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Is Calendly Rude?

calendly.com

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Re: Is Calendly Rude?

#21

Post by tluyben2 »

I do find it rude usually and I would never use it for that reason; most people I know/do business with would literally tell me to suck a pipe no matter how the request is phrased. If the meeting is important, I'll make time no matter what you suggest (and vice-versa, otherwise you seem to think it's not important and we don't have the meeting); if it's not then why are we meeting in the first place? But it is a clear power-play for most people who send me that stuff; clearly they want to show how important they are. Some of them have told me so over a (traditionally planned) beer.

Disclaimer; I try to have as little meetings as possible outside 1-1 and team meetings which are ad hoc mostly when we are chatting anyway about something work.

Re: Is Calendly Rude?

#22

Post by saganus »

jeffinpdx wrote: post #8
bandyaboot wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was recently in the job market and there were a few instances where a recruiter would reach out to me, ask if some job opening sounded interesting to me, then ultimately send me their calendly link to book a meeting. It was a little off-putting at first, but that was ultimately resolved with a “get over yourself” internal dialogue moment.

Do you think this would have landed better if the recruiter would have first asked you for YOUR availability before sending their link? Or was it just the act of sending a link of any type that required a click on your part?

I actually find Calendly useful for recruitment interactions.

Even though it might seem like the recruiter's time is more important, to me it feels the opposite.

When recruiters ask for my availability, I need to reserve that availability until they get back to me. Often they ask for 3 to 4 slots of time, which depending on the week, might be hard to find, and then those slots are blocked.

When they send me a Calendly link, I can pick whatever slot works best for me and I then only that slot is blocked for me.

I recently went through an Amazon interview round and I had to send them my availability three times because none of the slots I sent worked for their interviewers, which really wasn't ideal and feels like their time was much more important than mine.

For regular meetings though, unless it's my manager or a higher up, I do agree that it feels like whoever sends the Calendly link is in control.

Re: Is Calendly Rude?

#23

Post by fragmede »

Living in the bubble of SF, Calendly is the "high-tech" way to sync when to meet, for both private and professional reasons. Most importantly, for interviews, it's highly efficient - rather than give "a couple times that work for you", you just pass them a Calendly link. For a senior software dev that gets bombarded with offers, it's basically the only way to navigate the sheer volume of possibilities.

The paid plan only lets you configure one meeting configuration, so if you simultaneously want to use it for your personal life you kind of have to pay for it. Pretty clever monetization strategy if you ask me. Anyway, as part of this bubble, a large number of people I know follow their calendar religiously - otherwise it's a host of double-booking friends and missing plans that you really did want to go to with people you really did want to spend more time with!

I get that this is part of the strange, strange bubble I live in, but the startup life is busy with a work/life balanced on the work side of things. Not trying to humblebrag that I have a lot of friends, it's more that I'm a wee bit forgetful and don't want to stand somebody up. It's ruder to be inefficient and have a multi-email back and forth to figure out a mutually acceptable time!

(Because I know the people are going to read too much into this: There are people here that don't live so slavishly to their calendar, but if I forget to manually add them to my calendar I'm likely to forget I've made plans.)

Re: Is Calendly Rude?

#24

Post by jeffinpdx »

1123581321 wrote: post #17
satvikpendem wrote: post #14

It's honestly funny to me that people think it's so rude to send a Calendly link first than a whole new app was made to solve that sole pain point, https://SavvyCal.com

How does this solve the rudeness angle? I’ve read everything and I can only see that they think their UI is pleasant enough that people won’t mind. Which may be true, but that’s not a direct solution.

I recommend using a "polite" script many people use: "Feel free to let me know when you're available. If you prefer, you can choose from my availability here." It opens the door for the other person first.

Re: Is Calendly Rude?

#25

Post by jeffinpdx »

cr3ative wrote: post #20

I know it's by the brand, but mentioning "my Calendly link" to your direct family is so stilted it hurts. Just adding a link and saying "this link should show when I'm usually free" is a bit more human. Doesn't spread brand awareness, but your own family is probably not the politest place for doing that. The language as written in the post implies the recipient has any idea who Calendly is or should care. I don't and…

The family example was meant to be a silly example -- most of use Calendly for work -- but it's helpful feedback that it's probably better to say "my availability" versus "my Calendly."

Re: Is Calendly Rude?

#26

Post by gopher_space »

chexx wrote: post #19
musicale wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it sort of automatically signals the requestor is more important than the time picker This is precisely the problem with Calendly and why I'd never recommend it.

This is a stretch. How does scheduling a meeting turn into an emotional battle?

Ask this again once you've worked for someone who wants to be a manager more than they want to manage people.

Re: Is Calendly Rude?

#27

Post by errcorrectcode »

How is saving your and other people's time "rude"? For example, a framing shop I frequent uses a Calendly widget on their homepage for self-service scheduling of consultations. Efficiency advances without externalities shouldn't be considered rude, they should be considered brilliant.

Re: Is Calendly Rude?

#28

Post by zcoyle »

jeffinpdx wrote: post #25
cr3ative wrote: post #20

I know it's by the brand, but mentioning "my Calendly link" to your direct family is so stilted it hurts. Just adding a link and saying "this link should show when I'm usually free" is a bit more human. Doesn't spread brand awareness, but your own family is probably not the politest place for doing that. The language as written in the post implies the recipient has any idea who Calendly is or should care. I don't and…

The family example was meant to be a silly example -- most of use Calendly for work -- but it's helpful feedback that it's probably better to say "my availability" versus "my Calendly."

Regardless of the wording, the family example still comes off as extremely rude IMO.

Re: Is Calendly Rude?

#29

Post by jeffinpdx »

ShakataGaNai wrote: post #13
jeffinpdx wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I feel like the sender should do the extra work of embedding the times in an email. I like your idea of a script that's auto-generated.

But what happens when a person is busy and only has 30mn here and there? A huge blob of text for available times? What about when they get scheduled for a meeting 5 minutes after they send out that auto-generated blob? You could very well pick a time, set it aside, create calendar invites, etc... just to find out they _aren't_ actually available at that time.

It's a good point. There is a feature which allows the sender to "reserve times" in a one-off meeting. That way, they don't get booked before you have an opportunity to select a time.

Re: Is Calendly Rude?

#30

Post by jeffinpdx »

errcorrectcode wrote: post #27

How is saving your and other people's time "rude"? For example, a framing shop I frequent uses a Calendly widget on their homepage for self-service scheduling of consultations. Efficiency advances without externalities shouldn't be considered rude, they should be considered brilliant.

Agreed. Perhaps it's less about the nice words one uses and more about the features (embed in a website, embed times in an email) that reduce the work for the person trying to book a meeting.
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