Outlook - End meetings early or start late - NEW feature 2021

Posted on:  04/21/2021

If you're using Outlook for Microsoft 365, you can now have Outlook end your meetings early or start late. I prefer to end early, but it's up to you. End early or start late can help with digital overload for remote staff. You can choose a different duration for meetings under one hour and meetings over one hour. The feature from Microsoft allows employees have a break between back-to-back meetings. 

Five reasons you don't want back-to-back meetings:

1. You need to get water, coffee, or tea.
2. You need to take a restroom break.
3. You need to summarize your meeting notes.
4. You need to prepare for the next meeting. Possibly pull up a couple files to share during that meeting.
5. Mental and Physical reasons: Taking a short break helps with eye strain, neck pain, shoulder pain, and headaches.

Another reason and this is my experience from working from home since March 2020 is it is impossible to go from one meeting to the next without a buffer in between.

YouTube video

Outlook desktop - end early or start late

1. Select File - Options
2. Click Calendar
3. Under Calendar options, check the Shorten appointments and meetings checkbox and select End early or Start late depending on what you want. Use the drop-down to select the number of minutes for meetings less than one hour and one hour or longer, then click OK.

Microsoft article on the benefits of taking breaks and three takeaways

1. Breaks between meetings allow the brain to “reset,” reducing a cumulative buildup of stress across meetings.
2. Back-to-back meetings can decrease your ability to focus and engage.
3. Transitioning between meetings can be a source of high stress.

Read the full article

 

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