Online scheduling poll: Find the best time with SurveyMonkey

Trying to coordinate meeting times with a group can quickly become a marathon of emails and endless group chats. Packed calendars and dispersed teams mean scheduling that should take five minutes often drags on for days. 

Fortunately, there's a better way—scheduling polls eliminate all the back-and-forth. With SurveyMonkey, you can create a scheduling poll in minutes, share it anywhere, and instantly see the best time, every time.

Scheduling polls are online forms that propose meeting times and allow users to select the times that work for their schedule. Instead of endless messages, you propose a set of options and participants pick what works for them—including time windows, duration preferences, and even whether to meet virtually or in-person.​

Scheduling polls help you quickly determine the best day, time, and place to meet, cutting out unnecessary delays due to scheduling. This way, you ensure everyone’s input is counted—and planning moves forward faster.

Scheduling polls aren’t just office efficiency tools—they streamline any situation where a group needs to choose a time. Here are some common, time-saving scenarios:

Running a global stand-up or a quarterly review and need to find everyone’s availability? Share one link across teams and time zones, then pick the slot with the most “yes” votes.

Success looks like the invite going out once, and nobody rescheduling.

Restaurants, retail stores, and field teams can use a poll to collect availability before building the scheduling.

Success looks like a balanced schedule that covers peak hours without last-minute swaps.

Whether it’s a committee meeting or a community workshop, a scheduling poll makes coordination easy and transparent.

Success looks like high turnout and no last-minute rescheduling.

Reunions, group trips, volunteer days, or game nights—reduce follow-ups and finalize plans faster.

Success looks like everyone showing up because they have a say in when it happens.

Create your account and pick a ready-made layout from our expert-certified templates library. Prefer to start from scratch? Open a blank survey on our online poll maker and add a multiple-choice or checkbox question or generate a scheduling poll with Build with AI using a prompt, like “I want to create a scheduling poll for an hour-long quarterly planning meeting for my company’s people managers.” 

Tip: Keep your poll title specific (e.g., “Q4 planning—60-minute review”).

Ask something clear, like “Which of the proposed times could you attend a Zoom call to discuss the Q3 budget?” Give five to seven options, so people can easily scan and decide. 

Tip: Include the time zone in each option (e.g., “Tuesday, Jan. 14, 9–9:45am PT”).

SurveyMonkey makes it easy to distribute your scheduling poll to involved parties. Post or send your poll by email, chat, or social. No account is required to answer. You can also embed the link on a page if your group is on an intranet or class site. 

Tip: Add one line of context above the link so people know why it matters.

You’ll see the votes in real time. Look for the slot with the most “yes” overlap. Use the response summary and exports to review picks at a glance. 

Tip: If responses stall, only send one reminder to people who haven’t replied.

Close the poll, choose the best option, and send the calendar invite. Optional: Follow up with a quick confirmation survey to finalize attendance. 

Tip: Keep the invite text short and repeat the time zone to prevent confusion.

Getting a group to agree on a date is one step; how you set up the scheduling poll often determines how quickly people respond and how clear the outcome is. Small tweaks—like limiting options, clarifying time zones, and setting a clear deadline—help people respond faster and cut down on back-and-forth. Use these expert-backed tips to tune your next scheduling poll so it runs smoothly and leads to a confident decision.

SurveyMonkey scheduling polls support flexible time zones, custom questions, and secure sharing, so groups of any size can confirm a time without extra email threads or tools. That combination helps teams move from proposed dates to confirmed meetings with less friction.

Spend less time coordinating and more time making progress. With SurveyMonkey scheduling polls, you can find the time that works for everyone in just a few clicks, and keep projects moving without the back-and-forth. Create your poll, share it anywhere, and turn scheduling into real momentum.

Sign up free to start your first poll today and make planning effortless.