Manage Shared Team Calendars and Schedules with Microsoft 365

Keep your team's events, availability, and on-call coverage visible in one place, without depending on one person's calendar. This guide helps you choose between a Microsoft 365 Group Calendar and Microsoft Teams Shifts, and shows you how to set up and use the one that fits.

Which tool do you need?

Start with what your team needs to see. Choose the simplest tool that solves the problem.

Two quick questions can help:

• "We need one shared calendar where the team can see and add common events." Use a Group Calendar.
• "We need to know who is available or on call, and handle swaps or coverage." Use Shifts.

Most teams need only one of these. Use both only if you genuinely need events and people coverage, because every extra tool is something your team has to keep up to date.

Quick comparison

Check how your team's email is set up

Your KAUST email and calendar are hosted on either Microsoft Outlook or Google Gmail, depending on your role. Staff use Outlook, researchers, post-docs, and students use Gmail, and faculty can choose either. For details, see Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace? You have both.

This matters because Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace calendars do not connect to each other.

If some of your team members are on Gmail, they will not be able to see or use the Group Calendar or Shifts schedule. Check whether the tool still meets your team's needs before you set it up.

Before you start

You need a Microsoft Team

Both options in this guide work through a Microsoft Team, a shared workspace in Microsoft Teams. When KAUST IT creates a Team, it also creates:

• a Microsoft 365 Group, which gives the Team its shared Group Calendar in Outlook; and
• a SharePoint site for the Team's files.

This means one Team supports both options. You can start with a Group Calendar and add a Shifts schedule later without making a new request.

Already an owner of a Team? Skip ahead. You can use the Team you already have.

Need a new Team? Follow Request a Microsoft Teams Group. That page explains what information to include.

Students: ask your PI (principal investigator, the faculty member who leads your research group) to request the Team, or submit the request on your PI's behalf through the IT Service Center. Select your PI in the On Behalf field.

Name at least two owners

A Team owner can manage members, settings, and the Shifts schedule. A member can view and use the calendar or schedule, but cannot change the Team's setup.

Name at least two owners when you request a Team. If the only owner leaves KAUST or changes roles, nobody can manage the calendar or schedule until access is restored.

Everyone needs a KAUST account

Everyone who uses the calendar or schedule needs an active @kaust.edu.sa account. This includes contractors and service providers who work with your team.

Option A: Microsoft 365 Group Calendar

A Group Calendar is a shared Outlook calendar that belongs to your Team, not to one person. Anyone in the Team can see it and add events, and it stays in place when people join or leave.

Use a Group Calendar when

• your team needs one common calendar;
• the events belong to the team, not to one person;
• several people need to add and update events;
• seeing events is the main requirement; and
• your team works mainly in Outlook.

A Group Calendar is not a leave or timekeeping system, a shift management tool, or a way to reserve rooms. For official leave, use HR Connect. For shifts and coverage, see Option B. For rooms, see Reserving rooms and resources.

Open your Group Calendar

These steps are for the new Outlook for Windows and Outlook on the web. The layout may differ slightly on macOS or in classic Outlook.

1. Open Outlook and go to Calendar.
2. In the list of calendars on the left, find the Groups section.
3. Select your Team's name. The Group Calendar opens.

You can view the Group Calendar beside your own calendar. Select both to see them side by side.

For other versions of Outlook, see Microsoft's guide: Use a group calendar in Outlook.

Add an event to the Group Calendar

1. Open the Group Calendar.
2. Select New event.
3. Before you type anything else, check which calendar the event is being saved to. The calendar name appears near the top of the event window. Make sure it shows your Team's name, not your own name. If it shows your own calendar, change it to the Group Calendar.
4. Add a clear title. For time away or location, start with the person's name, for example "Ahmed - Annual Leave" or "Sara - Remote".
5. Set the date and time. For full days, turn on All day.
6. Select Save.

Check that it worked

1. Ask another Team member to open the Group Calendar in their Outlook.
2. Confirm they can see the event you added.
3. If they cannot see it, open the event and check that it was saved to the Group Calendar and not to your own calendar.

Option B: Microsoft Teams Shifts

Shifts is a scheduling app built into Microsoft Teams. It shows who is working, away, on call, or available, and helps your team cover gaps.

Use Shifts when

• you run an on-call rotation or duty roster;
• you need to see who is available on a given day;
• shifts sometimes need to be swapped, offered, or picked up by someone else;
• you want team members to request time away and an owner to approve it within the team schedule; or
• you want to prepare schedule changes before the team sees them.

Who can set up and manage a schedule

Shifts is available in Microsoft Teams at KAUST. To create a schedule or change it, you must be an owner of the Team.

Team members who are not owners can view the schedule and send requests, such as time off or shift swaps, for an owner to approve.

If someone needs to manage the schedule, make them an owner of the Team. See Add another Team owner.

Set up and use Shifts

The full steps for owners and team members are in a separate guide.

Read the Shifts guide

Reserving rooms and resources

If people need to reserve a room, lab, piece of equipment, or appointment, use Microsoft Bookings instead. A Group Calendar or Shifts schedule cannot prevent two people from reserving the same thing at the same time.

If a normal Outlook room reservation already works for your space, keep using it. Bookings is for cases where you need more control, such as set booking times, services, or a booking page.

Read the Bookings guide

Keep your calendar or schedule working long term

A shared calendar is only useful if someone can still manage it next year. A few habits prevent most problems:

• Keep at least two owners. Add a second owner now, not when the first one is leaving.
• Review owners and members when roles change. Remove people who have left the team and add new team members promptly.
• Agree on naming. Use a consistent format for event titles, such as "Name - Annual Leave", so everyone can scan the calendar quickly.
• Decide who maintains what. Agree on who adds maintenance windows, who manages the on-call rotation, and who approves requests.

Add another Team owner

You must be a Team owner to do this.

1. In Microsoft Teams, go to your Team.
2. Next to the Team name, select More options (the three dots), then Manage team.
3. Go to Members.
4. Find the person. If they are not in the Team yet, add them as a member first.
5. In the Role column, change Member to Owner.

Microsoft's guide: Make someone a team owner in Microsoft Teams.

Get help

For questions about requesting a Team, or if something in this guide does not work as described, contact IT.

Contact IT

For official leave, remote work, or flexible work requests, use HR Connect on the KAUST Portal.

Microsoft resources

• Use a group calendar in Outlook
• Get started in Shifts
• Make someone a team owner in Microsoft Teams
• Add members to a team in Microsoft Teams