TOW#588– Giving short notice for postponing a meeting/rendezvous
Let’s be clear, changing plans and established timeframes is not OK, but it happens to everyone that ‘something comes up’, meaning that you have to change some of the plans you’d made before.
Now, if you need to change a plan or someone else’s plan, keep the following in mind:
1. What will that change do to your plans?
2. What will that change do to other people’s plans?
Once you’ve answered these two seemingly simple questions, then you can ask yourself whether or not to change the plans and, if so, how to go about it.
Minimum notification time — according to some research I came across, you have to inform people at least 48 hours in advance if you’re going to change a plan. This mostly concerns when you need to change shifts, find replacements, etc. But if we’re talking about postponing a meeting or any kind of gathering, research shows that you need to give a minimum of two hours notice;
Reasons — I don’t want to get into the reasons, but it mustn’t be on a whim (lunch with friends, I’d rather not or whatever) and you must have substantial reasons to request a delay. It would also be good to state the reasons for the rain-check;
Delay or absence — depending on your role in the team, you may want to either postpone the meeting or gathering, or kindly ask for it to go ahead without you;
Off or online — with the new ‘normal’ nowadays, you could always replace your physical presence at meetings with an online presence. That is, of course, if the environment or work structure allows for it. However, if you say that you’ll be able to be present online, then you must stick to it, since the entire technical structure of the meeting will be changed because of you;
Next meeting — it’s fine to ask for a postponement of a plan, but when doing so it would be nice to suggest another time when you’d be free. Plus, according to all etiquette or ethical standards, if you’re the one asking for a postponement then you’ll need to be prepared to adapt your plan to the plans of the others in the group for the next meeting;
Help — as I said before, changing the plan causes others to change their plans. It would be fair to offer help to colleagues to perform their duties, should the change of plan adversely affect them.
The most important thing to know is that postponing things and changing plans carries consequences. It leads to changes not only in your plan, but also in the plans of a whole group of people who had previously been planning to do the work or attend the meeting.
Therefore, if you’re considering postponing because of something that isn’t truly urgent, then just don’t do it!
Wishing you success with the changes to come,
@kalinbabusku
Member of the Team
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