What are collective events?

A collective event is a scheduling format where multiple hosts or team members meet with an external participant or group at the same time. Instead of scheduling each host separately, the event brings everyone together in a single booking link. For example:

• A sales demo where two account executives join forces with a solutions engineer.

• A hiring interview where a recruiter and a department manager meet a candidate together.

• A project kickoff where stakeholders from design, development, and product join the client in one shared call.

This type of scheduling eliminates endless back-and-forth communication and ensures that the right people are always in the room.

Why collective scheduling matters for teams

Teams of all sizes often struggle with aligning calendars. The more people involved, the more scheduling pain points appear. Collective events solve these problems by simplifying coordination and ensuring transparency.

Common challenges without collective scheduling

• Endless email chains trying to find a time that works for everyone.

• Double-booking risks when different hosts schedule separately.

• Lost opportunities due to slow response times.

• Confusion when participants are unsure who will attend the meeting.

Benefits of adopting collective events

• Efficiency: One link replaces dozens of messages.

• Clarity: Everyone knows exactly who will be in the meeting.

• Professionalism: A smooth booking process reflects well on your organization.

• Time savings: Coordinators spend less time juggling calendars.

How to set up collective events in Cal.com

Setting up collective events in Cal.com is simple and efficient. Follow these steps to get started:

1. Log into Cal.com

First, create a Cal.com account or log into your existing account.

2. Create a new event type

On the event types dashboard, click on '+ New' to create a new event type.

3. Select a team and event type

In the dropdown, select one of your (sub)teams, then choose 'collective event' as the event type. Fill out the basic details of your event.

4. Set up collective team members

Choose the team members that should be a part of the collective event. You can:

• Pick each team member individually.

• Add everyone in a specific (sub)team, including future members.

5. Click on availability and select everyone's desired availability schedule.

It will use the 'default' availability schedule as standard.

Best practices for setting up collective events

To maximize the value of collective scheduling, it’s important to set up your events strategically.

1. Define your hosts clearly

Choose the right team members who need to be in the room. For example, a technical consultation may require both a product manager and a solutions engineer. Clarity upfront avoids wasted time later.

2. Standardize availability

Make sure hosts have defined working hours or blocked-off times. This creates predictable availability and avoids last-minute conflicts.

3. Use buffers and preparation time

Add buffers before and after meetings so hosts can prepare or debrief. This helps ensure discussions remain focused and productive.

4. Automate reminders and follow-ups

Reminders reduce no-shows and follow-ups improve client experience. With the right workflows in place, participants stay engaged without manual effort.

Real-world applications of collective events

Collective scheduling is widely adopted in industries where collaboration among multiple participants is crucial for success. Below are some compelling use cases that highlight how collective scheduling streamlines coordination and boosts efficiency across various sectors.

Sales and customer success

In sales and customer success, collective events ensure that account executives, product experts, and engineers can meet with customers in a single, streamlined session. This eliminates scheduling delays and ensures all the necessary expertise is available at once, improving the chances of closing deals and resolving issues quickly. By coordinating schedules effectively, collective events offer a seamless, professional experience for clients, saving time and improving customer satisfaction.

Recruiting and hiring

Collective events simplify the scheduling process for recruitment by bringing together recruiters, hiring managers, and technical leads in one session. This eliminates the hassle of back-and-forth scheduling, offering a smoother, more efficient experience for candidates and the hiring team. It accelerates decision-making by ensuring all key stakeholders are present at once, leading to faster, more effective hiring processes.

Professional services and consulting

In professional services and consulting, collective events allow teams from different departments—such as project managers, developers, and designers to meet with clients in one unified session. This ensures a coordinated, professional front and avoids scheduling conflicts, improving efficiency, collaboration, and client satisfaction. It helps agencies and consultancies deliver more streamlined services while ensuring all perspectives are addressed in real-time.

Education and healthcare

In education and healthcare, collective events allow instructors, medical professionals, and specialists to meet with students, patients, or families, ensuring all key participants are present at once. This approach streamlines the scheduling process, fosters clearer communication, and enables quicker decision-making, improving outcomes and reducing delays in both sectors.

Collective events vs round robin scheduling

Collective events allow a group of people to participate in a meeting or event, but the key difference from round robin scheduling is that they don't involve task or time slot distribution. Instead, all members in a group share the same availability, and a meeting is scheduled when all participants are free. This is particularly useful for team-wide meetings or events where everyone needs to be present at the same time, such as a project kick-off, a client consultation, or a sales demo involving multiple team members.

In contrast, round robin scheduling evenly assigns tasks or time slots across individuals, ensuring each team member gets an equal share of appointments or meetings. This method is ideal when multiple people in a team need to rotate through meeting times, such as in customer support or one-on-one consultations, where the workload is distributed across the team.

Want to learn more about round robin scheduling and how it can benefit your team? Read our full guide on round robin scheduling here.

Key takeaways of using collective events in scheduling

Collective events solve one of the biggest scheduling challenges: aligning multiple hosts with external participants. By adopting this approach, individuals, teams, and enterprises gain efficiency, clarity, and professionalism. When powered by a flexible platform like Cal.com, collective scheduling becomes a growth enabler rather than a time-consuming problem.

Ready to simplify collective scheduling for your team? Explore how Cal.com can help you coordinate events with confidence.