The Best Shared Calendar Apps for Your Business
Business owners constantly seek technology that boosts productivity, improves organization, and gets teams working together. Calendar apps are an excellent tech addition that can enhance communication and get your team on the same page. Though computers and smartphones often have built-in calendars, third-party calendar apps offer enhanced features that facilitate task management, automation, scheduling and more. We’ll share which features to look for in a calendar app and highlight seven excellent calendar app options.
If you need a calendar app to use across your entire company, consider these seven options. All of these apps have helpful features, and business owners across different industries highly recommend them.
Asana
Asana is more than a shared calendar app; it also makes it effortless to manage team projects and tasks. The Timeline feature shows all project segments and how they fit together, and tracks changes as you go. Asana also features a mobile app and more than 100 integrations. There is a free plan, as well as paid plans that unlock additional features.
“Asana isn’t just a calendar. … It’s an enterprise resource planner that includes a shared calendar function, but it also provides other collaboration tools we require,” said David Alexander, a designer, developer and digital marketer at Mazepress. “The pro of this approach includes having task management, communication and reporting tools all within a single interface. … Put simply, it’s one of the tools I couldn’t live without.”
Credit: Asana
If project management is your team’s priority, learn how to choose the right project management software, and explore our reviews of the best online project management software.
Calendly
Calendly is an automated scheduling platform that works with your calendar to check your availability automatically. It helps to schedule meetings without endless back-and-forth emails. Other features include buffer time between meetings, time zone detection, and compatibility with apps such as Salesforce and GoTo Meeting. [Find out more about these apps by reading our review of Salesforce and our GoTo Connect review.]
“I use Calendly. I like to set up my podcast interviews,” said Michelle Ngome, a fractional diversity marketing consultant. “There is a free and a paid version. The free version allows you to use one category, while [with] the paid version, you can set up multiple categories. Plus, you can customize the URL.”
Ngome said her favorite feature is that Calendly syncs with Google Calendar, allowing her to schedule personal appointments in Google without updating her Calendly schedule. The app also integrates with Outlook, Office 365 and Apple’s iCloud calendar.
Credit: Calendly
Google Calendar
Google Calendar is an integrated online calendar designed for teams. This calendar integrates seamlessly with other Google products, including Gmail, Drive, Contacts and Meet. You can access this app on computers, tablets and phones.
“I use the Google Calendar app to book all my appointments with clients,” said Ana Santos, senior design program manager at Talkdesk. “It’s also handy for video meetings because it syncs with Google [Meet] if we assign a video conferencing option to the event.”
Santos’ favorite feature is Google Calendar’s ability to sync your calendar across all devices and browsers if you’re logged in with your Google account.
Credit: Google Play Store
Google Calendar has even more functionality when you use Google Calendar hidden tips and tricks, such as hiding your inactive hours, working with keyboard shortcuts and managing your tasks.
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a well-known personal information manager app that includes email, calendar functions, scheduling, task management and more. If you have a Microsoft Exchange, Office 365 or Outlook account, you can share your calendar with others. You can also create additional calendars for specific projects and share them with co-workers.
Credit: Microsoft
Teamup
Teamup offers shared calendars for groups to simplify organization, scheduling and communication. Businesses can choose from free and paid plans. Teamup also offers a live demo and a three-day trial, so you can see for yourself if this app is a good fit for your team.
This program was built specifically for groups. The calendars are easy to use; they’re organized by color and can easily and securely be shared with other team members through a secure URL.
“I spent ages looking for a good shared calendar to manage events and holidays for a spread-out team of people,” said Ben Taylor, founder of homeworkingclub.com. “I eventually opted for … Teamup. It gave me the ability to set up lots of different event categories, [it] allowed staff to pull their choice of calendars into their own software using ICS feeds, and [it] even comes with an app for iOS and Android.”
Credit: Teamup Solutions AG
iCloud
iCloud isn’t just for storage; it also features an easy-to-use calendar that integrates with any Apple device. The iCloud calendar app allows your team to schedule meetings, share information and communicate with ease. You can also toggle your calendar view to “Today” to view your daily tasks and projects at a glance. The functionality is straightforward and very similar to Google’s calendar, making it a popular choice.
But there’s one downside to this app: Like most Apple products, it loses a lot of functionality on non-Apple devices. Overall, this calendar app is a good choice if your entire team uses Apple products.
Source: Apple Inc.
If you’re debating between iOS vs. Android for your business apps and devices, keep in mind that if you’re already enmeshed in one company’s products, it makes sense to stick with that operating system.
Thunderbird Lightning Calendar
Thunderbird Lightning Calendar is one of the most powerful calendar apps for Linux users, though it also features Windows and Mac capabilities. Thunderbird’s display includes tabs for your email, calendar and tasks, and users can easily navigate between these tabs to communicate and stay organized throughout the day.
The calendar offers several views, including a summary of everything on your schedule for a single day and a search function with time filters and preset event categories. Lightning Calendar integrates seamlessly with Thunderbird and SeaMonkey email services.
While it’s not the fanciest shared calendar app on the list, Thunderbird Lightning Calendar is a helpful all-in-one tool to keep you and your team on track.
Source: Thunderbird
