Whether you’re wrangling sales calls, support shifts, or just trying to keep your team’s calendars sane, getting round robin meetings set up in Calendly shouldn’t feel like a second job. If you’ve tried to share the scheduling load, you’ve probably hit some snags: double-bookings, team members getting flooded, or worse—your best closer never getting any meetings. This guide is for anyone who wants a no-nonsense way to set up team scheduling in Calendly using round robin, without having to become an accidental admin.
Let’s cut through the noise and make Calendly work for your team, so you can get back to the actual work.
What Is Round Robin Scheduling in Calendly, Really?
"Round robin" in Calendly means that when someone books a meeting, it automatically assigns that meeting to one of your team members, cycling through them as evenly as possible. This is great for:
- Sales or demo teams who want to spread leads evenly
- Support teams who need to share the load
- Any group trying to avoid the “why do I have all the meetings?” complaint
Calendly offers a few assignment methods—true round robin, availability-based assignment, or letting the invitee pick. This guide focuses on automated round robin distribution.
But here’s the thing: Calendly’s round robin isn’t magic. It only works well if everyone’s calendar is up to date and their availability is set up right. If not, you’ll get uneven distribution or people getting booked outside of their actual work hours.
Step 1: Get Your Calendly Team Plan in Order
First, the bad news: round robin scheduling is only available on Calendly’s paid “Teams” plans. If you’re on a free or solo plan, you’re out of luck—you won’t see these options.
Before you start:
- Make sure you’re an admin or have permission to create team event types.
- Double-check everyone who needs to be part of the round robin has a Calendly user account under the same organization.
Pro tip: If you’re not sure about your plan or permissions, check under “Account” → “Admin Management.” If you don’t see “Teams,” you’re not on the right plan.
Step 2: Add Team Members to Calendly
You can’t round robin with an army of one. Here’s how to get your crew set up:
- Invite your team:
- Go to “Admin Management” > “Users.”
- Click “Invite Users” and enter their emails.
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Assign roles (they can be users or admins, doesn’t really matter for round robin).
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Make sure everyone connects their work calendar (Google, Outlook, etc.) to Calendly. This is critical—if someone’s calendar isn’t connected or isn’t syncing, Calendly can’t see when they’re busy.
What to ignore: Don’t bother adding people who won’t actually take meetings. Only add real participants.
Step 3: Create a New Team Event Type
This is where the round robin magic happens.
- Go to “Event Types.”
- Click “+ New Event Type.”
- Choose “Team” as the type (not “One-on-One” or “Group”).
- Give your event a name (“Demo Call,” “Support Session,” etc.)
- Add your team members to the event.
Pro tip: Don’t overcomplicate the event description. Just state what the meeting is for and any prep the invitee needs to do.
Step 4: Set the Event’s Scheduling Method to Round Robin
Now for the actual round robin part:
- Inside your team event, look for “How should meetings be assigned?”
- Choose “Round Robin.”
- You’ll see a few options:
- Optimize for equal distribution: Tries to spread meetings as evenly as possible, regardless of who’s free next.
- Optimize for availability: Assigns to whoever’s open soonest.
Unless you have a good reason, stick with “equal distribution.” “Availability” can backfire if someone always leaves their calendar wide open—they’ll get all the meetings.
- Save your event.
What works: Calendly is pretty good at distributing meetings evenly—assuming everyone’s set up right. But if someone blocks their calendar all the time, don’t be surprised when they get fewer meetings.
Step 5: Set Your Team’s Working Hours and Availability
This step is easy to overlook, but it’s where most round robin setups go sideways.
- Each team member must set their working hours and availability in Calendly.
- Go to “Availability” (in their Calendly profile) and set when they can take meetings.
- Make sure time zones are correct. If you have a distributed team, double-check this. Otherwise, you’ll end up with someone getting booked at 3am.
Common mistake: If a team member leaves their default availability wide open, they’ll get more meetings than everyone else. Encourage everyone to be honest about when they’re actually available.
Step 6: Sync All Calendars and Test the Flow
Before you send your new team link to the world, run a test:
- Each team member should check that their calendar is syncing (look for the little checkmark in their profile).
- Book a few test meetings using the team event link. See who gets assigned meetings, and if it’s rotating as expected.
- Block off a time on one person’s calendar and see if Calendly skips them.
If things look weird: Most issues come down to calendar sync problems or incorrect availability settings. Fix those first.
Step 7: Share the Team Scheduling Link
Once you’re happy with the setup:
- Grab the scheduling link for your team event.
- Share it where you need: website, email signatures, chatbots, etc.
Pro tip: You don’t need to share individual links for each team member—just the team event link. Calendly handles the rest.
What Works, What Doesn’t, and Gotchas to Watch For
Here’s where the sales page doesn’t tell the whole story:
- Works well: For small-to-medium teams who update their calendars and have similar workloads.
- Doesn’t work: If people don’t keep their calendars up to date, or if half your team is always “busy.”
- Gotchas:
- If someone sets their availability to “always open,” they’ll get more meetings. Set clear team rules.
- If someone disconnects their calendar, they’ll basically drop out of the rotation.
- Calendly can’t read “focus time” or “do not disturb” blocks unless they’re actual calendar events.
- There’s no “weighted round robin” in Calendly—everyone gets an even share, period. If you want to give more meetings to certain people, you’ll need to game it by adjusting their availability.
Ignore: Fancy integrations or automation until you get the basics right. Most “advanced” problems are really just calendar setup problems.
Pro Tips for Teams Who Want This to Stick
- Hold a quick “availability check-in” every couple of weeks. It’ll save you headaches.
- If someone leaves the team, remove them from the event type right away, or they’ll keep showing up as an option.
- For distributed teams, be extra careful with time zones. Calendly tries its best, but garbage in, garbage out.
Final Thoughts: Don’t Overthink It
Team scheduling in Calendly for round robin meetings isn’t rocket science, but it does need a little care. Get your team on the same page, set clear availability, and keep things simple. If something feels off, it usually is—don’t assume the tool is smarter than your real-world process.
Start basic, test as a user, and adjust as you go. Calendly handles the heavy lifting, but you still need to keep an eye on your setup. Iterate, don’t over-optimize, and keep your calendar (and your team) happy.