Calendar Events to Slack Reminders for Trades & Construction

# Calendar Events to Slack Reminders - Trades & Construction

## Purpose
Deploy to reduce no-shows and ensure team members arrive at meetings prepared with the right context and materials.

## When to Use
Send automatic Slack reminders before calendar events with meeting agenda, attendee list, and relevant document links to keep your team prepared.

## Instructions
1. Review the template below and familiarise yourself with the structure
2. Replace all [bracketed placeholders] with your trades & construction business details
3. Customise the tone and formatting to match your brand
4. Save in your preferred tool (Slack or Zapier)

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## Calendar Events to Slack Reminders

### Overview
Send formatted Slack reminders 15 minutes before calendar events, including the meeting title, attendee list, agenda (from the event description), and video call link, so your team is always prepared.

### Prerequisites
- Google Calendar (Google Workspace) or Microsoft Outlook calendar
- Slack workspace (any plan)
- Zapier account (Free plan works for basic reminders)

### Setup Steps

**Step 1: Decide which calendars to monitor**
Choose which calendars should trigger Slack reminders. Options:
- Your personal calendar (all meetings)
- A shared team calendar (team-wide meetings only)
- Specific calendar categories or colours (if using Google Calendar colour coding)

**Step 2: Create a new Zap in Zapier**
Log in to Zapier and click "Create Zap". Name it "Calendar Reminder to Slack".

**Step 3: Configure the Google Calendar trigger**
- App: Google Calendar
- Trigger event: "Event Start"
- Account: Connect your Google account
- Calendar: Select the calendar to monitor
- Time before: 15 minutes (this sends the reminder 15 minutes before the event starts)
- Test: Ensure Zapier can read your upcoming events

**Step 4: Add a filter step (optional)**
Filter out events you do not need reminders for:
- Skip events with "Focus Time" or "Blocked" in the title
- Skip all-day events (these are usually reminders, not meetings)
- Only include events where you are the organiser (for team channel reminders)

**Step 5: Configure the Slack action**
- App: Slack
- Action event: "Send Channel Message"
- Account: Connect your Slack workspace
- Channel: Select the appropriate channel (e.g., #team-meetings or a DM to yourself)

**Step 6: Format the message**

Suggested message template:
"Meeting starting in 15 minutes:
[Event Title]
Time: [Start Time] - [End Time]
Location: [Location or Video Call Link]
Attendees: [Attendee List]
Agenda: [Event Description]
Join: [Google Meet or Zoom link from event]"

| Calendar Field | Slack Message Section | Notes |
|---------------|----------------------|-------|
| Event Title | Bold header | Use Slack bold formatting |
| Start Time | Time display | Format as "2:30 PM AEST" |
| End Time | Time display | Calculate duration if helpful |
| Description | Agenda section | First 500 characters |
| Location | Location or link | Extract video call URL |
| Attendees | Attendee list | Names or email addresses |

**Step 7: Test the integration**
1. Create a test calendar event starting 16 minutes from now
2. Wait for the 15-minute trigger window
3. Check Slack for the reminder message
4. Verify all fields display correctly, especially the video call link
5. Delete the test event after confirming

### Error Handling
- **No description on event:** Display "No agenda provided" rather than a blank field
- **Private events:** Zapier cannot read details of private events. The reminder will show the title only.
- **Cancelled events:** Add a filter to skip events with "Cancelled" status
- **Multiple calendars:** Create separate Zaps for each calendar if you want different Slack channels

### Maintenance
- Update filter rules when meeting naming conventions change
- Adjust the reminder timing based on team feedback (some prefer 30 minutes)
- Review monthly to ensure calendar permissions are still active
- Add new team members' calendars as they join

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**Complexity:** simple | **Setup time:** 10 minutes | **Tools:** Slack, Zapier

Note: This template has been tailored for trades & construction businesses in Australia. Adjust terminology and compliance references to match your specific context.