheduler?

In the AI Scheduler window, you can click “See what’s next” to view our public AI Scheduler roadmap in Notion. Here, we keep track of shipped, in progress, and upcoming features! 

If you have feedback, please share it with us using the thumbs-up and thumbs-down in-product icons.

We are so excited about what’s to come from Clockwise AI Scheduler on our mission to make time for what matters while reducing scheduling headaches. Try AI Scheduler for free while it’s in Beta, and share your feedback with us! 

About the author

Alyssa Towns

Alyssa Towns has written productivity and time management content for Clockwise for several years. Early in her career, she dove into time management strategies to effectively manage her workday calendar and 10+ C-Suite officers' calendars across various organizations. She uses her training in change management to write time management, the future of work, and career content that helps people change their behaviors and habits. In addition, she writes about artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology for G2's Learn Hub. When she isn't writing, Alyssa enjoys trying new restaurants with her husband, playing with her Bengal cats, adventuring outdoors, or reading a book from her TBR list.

Make your schedule work for you

More from Clockwise