How To Decline a Meeting (With Examples)

1. Determine your reason for declining.
2. Give advance notice.
3. If unsure, ask the meeting owner to confirm you’re a required attendee.
4. Send your cancellation message.
5. Offer to send an update asynchronously.

How to decline a business meeting request

Verify that declining is the best course of action before deciding how to decline the meeting. Make sure you comprehend the meeting’s purpose by carefully reading the information provided in the invitation. Then, evaluate if your schedule has room for the meeting. Inform the meeting organizer as soon as you decide not to attend, if at all possible.

To politely and effectively decline a meeting request and to behave appropriately at work, follow these steps:

1. Self-confirm that “no” is the right answer

Determine the reason(s) you won’t be able to attend a meeting before declining the invitation. If the meeting invitation is ambiguous or you’re not sure if you belong there, follow up with the host to get clarification. There are still approaches to declining that will allow you to keep up your positive working relationships and still offer your help if you decide that not attending is the best course of action.

2. Determine whether a meeting is necessary

Sometimes coworkers schedule meetings primarily out of habit rather than necessity or before agendas and goals have been established for meetings. If you believe this to be the case, get in touch with the meeting’s organizer and request more details. You might be able to provide the meeting organizer with what they need by talking on the phone, chatting on your company’s messaging app, or exchanging emails without actually being present at the meeting. This extra effort demonstrates your desire to help with the current situation.

3. Propose alternative times

You can suggest a different time for the meeting if your reason for declining is a scheduling conflict. Most scheduling tools give you the option of accepting or declining in addition to this. Many also enable you to look up the availability of invited guests before suggesting a different time. The meeting’s organizer will probably appreciate your efforts to make sure everyone can attend.

4. Apply the “no, but… ” principle

One behavior you can adopt to keep your reputation as a willing team member intact is to respond with “no, but…,” as opposed to just saying “no.” Saying “No, I’m unable to attend the meeting, but I’ll be happy to review the minutes and provide feedback” Another response might be, “No, I’m not going to be there, but I’d be happy to ask a teammate to fill in for me. ”.

No, but… lets the meeting organizer know that you share their enthusiasm for achieving the meeting’s objectives and turns a potential negative into a positive.

5. Be clear, direct and polite

The most crucial thing when declining a meeting invitation is to pay attention to your tone of voice and make any necessary adjustments. Since nonverbal cues are absent in written communication, it takes tact to decline an interview via email, text, or messaging app. Always aim to be:

Examples for declining meetings

Here are a few instances of how to say “no” to a business meeting:

DEATH BY MEETING: How to Decline meetings like a true #girlboss – Career Advice

FAQ

How do you politely decline a meeting via email?

1. “I’m flattered that you are interested in my input. I don’t believe I’m the best qualified on this topic.
2. “Since this is a decision-making meeting, I believe my manager should speak on behalf of our team.” ”.
3. “Thanks for the invite to this meeting.

How do you politely decline a team meeting?

1. “I’m flattered that you are interested in my input. I don’t believe I’m the best qualified on this topic.
2. “Since this is a decision-making meeting, I believe my manager should speak on behalf of our team.” ”.
3. “Thanks for the invite to this meeting.

How do you politely decline a zoom meeting?

She advises putting it this way: “I would still like for us to meet, but would you be open to a phone call instead? I have been on several video calls today, and I would like to give you 100% of my time to listen and talk with you. ”.

How do you politely decline a discussion?

1. Sorry, but we were unable to grant your request to transfer to a different department.
2. I’m sorry, but I’m unable to assist you because I have something scheduled for tomorrow.
3. No, I’m afraid I can’t do that for you. …
4. I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I can’t assist you right now.