The 3 Worst Reasons to Skip a Work Meeting - The Muse

The 3 Worst Reasons to Skip a Work Meeting - The MuseThe 3 Worst Reasons to Skip a Work Meeting On some weeks, you have a long to-do list, and on top of that, an even longer list of meetings youre required to attend. Those meetings arent going anywhere, but neither are the tasks youve committed to completing. So naturally, when you find an opportunity to skip one of the meetings, you should take it, right? In some cases, yes. For example, when youve been invited just in case. Or when you know its just a status update meeting and you dont need the updates. But there are some pretty bad reasons for backing out of a meeting, too. And by bad, I mean youre going to lose your teams respect, and possibly, even opportunities if you use one of these excuses.1. You Need to bestattungs FoodThere are few things on the face of the earth that motivate me as much as a meal. I get how real hunger pains are, especially in the middle of a long stretch of meetings. But as empathetic as I am to you when youre desperate for a snack break, its a terrible excuse to pump the brakes on an important meeting. And I know you know this- yet I also know that there are people who use this excuse when theyre backing out. InsteadPack one of your desk drawer with easy-to-grab snacks- preferably ones that wont be grating for everyone else to listen to as you eat them. 2. You Have an Urgent Errand to RunI have a handful of weddings to go to this summer, which means I have a handful of errands to run every week. And of course, all those errands, usually involve stores with very specific hours. While you hate to cancel so brde-minute, you just dont know when youll pick up your suit from the tailor if not right now. InsteadDo a quick assessment of your day and put all your assignments in priority order. Is there something else besides this meeting that you can put off? Could you stay later in order to get everything done? What about coming in earlier?It might be inconvenient for you, but its better to stay an hour later, than anony or delay all your co-workers because you cant attend a meeting. 3. You Have Too Much Work to Get DoneThere are days when you feel like you simply have too much to do- and I get that. And on those days, attending meetings can feel like a waste of your time. But at the same time, skipping this meeting can create mora work for the people involved in it- and thats not necessarily fair. InsteadAsk your manager for help deciding whats most important for you to do- the tasks on your to-do list or this meeting. If its truly impossible to get it all done and the meeting is more important, ask for a deadline extension on your other work.You might be thinking, This is great, but what if Im the exception to whats above? Alright, Ill work with you here. If you absolutely need to cancel, heres the email you need to send to attendees. Of course, customize based on what the meetings about and what your role is in it.HiI cant attend todays/tomorrows meeting. I know this is last minute and I apologize/I know this will delay our progress and I apologize.Note These are optional linesIs there any data/reports/insights I can send in advance to help move the conversation forward? If any decisions need my input, Ill answer them ASAP on email/Slack/text message. Could we get this conversation started on email- happy to lead the charge on that.Sorry again,Your Name Meetings get a bad reputation, and in a lot of cases, its warranted. Nobody likes to have their time wasted on something that could be easily resolved over email or quickly at your desk. But the fact that you dislike them isnt a good reason to start backing out at the last minute- especially if they fall into the important category. Instead, make a bigger effort to both remove meetings from your schedule that truly arent needed (this article can help with that) and organize your weekly schedule in a way that allows for lunch breaks and pockets of time to absprache with personal issues.Gettin g organized isnt always easy- but its definitely worth it