Group Calendars

Group Calendars are super useful tools to help with the productivity of our jobs, but they are not helpful if they are not being used or being used improperly. So to help us be more productive I wanted to go over our calendar system and how to use it properly. Using multiple calendars doesn’t have to be complicated, in fact it can be really simple.

We host our calendars on Google Calendars, which is a great resource and one if it’s best features is for us to easily toggle calendars on and off. That being said let’s talk about what calendars we have and how to use them.

6 Calendars we use:

• • Staff Calendar

  • Blanding Reservation

  • Central Calendar

  • Downtown Calendar

  • Two Notch Calendar

  • Lexington Calendar

Events get added to the 6 different calendars: get added to the calendars by Ministry Leaders:

• • Ministry Leaders are expected to add them to the correct google calendar.

  • Comms team also keeps an internal document list for all downtown events.  This can be accessed here.

How to access:

1. To access google calendars go to calendar.google.com

2. Then in the upper right hand corner click the icon and select your mitown username i.e. njohnston@midtowncolumbia.com

3. On the left hand side of the page you should see a list called My Calendars

4. All Midtown Calendars should be shared with you.

5. If your @midtowncolumbia.com email needs to be subscribed to one of these calendars please email njohnston@midtowncolumbia.com

6. The color beside the name is the background of that calendar when viewing it on your global calendar.

What it looks like:

Staff Calendar

• • This calendar is to be used by all internal staff & residents to show events related to staff:

    • Staff Meetings

    • Staff Events

    • Staff Trips

  • Dates need to be reserved in advance

• Put locations for meetings when applicable

  • Always look before you make a plan

  • First come first serve

  • Be proactive with putting stuff on this calendar

  • Look at times that are typically empty and try to schedule meetings at those times instead of high traffic times to avoid conflict.

  • Vacation days and Work Days out of the office are put on this calendar.

  • Write a brief description of what the room is being used for (What, Who, Where)

Building Reservation:

For any space on campus that is being reserved. To help keep everything organized anytime we need to use our buildings anytime you know you/your event will be using the area.

• • Provide details

    • Who is checking it out

    • What is it for?

    • How long?

    • Where in the building

    • Will a cleaning crew be needed? (Coordinate with Ken Kelly)

  • Any known construction needs to be added here

Central Calendar:

    From time to time we hold events that involve all three churches, these events should be posted on the Central Calendar.

• • When posting an event try to give a few details.

    • Who is in charge?

    • What is the event?

    • Where will it be?

Church Specific:  

All three of our churches are going to be doing their own thing from time to time and we want to get those events on the correct schedule for the corresponding church.

• • All residents & staff will be added on all three calendars, but make sure you are posting on the correct calendar

  • If you don’t use a calendar turn it off to avoid posting in the wrong calendar

  • As with the other calendars fill in as much information as you can.ie. who, where, what

General rules:

• • Keep calendars up to date

  • Provide necessary details

  • Be proactive

  • Staff & residents should be given full editing rights to all of our calendars

  • Don’t use work calendars for personal use except for vacation (which should be posted on staff calendar)

  • Always add your name