When should I reschedule a meeting?
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2025 8:42 am
And there you have it. These are the basic principles of the “rescheduling a meeting professionally” process. If you want some additional and valuable context on these points, along with some interesting examples, read on.
You never want to postpone meetings on a whim, no matter how tempting it may be from time to time. Trust me, there have definitely been times when I've looked at my calendar and thought, "You know what would be great? Do almost literally anything other than attend this meeting.
But unless you have a valid reason other than, "I don't want to," you should still stick with it and keep this meeting on the agenda. There are, however, some valid reasons to postpone a meeting, including:
You are sick. Do you know what's worse than postponing a meeting with a china number screening potential client, colleague, or customer? Spreading disease. If you need to meet someone in person while you're sick, reschedule. The person you're meeting will appreciate that you're considering their health and well-being.
You have a personal emergency. This may be controversial, but I think that situations where your life or the lives of your loved ones are at stake generally come before most weekly one-on-ones or group meetings—a bold idea, I know. Seriously, don’t force yourself to attend a meeting in the middle of a crisis. The stakeholders you need to meet with will understand if it needs to be postponed.
You have an emergency at work. I probably don't need to tell you this, but your professional life isn't always going well. Problems can arise at work: fires break out that need to be put out. If you feel that solving a problem is more urgent or important than a meeting, don't hesitate to postpone it.
You have overlapping obligations. This is tricky, but you may struggle from time to time. Double bookings happen, and when that happens, you need to reschedule one of those meetings as soon as possible. It’s tricky, but you’ll usually know which meeting should stay in effect and which can be moved—choose one to move, and contact the parties involved as soon as you do.
You never want to postpone meetings on a whim, no matter how tempting it may be from time to time. Trust me, there have definitely been times when I've looked at my calendar and thought, "You know what would be great? Do almost literally anything other than attend this meeting.
But unless you have a valid reason other than, "I don't want to," you should still stick with it and keep this meeting on the agenda. There are, however, some valid reasons to postpone a meeting, including:
You are sick. Do you know what's worse than postponing a meeting with a china number screening potential client, colleague, or customer? Spreading disease. If you need to meet someone in person while you're sick, reschedule. The person you're meeting will appreciate that you're considering their health and well-being.
You have a personal emergency. This may be controversial, but I think that situations where your life or the lives of your loved ones are at stake generally come before most weekly one-on-ones or group meetings—a bold idea, I know. Seriously, don’t force yourself to attend a meeting in the middle of a crisis. The stakeholders you need to meet with will understand if it needs to be postponed.
You have an emergency at work. I probably don't need to tell you this, but your professional life isn't always going well. Problems can arise at work: fires break out that need to be put out. If you feel that solving a problem is more urgent or important than a meeting, don't hesitate to postpone it.
You have overlapping obligations. This is tricky, but you may struggle from time to time. Double bookings happen, and when that happens, you need to reschedule one of those meetings as soon as possible. It’s tricky, but you’ll usually know which meeting should stay in effect and which can be moved—choose one to move, and contact the parties involved as soon as you do.