What is a Doodle poll?
A Doodle poll is an online scheduling tool that makes it easy to plan and coordinate meetings, events, calls, and more. Doodle allows you to suggest multiple date/time options and send out a poll to attendees to vote on their availability. It then aggregates the results and shows the date/time slots that work best for the most people.
Doodle is convenient for coordinating meetings and events with busy schedules. Rather than exchanging multiple long email threads trying to find a time that works for everyone, you can simply create a Doodle poll with your suggested dates/times and let attendees vote on what works best. It streamlines the scheduling process.
Benefits of Using Doodle
There are several key benefits to using Doodle polls:
- Simplifies scheduling – Rather than manually trying to coordinate calendars, Doodle brings everything into one place.
- Saves time – No more long email chains back and forth. Doodle makes the process fast and efficient.
- Increases participation – Allowing attendees to vote makes them feel involved. This increases commitment to the chosen time.
- Finds optimal times – Doodle’s results and analytics reveal which times work best for the most attendees.
- Flexible options – Doodle offers various poll types, including date polls, availability polls, text polls, etc.
- Free version available – Doodle offers a free version with basic features, ideal for simple polls.
Using Doodle can drastically simplify the scheduling process, allowing you to quickly nail down dates/times for meetings, conference calls, events, appointments, and any other gatherings. The visual results and analytics give you an instant overview of attendee availability.
How to Create a Doodle Poll
Creating a Doodle poll is a quick and straightforward process. Here is an overview of how to create a poll:
Step 1: Visit Doodle.com and Sign Up
First, go to Doodle’s website at doodle.com. Click on “Sign Up” at the top right to create a free Doodle account. Enter your name, email, and password to sign up.
If you already have a Google account, you can simply log in with your Google credentials rather than creating a separate Doodle account.
Step 2: Start a New Poll
Once signed up and logged in, click the blue “Create a new Doodle” button to start creating your poll.
Step 3: Select Poll Type
Doodle offers several poll types to choose from. Select the one that best fits your needs:
- Date poll – For scheduling a one-time event/meeting by date
- Availability poll – For recurring availability (ex: weekly team meetings)
- Text poll – For open-ended questions or RSVPs
- Time poll – For scheduling by time (no dates)
- Location poll – For choosing/voting on locations
The most commonly used option is the date poll for one-time events. But you can select whichever meets your needs.
Step 4: Customize Your Poll
After selecting your poll type, you can customize all the key details:
- Title – Give your poll a descriptive title so recipients know what it’s for.
- Recipients – Enter the email addresses you want to include.
- Dates/times – Select the date or time options you want to include.
- Additional options – Customize other settings like reminders, colours, etc.
Make sure to select a sufficient number of date/time options to give attendees flexibility.
Step 5: Finalize and Send Poll
When finished customizing, click “Save and Send” to finalize and send out your Doodle poll. Recipients will receive an email with a link to view and respond to the poll.
And that’s it! Your Doodle poll is now sent and participants can start voting for their preferred dates or times.
Key Doodle Poll Setup Tips
Here are some key tips for creating effective Doodle polls:
- Give clear instructions – Explain the purpose of the poll and any key details upfront.
- Suggest enough options – For a date poll, include at least 5-6 potential dates.
- Think about schedules – Suggest date/time options that work for participants in different time zones.
- Set a deadline – Choose a close date for the poll so voting happens promptly.
- Use reminders – Schedule automatic reminders so participants vote on time.
- Personalize invites – Address each recipient personally for better open and response rates.
Taking the time to thoughtfully customize your poll will result in more votes and make it easier to coordinate schedules.
How Participants Respond to a Poll
On the recipient side, participating in a Doodle poll is very straightforward:
Step 1: Recipients Get a Poll Notification
When you send a Doodle poll, recipients get an email inviting them to participate. This contains a link to view and respond to the poll.
Step 2: Recipients Open Poll and Review Options
Recipients simply click the link to open the poll in their web browser. They can then review the poll details and all the date/time options you suggested.
Step 3: Recipients Select Their Preferred Options
Participants can click on the date/time options that work best for them. A green check mark appears for options they select.
Step 4: Click Done to Submit Votes
Once they’ve made their selections, recipients click “Done” or “Submit” to record their votes.
The poll creator can then monitor results in real time and determine the optimal date/time based on availability.
Doodle Poll Results and Analytics
One of the key advantages of Doodle is the ability to view poll results and analytics. As participants vote, you can track results and see which options garner the most votes.
Key result features include:
- Summary view – See at a glance which options have the most votes.
- Results by name – View per-person voting to see who selected which options.
- Availability charts – Visual graphs summarize availability for different options.
- Email notifications – Get updates as attendees vote so you can track participation.
For date polls, Doodle also offers a “Find a Date” tool that uses an algorithm to analyze the results and determine the best overall date based on availability.
The poll creator can monitor results and then ultimately select the optimal date/time for the event or meeting based on times that work for the most participants.
Tips for Analyzing Doodle Poll Results
Here are some tips for making sense of poll results:
- Check participation – Ensure a quorum of attendees voted before choosing a time.
- Prioritize key attendees – Weigh preferences of important attendees more heavily.
- Avoid extremes – Try not to select only low or high availability times.
- Review results early – Check partial results to detect trends before voting ends.
- Use Find a Date – Let Doodle suggest the statistically optimal date based on votes.
Analyzing the results data and available analytics allows you to make sense of the poll and select the best overall date or time with confidence.
Additional Doodle Poll Features
Doodle comes equipped with several other useful features and options to customize your polls:
Add a Description
You can add a description when creating your poll to provide additional context and details about the meeting or event.
Set Reminders
To encourage participation, enable automated reminder emails to be sent out to recipients who haven’t voted yet.
Anonymous Voting
You can make participant voting anonymous if needed, so names are not attached to votes.
Custom Styling
For branding purposes, apply custom colours, fonts, and logos to match your company or organization.
Add a Location
When scheduling in-person events, you can include a location that’s shown with the event details.
Enable Comments
Participants can add open-ended comments when voting, to provide feedback or suggestions.
Integrations
Doodle integrates with Google, Office 365 and Outlook to simplify creating and sharing polls.
Take advantage of these additional options to create customized, professional Doodle polls tailored to your specific scheduling needs.
Doodle Poll Pricing and Plans
Doodle offers both free and paid plans:
Free Plan
Doodle’s free version enables you to:
- Create unlimited polls
- Include up to 100 participants per poll
- Access basic scheduling features
- View results for unlimited polls
The free plan works great for basic polls with fewer participants.
Upgraded Plans
For more advanced needs, Doodle offers several paid upgrades:
- Professional – $6 per month. Larger polls, reminders, styling, analytics.
- Business – $12 per month. Everything in Professional plus priority support, admins, and branding.
- Enterprise – Custom pricing. Adds single sign-on, data control, integrations.
Upgraded plans enable larger polls, additional features like reminders and analytics, and business/enterprise integration capabilities.
Conclusion
Doodle provides an invaluable toll for streamlining event and meeting scheduling across teams, organizations, friends and families. Simplifying the logistical headache of finding common available times, Doodle makes it easy to suggest multiple date/time options, collect availability from attendees, and select the options that work best for the most participants.
With its range of intuitive scheduling tools, customizable options, and useful analytics, Doodle can optimize scheduling for any type of gathering or appointment. The service offers convenience, saves time, and results in better attendance and participation. Both the free and paid plans provide access to Doodle’s robust scheduling capabilities.