Scheduling group events made easy with Doodle.ch
As a software engineer, one of the genres of programs that you’re always on the lookout for is the “killer app,” the tool or utility that immediately becomes the “best in class” for a given problem space and technology. One problem space where I’ve been hoping for just such a tool to come along is answering that age old question, “how can we quickly schedule a meeting between a bunch of people with separately maintained and very busy calendars?” In the past, it meant lots of back and forth conversations, disjointed calendar checking, and that sense that you were spending time on “administrivia” when you could be out enjoying the world.
Enter the free web tool Doodle.ch.
It’s a simple interface that allows you to set up a “poll” of a group’s availability, and then figure out which time slot works best for everyone. An initiator sets up a list of suggested dates and times, and then sends out a URL to the group. Each person indicates their available slots, and Doodle keeps track of the best candidates. Yay! You can even use it to conduct group polls on other topics, but it seems best suited to scheduling.
I’ve been using Doodle for a few months now with the boards and groups I’m a part of, and a number of people have remarked to me how wonderful they think it is. It’s funny, because it *is* so simple, you would think someone would have built it a long time ago. But the world of software engineering “itches” and the particular ways they are scratched is a peculiar one.
No, Doodle is probably not the killer app for group time scheduling. But it does show that with a little bit of innovation and a simple starting approach, life’s more mundane tasks can be made easier. I look forward to what’s next!
What new tools and technologies do you use to help make the groups you’re a part of more efficient?
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