Right Way and Wrong Way To Cancel a Meeting

Here’s a tip I never thought I’d have to write.  It’s just common sense.  If it’s not common sense, then it’s about treating others like you’d like to be treated.

When you cancel a meeting with someone, give them plenty of notice, and contact them personally.

Most often, meetings happen with no problems.  If you realize that you’ll be late, text and/or phone the person.   Otherwise, they expect to see you.

If an emergency crops up — like you or your immediate family is in the hospital or something worse — of course, cancel. That’s a real emergency.  Make a short phone call and text the person if you reach their voice mail.

All other reasons for canceling are choices we make as people to not meet the other person.  These are not emergencies:  you’re canceling a meeting because you’re going away on a trip early and need to pack.  You need to move a client meeting around to another person’s appointment time or worst yet, canceling because something better has come along.   Canceling a meeting because it’s raining or you have to clean your house, etc.  isn’t an emergency.  Those are all choices made that affect the person at the other end of the cancellation.

Take responsibility for your actions, which means respond-to-your-ability.  Take responsibility for your choice.

NEVER send an email to a person to cancel a meeting that’s going to happen in an hour or even 2 days UNLESS the email is a back-up message to a phone call and text.   Never follow up a cancellation notice with I was too busy to call or somehow blaming the other person for the cancel.  Never say that the meeting wasn’t important.  If it wasn’t important, you shouldn’t have scheduled it in the first place.

Thing is that you canceled.  As a business owner, executive, manager, or “whatever”, it’s now your job to track down the person you’re supposed to meet and get confirmation from them that they know you’ve canceled.   If you get their voice mail, leave a message, and text them, and send them an email. If you don’t hear back from them in a few hours, do it again.

Treat others, as you’d like to be treated yourself.