Google Calendar Reminders
By
Tom KellenOne important aspect of project management is meetings and appointments. As I usually have several projects going at once, I need all the help I can get with remembering where and when I’m supposed to be somewhere.
One of the best tools I found to help with this problem is Google Calendars (GC). Google Calendars has several different ways to remind you, all of which I find useful.
When you create an event in GC you can edit the event details and there you will find the reminder section. The first way that GC can remind you is by sending you an e-mail message. I typically have it send me an e-mail 2 hours before an appointment.
The next way GC can remind you is to send an SMS message to your cell phone. I usually have it send me an SMS message 1 hour before my appointment.
The last way is by popping up an alert window. I usually set this to pop up about 30 minutes before my appointment. Now typically, if I see this pop up message, I’m in trouble since I should already be on the way to see someone!
GC allows you to set up these reminders as defaults. So each time I create an appointment, it already has the above reminders set. You can change them or add to them as you create an event. For instance I will often have GC send me an e-mail 7 days and 1 day before a Birthday or Anniversary event so that I have time to grab a card or gift. You can also have GC e-mail you your agenda at the start of each day so that it is waiting for you when you arise.
You could easily create different calendars within GC for your different projects. You can assign a different color to each calendar to you can look at an overview of all of your projects together. One last great thing about GC is that it will sync with Outlook if you’re on a PC and iCal if you’re on a Mac.
Google Calendars should definitely be in every project manager’s bag of tricks!
