The KAUST Information Technology Department blog
24 September, 2026
A team meeting, an on-call rotation, and a laboratory reservation all involve a date and time.
But they are not the same scheduling problem.
Start with one question: what are you actually scheduling?
Microsoft 365 has different tools for shared events, people and coverage, and appointments or reservations. Choosing the right one starts with the problem, not the product.
Events
Microsoft 365 Group Calendar
What's happening, and when?
People and coverage
Microsoft Teams Shifts
Who's covering it?
Appointments and reservations
Microsoft Bookings
When can I book it?
Ask yourself: "What's happening, and when?"
Use a Group Calendar when your team needs one shared place for meetings, maintenance windows, change activities, important deadlines, or other shared operational events.
Good fit: "Everyone needs to know this is happening."
The calendar belongs to the team rather than one person. Events stay on the shared Group Calendar instead of automatically filling everyone's personal Outlook calendar. If specific people also need an event on their own calendars, add them as attendees.
Manage Shared Team Calendars and Schedules
Ask yourself: "Who's covering it?"
Use Shifts when the schedule is really about people: on-call rotations, duty rosters, assigned and open coverage, availability, shift swaps, or preparing schedule changes before sharing them with the team.
Good fit: "We need to know who is covering this."
A shared calendar can tell everyone that Wednesday evening needs coverage. Shifts can show that the shift is still open, let a team member request it, and let a Team owner approve the change.
Remember: Shifts helps teams plan schedules and coverage. Official leave, remote work, and flexible work requests still go through HR Connect.
Use Microsoft Teams Shifts for Team Schedules and Coverage
Ask yourself: "When can I book it?"
Use Bookings when someone needs to choose from available times. That can be time with you, an appointment with a team or service, or a reservation for a shared room or resource.
Good fit: "Show me what's available and let me choose."
Book me
Let people choose an available time to meet with you.
Book us
Give a team, department, or service one shared booking page.
Book it
Let people reserve a room, lab, piece of equipment, training session, or another shared resource.
For personal booking pages, Bookings works with your Outlook availability so people can choose from times when you're actually free. You can also share your booking link with people outside KAUST without giving them access to the contents of your calendar.
You do not need Shifts just because your team has a schedule. You do not need Bookings just because something happens at a particular time. And you do not need to maintain multiple tools when one already gives your team what it needs.
A simple way to remember it
Events → Group Calendar
People and coverage → Shifts
Appointments and reservations → Bookings
Start with the problem, then choose the tool.
