Microsoft 365 How-To

There are two types of calendars you'll work with in Outlook:

• Group calendars (On Call Schedule, Time Off Schedule) -- shared with the entire group. Every member can see these events. Managers create events here; drivers view them. Think of these as the official company schedule boards.
• Your personal calendar -- only you can see it unless you invite someone. Use this for one-on-one meetings, reminders, or anything that doesn't need to be on the shared schedule.

When you create an event on a group calendar, every group member can see it automatically -- you don't need to invite them individually. When you create a personal event and add attendees, only those specific people receive the invite.

The On Call Schedule and Time Off Schedule group calendars are locked down. Only managers (group owners) can create, edit, or delete events on those calendars. Drivers can view the schedule but cannot make changes. This prevents accidental edits to the official schedule.

Each group calendar gets its own color. You can tap between Day, 3-Day, and Month views using the tabs at the top of the calendar.

By default, group events might not send you push notifications. To make sure you get alerts:

If you don't see a subscribe option, the group events will still appear on your calendar view -- you just might not get push notifications for new events. Check the calendar view regularly, or use Teams notifications as a backup.

Each group has a shared conversation thread -- like a group email chain that everyone can see. Use it for announcements, schedule questions, or anything the whole group should know about.

Starting a new conversation: From the group view, tap the compose icon (pencil or + button). Type your subject and message, then tap Send. Every group member will receive this in their inbox and can reply.

This is the most common task -- putting a driver's on-call window on the shared schedule.

The event immediately appears on every group member's calendar -- no invites needed.

When creating any event, you'll see an All day toggle:

• All day ON -- the event spans the full day (or multiple days). It shows as a banner at the top of the calendar. Best for: PTO, holidays, multi-day coverage, training days.
• All day OFF -- you set specific start/end times. It shows as a time block on the calendar. Best for: on-call shifts with specific hours, meetings, calls.

For a 12-hour on-call shift, turn All day OFF and set the exact hours (e.g., 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM). For a full day off, turn All day ON.

If a driver works the same shift every week, you don't have to create the event every single time. Use recurrence to set it once and let it repeat.

To change one instance later (e.g., a swap), tap that specific event and choose Edit this event (not "Edit all events in the series").

Be careful with "Edit all events in the series" -- that changes every past and future occurrence. If a driver's regular shift changes starting next month, it's safer to end the old recurring event and create a new one starting on the new date.

For meetings with specific people (not the whole group), create a personal calendar event and invite them. This is different from a group calendar event.

Joining a Teams meeting from an invite: When you receive a meeting invite with a Teams link, just open the event on your calendar and tap Join (or tap the Teams meeting link). The Teams app will open and connect you.

If you need to move an on-call block to a different driver (a swap), the easiest way is to edit the existing event and change the driver's name in the title and description -- rather than deleting and recreating it. This preserves the time slot and any notes.