Top 5 Reasons Why I Declined Your Meeting
Believe it or not the reason is not that I am too busy or that I do not like you.? More likely or not the reason stems from something you could fix with just a little tweaking. If you steer clear of the below five reasons I will most likely attend your meeting or at least give it my best effort to attend.
1. You did not check if I am available
With all of the office tools that exist as well as third party products like calendly, checking actual availability is essential.? Even if I have a free space on my calendar there I may have something else going on then that I will need to prioritize over your meeting.? Checking with me to see if I am actually available then even if in tandem with placing a meeting invite increases the chances I will accept.?
2. The meeting title is ambiguous or confusing
Using generic subjects like touch base or confusing ones that I will not understand make it difficult for me to assess what the meeting is actually about.? Because of that I may prioritize other thing over your meeting even if the meeting is important.
领英推荐
3. There is no clear agenda in the invitation
Even a few bullet points go a long way. It helps frame my mind on the details of what we are going to talk about so I can not only prioritize your meeting over other things but I can come prepared rather than every resolution being follow up next week which would require an additional meeting.
4. No materials were provided in advance
Update trackers, reports, presentations etc sent in advance allow me to organize my mind on what will be discussed to which I can even come prepared with questions and comments.? This not only increases the chance I will attend but allow me to be more effective at your meeting. Bonus points if in the materials you highlight certain important points in the body of the invitation so I can focus on those.?
5. You did not reach out prior to provide context
With all of the work going on both internally and externally, reaching out to me ahead of the invitation and telling me what you are planning to setup will help prevent your meeting to end up in the clutter. If I am aware of the context and importance ahead of time, I can put your meeting at the top of the stack.?