Calendly’s State of Scheduling 2023 Shows AI Intrigue as Productive Meetings Deemed Essential

ATLANTA, November 8, 2023 – Calendly, the only centralized scheduling automation platform built for scaling across the organization, today released its inaugural State of Scheduling Report. The analysis explores how workers manage their time, along with habits and attitudes towards meetings and their impact on productivity, performance, and relationships as AI and hybrid work become more widely adopted. Inefficient scheduling is curbing productivity as 1 in 4 workers spend 3 - 4 hours a week – or half a work day – scheduling meetings alone. HR professionals are faring worse, spending the equivalent of four weeks a year scheduling meetings.

Distributed teams, an excess of collaboration tools, and poorly managed meetings have left workers grappling with how to be their most productive, effective, fulfilled selves. Meeting scheduling has become even more complex in hybrid workplaces and as companies grow. More than 1 in 5 (21%) sales and marketing professionals say they use a minimum of three tools to schedule meetings. Many are wondering how AI can help.

But unfortunately, workers haven't had the chance to benefit from AI yet: 64% of workers at companies with more than 1,000 employees have never used AI-powered productivity tools, though 94% of them are curious. 76% of workers in customer success roles, 57% in sales and marketing, and 51% in HR haven’t yet tried AI solutions for productivity either.

“AI capabilities have rapidly accelerated in the last 12 months, and we’re already seeing a major evolution in the ways we can work together to fix what we don’t love about meetings. Because we know that when complicated technologies and burdensome administrative tasks get out of the way, meetings have a unique ability to drive authentic connections and bring teams together to accomplish more. We’re tapping into this AI optimism at Calendly and leaning into what people need to make scheduling and meetings the most productive and focused they can be.”

Stephen Hsu

Chief Product Officer at Calendly

Time-management Decisions Define Successful Teams

How workers spend their time matters even more today as they push harder to achieve company goals. Contrary to common belief, the report found meetings aren’t the problem. Workers who identified as part of successful teams — their company is meeting or exceeding growth targets — also agreed meetings are essential to their success.

Specifically, these workers observe different scheduling and time-management behaviors. Top findings of successful teams include:

• 61% spend 3-5+ hours per week in meetings that contribute to company goals and OKRs, compared to just 41% of those on less successful teams.

• Over half (56%) confirmed that they have enough time in their workday to build relationships with customers, prospects, and team members, compared to 43% of those on less successful teams.

• 52% said they’re very or extremely curious about trying new AI-powered tools, compared to only 28% of those on less successful teams.

• 61% regularly set aside dedicated time blocks for focused work, compared to 39% of those on less successful teams.

AI is Reigniting Worker Purpose

In general, workers are curious about AI’s ability to help them focus on meaningful work and re-invest in developing their skills. This is especially important as workers are becoming increasingly disconnected, as a recent Gallup survey showed only 32% of workers feel engaged in their work.

Workers are enthusiastic about AI’s potential:

• Nearly 1 in 3 (30%) believe AI will free them up to focus on professional development and mentoring others. 32% would use the time to do more strategic planning and creative projects.

• 44% believe AI will complement, not replace, human connections.

• The top two AI capabilities workers are most excited for and trust the most are automated scheduling (49%) and meeting notes capture (56%).

• Nearly 1 in 3 (31%) sales and marketing professionals say they’re intrigued by AI’s ability to enhance decision-making with data-driven insights.

• The top three AI-powered solutions workers are currently using to enhance productivity are ChatGPT, Google Assistant, and Microsoft Azure.

Click here, to download the full Calendly State of Scheduling. To sign up for AI-powered scheduling features, visit our website here.

Research Methodology

Calendly commissioned Hello Messaging to conduct the survey, soliciting responses from 1,241 workers, managers and above, within a variety of industries, roles, and sized companies across the U.S. and the U.K. The report unearthed worker sentiment around productive versus unproductive meetings and the role of scheduling and AI.

Calendly helps individuals, teams, and organizations automate the meeting lifecycle by removing the back and forth with scheduling. Calendly’s cloud-based platform offers a new layer of the modern digital technology stack by connecting with critical tools to automate scheduling workflows, creates a more delightful customer experience, and provides insightful, measurable data to drive better business outcomes. Today, more than 20 million users across 230+ countries use Calendly to simplify meetings, collaborate more effectively and efficiently, and drive business forward.