The headline in today's Wall Street Journal made me smile - it read "The Postponed Meeting Vortex." Who hasn't been in that vortex of postponed meeting hell?
Meetings are a necessity and I realize that they aren't going away anytime soon. Can meetings be more effective? You bet - just read my blog post from last week. However, it's the postponed or late cancelled meetings that have a negative trickle down effect that can be so debilitating.
My experiences have ranged from having a boss who compulsively cancelled meetings or asked me to attend in his place, always with the latest of warnings, to situations (more than once) where I was told that a senior executive couldn't attend a meeting that had been scheduled weeks in advance with business partners who were flying in specifically for that meeting.
What can you do to avoid this vortex? Well, unlike my prior blog post about how to more effectively manage meetings, there isn't much that can be done with the cancelled/postponed meeting challenge.
The Journal's story suggested a "three strikes and you're out" philosophy - that one doesn't allow more than three reschedules or cancellations before moving on. But, how does that work when the serial offender is your boss or even further up the executive food chain?
My advice is to make contingency plans when the offender is most frequently your boss or above. Plan for the likely postponement or cancellation and don't book meetings in proximity that will be affected by the changed schedule. Alert your team in advance when you think there's the possibility that your meeting, and consequently their schedule, will be changed. If your boss relies upon an assistant for scheduling, work closely with that person to consistently reinforce why his/her attendance is critical. And, if the opportunity presents itself and you think it will help, have a heart-to-heart discussion with your boss about the effect these schedule changes have on the whole department.
If you're the offender and have to postpone or cancel a meeting with little warning, over-err on being contrite. Offer to do something on behalf on the affected person or group. And, at minimum, make sure that the words "I'm sorry" are used in lieu of some lame excuse.
Let me know if you have suggestions for how to handle this huge irritant in business life - I'll be sure and pass along your thoughts in an upcoming post. Send me a note at mgoff@goffmarketing.com - I'd love to hear from you!
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