Making use of Outlook Calendar and Tasks
Session Content

1)Setting up Tasks in Outlook

2)Setting up meetings and appointments in Outlook

3)Sharing your calendar

Setting Up Tasks Using Outlook

Task Mode:

Outlook - New/Add Tasks

Micro manage your day(s) - anything from house chores to daily office tasks. Plan weeks ahead and micro manage your work week adding daily chores hour by hour. Add a new task by clicking the New Button near the top left of your Outlook program or pressing Ctrl+N.

New Task Button:

As you may have guessed, clicking the New button brings up the New Task Form. Set up a task and edit several options related to the task from the inside of this form.

New Task Form:

Schedule a task by naming it and setting a time, also you have the option to set up reminders with a sound file or not. Fill in the fields that work for you.

Outlook - Task View(s)

There are a number of views for you to choose from when viewing your "to do" list. Locate the Current View Tab along the left hand column. Switch the bullet between options to change the task view.

Task View:

Outlook - Task Options

Change some of the default settings for your task listings by choosing Tools>Options... from the top menu and locating the Task Options Button.

Tools>Options:

Change the coloring or set up a daily reminder of the tasks to be completed.

Task Options:

Create an appointment

  1. On the File menu, point to New, and then click Appointment.

Keyboard shortcutTo create an appointment, press Ctrl+Shift+A.

  1. In the Subject box, type a description.
  2. In the Location box, type the location.
  1. Enter the start and end times.

TipYou can type specific words and phrases in the Start time and End time boxes instead of dates. For example you can type Today, Tomorrow, New Year’s Day, Two Weeks from Tomorrow, Week from Yesterday, Three days before New Year's Day, and most holiday names.

  1. Select any other options that you want.
  2. To make the appointment recur, on the Appointment tab, in the Options group, click Recurrence.
  3. Click the frequency (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly) with which the appointment recurs, and then select options for the frequency.

  1. Click OK.
  2. On the Appointment tab, in the Actions group, click Save & Close.

TipQuickly add a new appointment by using the new Click to Add Appointment feature in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. Rest your mouse pointer over any blank area on the calendar grid, and then click to add an appointment.

Change an appointment

  1. Open the appointment that you want to change.
  2. Do one of the following:
  • Change options for an appointment that is not part of a series
  1. Change the options, such as subject, location, and time, that you want to change.
  2. On the Appointment tab, in the Actions group, click Save & Close.
  • Change options for all appointments in a series
  1. Click Open the series, and then change any options, such as subject, location, and time, that you want to change.
  2. To change recurrence options, on the Recurring Appointment tab, in the Options group, click Recurrence, change the options, such as time, recurrence pattern, or range of recurrence, and then click OK.
  3. On the Recurring Appointment tab, in the Actions group, click Save & Close.
  • Change options for one appointment that is part of a series
  1. Click Open this occurrence.
  2. On the Recurring Appointment tab, change the options, such as subject, location, and time, that you want.
  3. On the Recurring Appointment tab, in the Actions group, click Save & Close.

TipIn Calendar, you can drag the appointment to a different date and you can also edit the subject by clicking the description text, pressing F2, and then typing your changes.

Make an appointment recur

  1. Open the appointment that you want to set to recur.
  2. On the Appointment tab, in the Options group, click Recurrence.
  3. Click the frequency— Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly— with which you want the appointment to recur, and then select the options for the frequency.

  1. On the Appointment tab, in the Actions group, click Save & Close.

Make an appointment private

  1. Create or open the appointment that you want to make private.
  2. On the Appointment tab, in the Options group, click Private.

Keyboard shortcutTo mark an item private, press ALT+H, V.

ImportantYou should not rely on the Private feature to prevent other people from accessing the details of your appointments, contacts, or tasks. To make sure that other people cannot read the items that you mark as private, do not grant them read permission to your Calendar, Contacts, or Tasks folders. A person with read permission to access your folders could use programmatic methods or other e-mail applications to view the details of a private item. Use the private feature only when you share folders with people whom you trust.

A better way to keep individual appointments private is to create them on a separate calendar.

