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.

Use the toolbar to switch between Day, Work Week, Week, and Month views. Right-click any group calendar to change its display color.

On desktop, group calendars usually show automatically once you're a member. If events aren't appearing:

On the desktop app, group calendars typically show events with no extra setup required -- just check the box next to the group calendar in the left panel. The subscribe/follow option is mainly useful for getting email notifications about new events.

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: With the group selected, click New Mail in the toolbar. Type your subject and message using the rich-text editor. Click 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. You can also drag and drop existing events to move them to a different time slot.

On desktop, you can drag the edges of a calendar event to resize it (change start/end time), or drag the whole event to move it to a different day/time. This is much faster than opening and editing each event.

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

• Checked (All day) -- 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.
• Unchecked (Timed) -- 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, leave the checkbox unchecked and set the exact hours (e.g., 6:00 PM to 6:00 AM). For a full day off, check the All day event box.

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), double-click that specific event and choose Just this one (not "The entire series").

Be careful with "Open the entire 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, open the event on your calendar and click Join Teams Meeting. The Teams app will open and connect you. Or click the Teams meeting link in the email invite.

If you need to move an on-call block to a different driver (a swap), the easiest way on desktop is to double-click the event and change the driver's name in the title and description. You can also drag and drop the event to move it to a different time slot.