Google Calendar
Continuing with the calendar series, today I want to look at the cloud-based Google calendar. Although I resisted using this calendar for years, a number of shortfalls have been corrected, making it a useful tool for those managing multiple areas in a bookstore.
One benefit is that you can set up individual calendars for the different areas you manage¸ assigning color codes for each. These areas might include events calendar, employee schedule, window display schedule, event proposal deadlines, editorial calendar, vacation requests, room reservations, etc. Individual calendars can be shared and editing permission granted to whomever you choose. Or single events can be shared through invitations sent via email.
You can select which calendars are on display, showing just one or more at a time. This is helpful when you need to compare one calendar to another, such as the employee schedule vs. vacation requests.
Since the program is cloud-based, Google calendar can sync with your smart phone, and you’re able to select which calendars to view on that device as well.
You can click on the “gear” button to customize the settings and select the best default view for your store (Monday – Friday, 7 days, 2 weeks, etc.). And just below the “settings” option, be sure to explore the “lab” for different add-ons, like hiding morning and night hours, or enabling event attachments.
Google calendar isn’t the only cloud-based calendar system available, it’s just the one that works for me.
