What Is Meeting Polling? Definition & Examples
A method of finding meeting times by having all participants vote on their preferred time slots.
Definition
Meeting polling is a group scheduling technique where an organizer proposes multiple potential meeting times and all participants indicate which times work for them. The system then identifies the time slot with the most (or unanimous) availability. Unlike direct booking where one person picks a time, polling is democratic and considers everyone's schedule before finalizing. Understanding this concept is essential for businesses evaluating scheduling technology, as it directly impacts how efficiently teams manage their time and how smoothly clients move through the booking process.
Meeting Polling
Selecting a time for a team offsite with 20 participants
Finding a dinner date that works for a group of friends
Scheduling a board meeting with external directors
Coordinating a study group session
Workflow example: Meeting Polling
- 1
A nonprofit director needs a 90-minute board meeting with seven volunteer board members.
- 2
She creates a meeting poll with four options across the next two weeks and a voting deadline of Friday.
- 3
She emails the poll link to the board; each member marks the options that work for them.
- 4
On Friday she reviews the results and finalizes the option with the most votes.
- 5
SchedulingKit creates the booking and sends confirmations to everyone.
Why Meeting Polling Matters
For large groups or meetings with external participants, direct booking doesn't work—you can't see everyone's calendars. Polling lets each person vote on availability without calendar access. It's more democratic but slower than automated scheduling.
SchedulingKit — Meeting Polling
SchedulingKit includes meeting polls: you propose several date and time options, share the poll link, and participants vote available, not available or "if needed" without needing an account. You can set a voting deadline, review who voted for what, and finalize the winning time, which creates the booking and sends confirmations. Check the pricing page for which plans include meeting polls. For internal meetings where you can see everyone's calendar, a Collective service is usually faster.
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When this isn't for you
This definition page is reference-only. If you came here looking for software to handle meeting polling, head to /scheduling-software or /features instead. Skip this page if you're already familiar with the term.