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Fairly often I create (or attend) a meeting I would like to communicate to others an FYI without needing them to attend.

Generally, I forward it with text along the lines of, "FYI - no need to attend” included as text. This is somewhat unwieldy and has the unintended side effect of prepopulating them as “Tentative” on their calendar. It also includes them on any meeting correspondence/updates, which generally is not necessary. It also sends a "meeting was forwarded" notice in Outlook if I am not the meeting organizer.

This may happen for a variety of reasons. An example would be if a next-step item for me was this meeting, letting the project manager know is helpful, even if they are not interested in the details of the meeting. Or letting your boss know about meetings you either were invited to (by other teams/etc).

  • Is there a better process for how to do this?
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  • why do you want to tell them that a meeting is taking place, but don't want them be kept informed about the meeting or to attend? Your motivation for this will help formulate an answer.
    – mhoran_psprep
    Commented Jun 28, 2013 at 16:14
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    @mhoran_psprep - If I am making a presentation I want my group to be aware but not to be obligated. Exchange tends to generate a lot of unnecessary "Meeting has changed" emails. That becomes spam. And next thing you know my group hates me because I invited them and now their email is full of obsolete updates that nothing appears to have changed on.
    – IDrinkandIKnowThings
    Commented Jun 28, 2013 at 19:40
  • Not sure why your boss needs to know about the meeting if you attend it. You can always provide him with a re-cap later, and save his precious time. If you really think anybody on your team would benefit from a meeting (and not snore the whole way through), pin a sticker/note/formal announcement. Having a notice board helps.
    – Deer Hunter
    Commented Jun 28, 2013 at 20:50
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    enderland - I'm afraid it is unclear. Suggest re-phrasing, if possible, to clarify who's in charge.
    – Deer Hunter
    Commented Jun 28, 2013 at 21:27
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    @DeerHunter - If I am not at my desk my boss may want to know why. If he sees I am doing a presentation that he did not know about he looks dumb. It is possible he may want to sit in on the presentation to see how I do (since evaluating me is part of his job) or just to be there as a resource if needed. But chances are he is not going to. But that should be his decision not mine.
    – IDrinkandIKnowThings
    Commented Jul 1, 2013 at 13:27

3 Answers 3

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I usually just send an email or an IM not a meeting request. I would include some explanation as to why I thought they should know about it. For my boss it might be something like:

I've been asked to attend a meeting on XYZ on Jun 6 at 4. Just wanted to give you a heads up in case you had anything you needed me to bring up in the meeting and to let you know I won't be available during that time in case client A gets back to you about a time to discuss issue JKL.

Or

You asked me to meet with John on issue ABC. The meeting is currently scheduled for 10 on Thursday.

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Have you thought about creating an entity in Exchange to act as a proxy for these FYI/Optional events?

Similar to how you'd create a conference room, create an account that can receive invites and host a calendar. Add the "Conference Room" as a resource in your meeting invitations, and your group can subscribe to the Conference Room calendar in Outlook alongside their own and see what meetings they should be aware of.

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One way is the use of a team calendar. All the meetings the team will be attending are entered on to the calendar. This lets people know what events are on the schedule without a requirement that it appear on their calendar.

It isn't perfect because team members have to update the calendar, and people need to review the calendar. It can also breakdown if the number of events overwhelms the system, so that you can't see everything when looking at the week or month view.

I have seen teams use different colors to show the purpose/type of event.

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