Nine emails to arrange one meeting
A disciplinary meeting needs arranging at a client. The chair is a regional manager who is on the road. The note taker is from the client's admin team. Your consultant is attending. The employee wants their union representative there, who works shifts at another site. The meeting room at the client's head office is booked most days.
Your consultant emails the chair for availability, then the note taker, then the client to ask about rooms, then the employee with suggested times. The representative cannot do any of them. The whole round starts again. By the time a date is agreed, a week has gone, the invite letter needs rewriting for the third time and the employee is anxious about the delay.
Why arranging hearings takes so long
- Several people from different organisations need to be available at once.
- Diaries are checked one at a time by email, and replies arrive at different speeds.
- The employee and their companion are outside the client's calendar system.
- Rooms are booked separately from people.
- Every rearrangement means a new letter, which is drafted by hand.
Timing matters in these processes, and your own procedures and advisers will have views on reasonable notice and postponements. That makes slow scheduling more than an inconvenience.
What it costs
Consultant time on diary emails. Delays that prolong a stressful process for everyone involved. Errors in letters when dates change repeatedly. And rearrangements that are not properly recorded, which can matter if the process is later reviewed.
| Step | By email | With scheduling |
|---|---|---|
| Chair and note taker availability | Asked one by one | Read from shared calendars |
| Employee and companion | Suggested times by email | Link to choose from offered slots |
| Room or Teams | Booked separately | Booked with the meeting |
| Invite letter | Rewritten each time | Generated when a time is fixed |
| Rearrangements | Not always recorded | Logged on the case with reasons |
How we build hearing scheduling
- From the case record, the consultant chooses the meeting type and the internal attendees: chair, note taker and themselves.
- Availability is read from Microsoft 365 or Google calendars, where the client allows it, and common free slots are found, including a room from the client's room booking if they use one.
- The employee receives a link offering a few slots, with the option to say their companion's availability. The companion can be given their own link if the employee wishes.
- When a time is chosen, calendar invitations go to everyone, a Teams meeting is created if needed, and the room is booked.
- The invite letter is generated from your approved template with the details filled in, for the consultant to check and send.
- If a meeting is postponed, the reason and new date are recorded on the case, the process runs again and a revised letter is generated.
- Reminders go to attendees before the meeting, and the note taker receives the notes template.
Notice periods and how postponements are handled follow your procedures and your advisers' guidance. The scheduling tool applies the minimum notice you set and records every change.
What the consultant notices
Arranging a hearing becomes a few clicks and a wait for the employee to pick a slot, rather than a chain of emails. Letters match the final arrangements. Postponements are handled cleanly and recorded. Clients see their process running smoothly, and employees are not left waiting for a date because of diary tennis.
The same scheduling works for investigation interviews, appeal meetings and return to work meetings, so once it exists it is used across most case types.
Does this sound familiar?
- Arranging a hearing takes many emails.
- Invite letters are rewritten each time a date changes.
- Room bookings clash with hearing dates.
- Postponements are not always recorded properly.
- Employees wait for dates because internal diaries are hard to align.