Set up or clear a reminder

Do one of the following:

  • For all new appointments that you create
  • On the Tools menu, click Options.
  • To automatically turn a reminder on or off for new appointments, select or clear the Default reminder check box.
  • If you select the check box, enter the amount of time before the appointment that you want the reminder to appear.
  • For existing appointments
  1. Open the appointment, or, if the appointment recurs, open the series.
  2. To turn a reminder on or off, on the Appointment tab, in the Options group, in the Reminder list, click None or the time that you want to be reminded in advance of the appointment.

Checking Attendee Availability

  • You can check the schedules of people you would like to attend a meeting, prior to sending out the meeting request. To do so, go through the following steps to begin planning a meeting:
  • Select File/New/Meeting Request from the menu or click on the down arrow next to the New Appointment icon and then click on Meeting Request.
  • The new meeting screen appears. You need to specify for Calendar who you would like to attend your meeting. To do this, select the To: option to display the Global Address Book.
  • Highlight the desired attendee(s) from the address book.
  • Click on Required -> to place the selected name(s) in the recipient required list. Click Optional -> to place the selected name(s) in the recipient optional list (they are not required to attend).
  • Select OK to return to the meeting planner window.
  • Select the Attendee Availability tab.
  • When the screen is displayed, click Show Attendee Availability. If the attendee uses their calendar to plan meetings and set up appointments, blocked out areas appearing in blue means they are already busy. You can set the start and end time for the meeting while in this window as well. Making it easier to see who and when free time is available.
  • Using AutoPick is another way to set up a meeting based on the availability of the attendees.
  • Click on the down arrow next to AutoPick to choose who you want to schedule.
  • Click on the right arrow button to go forward in the calendar until it finds a day and time that all of the attendees are available.

Share Outlook 2007 Calendars

In Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2003, you can make your calendar visible to others and view others’ calendars.

To share your calendar with others

  1. In the Office Outlook 2007 navigation pane, click Calendar, and then click Share My Calendar in the left navigation pane.
  2. In the sharing invitation message, in the To box, do one of the following:
  3. Type the name of the person with whom you want to share your calendar.
  4. Click To to select names from the Address Book.

To request a shared view of your recipient’s calendar, select the Request permission to view recipient's Calendar check box.

  1. Click Send.
  2. In the Microsoft Office Outlook dialog box, click Yes.

Note
If you do not want to share everything on your calendar, create a duplicate calendar and move your private items to the duplicate calendar. For information about how to create a second calendar, see the topic “Create additional calendars” in Office Outlook 2007 Help.

To stop sharing your calendar

  1. In the Office Outlook 2007 navigation pane, click Calendar.
  2. Under My Calendars, right-click the calendar that you are sharing, and then click Change Sharing Permissions.
  3. In the Calendar Properties dialog box, on the Permissions tab, click the user name of the person with whom you want to stop sharing.
  4. Click Remove, and then click OK.

To see another person’s calendar

  1. After you have received permission to view another person’s calendar, the calendar should appear in the Calendar navigation pane under People’s Calendars. Select the calendar check box to open it. If the calendar is not listed, follow the remaining steps.
  2. In the Office Outlook 2007 navigation pane, click Calendar, and then click Open a Shared Calendar.
  3. In the Open a Shared Calendar dialog box, in the Name box, do one of the following:
  4. Type the person’s name.
  5. Click Name to select it from the Address Book.
  6. Click OK.

The person’s calendar appears side by side with your main calendar.

To remove another person’s calendar from your calendars list

  1. In the Office Outlook 2007 navigation pane, click Calendar.
  2. In the calendar pane, under People’s Calendars, right-click the person’s name, and then click Delete <person’s name>.

Note
Removing the shared calendar does not remove your permission to view the calendar. You can add the calendar again if you still have permission to view the calendar.

To see your permissions on another person’s shared calendar

  1. In the Office Outlook 2007 navigation pane, click Calendar.
  2. In the Calendar pane, under People’s Calendars, right-click a person’s name, and then click Properties.
  3. In the Calendar Properties dialog box, click the Summary tab to see your permissions for that person's calendar.

Note
Permissions can only be changed by the calendar owner.