Automating different recurring meetings on Thursdays

Asha Krishnan

I am looking to automate two recurring meetings. The first meeting is only held on the second Thursday of the month, and the second meeting is held every Thursday except the second. The organizer must be notified three weeks prior to these meetings requesting an update and approval. There are recess periods when these meetings do not take place, which must also be handled through automation.

I would appreciate it if you could provide some ideas or examples on how this can be accomplished. Thanks!

Asha Krishnan

@Paul Newcome Do you have any insights that you can provide to help automate this? Thanks!

Asha Krishnan

@Andrée Starå Do you have any insights that you can provide to help automate this? Thanks!

ericncarr

This is fairly complex but here's a thorough walkthrough for a way you could implement this, minus the blackout dates (I'd recommend a table for blackout dates that triggers another column with a checkbox that gets taken into account in the workflow).

1. Create a Date column named "Date" with 10/6/22 as the date in the first row
2. In the second row, put in the formula =Date1 + 7 and drag this down to cover 2022 or into future years if you'd like - this gets all the dates for all Thursdays.
3. Create a "Notification Date" column with the formula: =Date@row - 21, this is the date the notification should go out
4. Create a Text/Number column called "Week number" and populate the first row with "1"
5. On the second row of "Week Number" put in the formula =IF(MONTH(Date@row) = MONTH(Date1), [Week Number]1 + 1, 1) and drag that down, this counts the week number for a given Thursday date
6. Create a "First Meeting Notification" checkbox column with the formula: =IF([Week Number]@row = 2, 1, 0) - this will check the box if the week number is 2 (the second week of the month)
7. Create a "Second Meeting Notification" checkbox column with the formula: =IF([Week Number]@row <> 2, 1, 0) - this will check if the week number is anything but the second
8. Create an "Is Today" Checkbox column with the formula: =IF([Notification Date]@row = TODAY(), 1, 0) - this will check if the notification date is today
9. Create a Text/Number column called "Update" and a checkbox column called "Approval."
10. Set up the workflow - When rows are changed, when "Is Today" changes to "Checked", and when the condition that First Meeting Notification is checked, request an update (you can send to specific people or send to a contact in an additional column) and include the approval and update fields as well as the date. Customize the message to give the meeting name and any relevant information as well as including the date of the meeting in the message using {{Date}}.
11. For the second meeting notification, in the same workflow, add a condition path to be where "second meeting notification" is checked and do the same as in step 10 but putting in information for the second meeting.
12. To expand the dates you just need to drag the date column down as far as you want to go out.

Asha Krishnan

@ericncarr I really appreciate your response and the step-by-step instructions. I will be setting this up as soon as possible and will be in touch with you for any questions or comments.

ericncarr

@Asha Krishnan sounds good hope it goes well!