When fixing time for a face-to-face meeting in a face-to-face
meeting, the following is the common method:
- Someone proposes a date.
- Someone else says that that date is unsuitable and proposes
a new date.
- Continue until a date is found, which suits everybody.
- If absolutely no date can be found, ask some people if the
meeting can be held without them.
Many people who are not accustomed to e-mail try the same method
when fixing a data for a face-to-face meeting via e-mail.
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However, this method works very badly, because the slow interaction
(often 24 hours before most people have read a new message)
causes a long time before a suitable time can be found.
Instead, when using e-mail, use the following method:
- Select a list of five or more different possible dates in
several different weeks.
- Send this list to everyone, and ask them to answer, for
each date, whether this date is good, acceptable or bad for
them.
- Collect the answers, and select the date best for most people.
If no date is possible, try again with a new list of dates.
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