To send a meeting time poll inside Gmail, install the Polls for Gmail add-on, click the polls icon in the compose sidebar, enter your question and 3-6 candidate times, and insert the poll into your email. Recipients vote in one click from their inbox — no separate scheduling page.
Step-by-step
Click Compose in Gmail. Add the recipients you want to coordinate with.
Open the Polls for Gmail add-on from the compose sidebar on the right.
Use "Which time works best?" and 3-6 candidate slots. Three to four works best.
Click Insert poll into email. Add any context above the poll. Send as you would any email.
As people vote, results update live in your dashboard. Click Schedule next to the winning time — Google Calendar opens with the time, a message and every recipient already invited.
Example
Drop this into a Gmail draft, swap the times, and send.
Subject: Picking a time for our planning sync
Hi team —
We need 45 minutes next week to lock the Q3 plan. Pick whichever works for you. I'll close the poll Friday and send the calendar invite for the winner.
Thanks,
— You
FAQ
Doodle requires recipients to open a separate web page and click their availability there. Polls for Gmail keeps the entire flow inside the email — recipients vote with one click, no link to follow, no website to load. Response rates run dramatically higher.
Yes, on every plan. Each time in your results has a Schedule button that opens Google Calendar with the event filled in: the time, a short message, and your recipients as guests. One click opens it; you can tweak the time, guests or message on Calendar's own event page, and Calendar asks before it sends any invites. When the group has decided (everyone we know about has voted, or the deadline passes), we also email you the winning time with a one-click Schedule button. It works for polls where you typed the dates yourself, too.
Up to 10 options per poll (20 on Pro). Past four, response rates fall noticeably; three to four candidate times is the sweet spot for most meeting polls.
Not if you don't want them to. By default voters see the running tally after voting; turn on Hide results when you create the poll and voters see only their own pick — only you, the sender, see the full count in your dashboard. That keeps individual schedules private.
Related
Install free in two clicks. Three starter polls included — plans from $75/year.