Shared Calendars (PTO and Team): viewing, editing, and managing

What a shared calendar is
A shared calendar is a company calendar that everyone at Ayin can see. IT creates two kinds: PTO calendars for tracking time off, and Team calendars for a team's events. Each appears in Outlook with a name like Marketing Team (PTO) and an address like pto.marketingteam@ayin.com.

There are three levels of access:

A shared calendar is not a Microsoft 365 group and not a mailbox you can email. It does not send or receive mail, it has no inbox, and it never appears under Groups in Outlook. It is only a calendar.

Add the calendar to Outlook

The calendar does not appear in Outlook on its own. Everyone who wants to see it, including editors and managers, adds it once. You need its address or name; both are in the "Your new shared calendar is ready" email, or ask the team that owns it.

New Outlook and Outlook on the web

1. Open Calendar.
2. Select Add calendar.
3. Select Add from directory.
4. Choose your Ayin account, then search for the calendar's address (for example pto.marketingteam@ayin.com).
5. Choose the calendar group to show it under (for example Other calendars) and select Add.

Classic Outlook for Windows

1. Open Calendar.
2. On the Home tab, select Add Calendar, then From Address Book.
3. Search for the calendar's name, select it, select Calendar, then OK.

Outlook mobile

A shared calendar you added in new Outlook or Outlook on the web syncs to the Outlook mobile app within a few minutes. Tap your profile picture, then turn the calendar on in the list.

If the calendar does not show up right away, give it up to an hour and restart Outlook.

Viewers: see every event

Everyone at Ayin can view a shared calendar once they have added it. You see every event with its title, time, and details, the same as the people who manage it.

• Tick or untick the calendar in the left pane to show or hide it alongside your own.
• Open any event to read its details. You cannot change it, and you will not see a Save button; that is expected.
• To compare schedules, show the shared calendar and your own at the same time, or use the Day or Week view.

If you need an event added, changed, or removed, ask one of the calendar's editors or managers. The team that owns the calendar knows who they are.

Editors: add, change and remove events

Editors can add, change and delete any event on the calendar. You are an editor if IT added you when the calendar was created (you received a "ready" email) or a calendar manager gave you Can edit later.

Add an event

1. Add the calendar to Outlook if you have not already (see above).
2. In the left pane, select the shared calendar so it is the active one, then select New event. Or open the event form and pick the shared calendar in the calendar drop-down near the title.
3. Fill in the title, date and time, then Save. Check the calendar name on the event before saving, so it does not land on your own calendar.

Change or remove an event

Open the event on the shared calendar, edit it and Save, or select Delete. You can edit events other people created.

PTO calendars

• Add one all-day event per absence, titled with the person's name and the type of leave, for example Jane Doe – PTO or Sam Lee – Half day (PM).
• Multi-day leave is one event spanning the dates.
• Nobody is invited and no email is sent. A shared calendar never sends invitations or reminders. If a manager or teammate needs to know, tell them separately.

Changes appear for everyone within a few minutes.

Managers: own the calendar and decide who can edit

Managers have Full Access to the calendar's mailbox. You can do everything an editor can, and you decide who else can edit. IT sets the managers when the calendar is created; you received a "ready" email listing the managers and editors.

Give someone edit access

1. Add the calendar to Outlook if you have not already. Full Access does not open it for you automatically; you add it like everyone else.
2. In the left pane, right-click the shared calendar and select Sharing and permissions.
3. Enter the person's name or email and select them.
4. Choose Can edit, then Share.

In classic Outlook for Windows: right-click the calendar, select Properties, open the Permissions tab, select Add, choose the person, and set the permission level to Editor.

Remove someone's edit access

Open Sharing and permissions again, find the person, and select Remove (the trash icon). Everyone at Ayin keeps view access; that cannot and should not be removed per person.

What managers cannot do

• Add or remove other managers. Full Access is granted by IT; submit a request if a manager changes.
• Send email from the calendar's address. The mailbox has no inbox and cannot send or receive mail.
• Share the calendar outside Ayin. The calendar is internal only.

When someone leaves the team, remove their edit access the same day. IT removes all access automatically when a person leaves Ayin.

Troubleshooting