SmartPulse — our weekly nonscientific reader poll in SmartBrief on Leadership — tracks feedback from more than 200,000 business leaders. We run the poll question each week in our newsletter.
How do you feel about last-minute meeting cancellations?
- How rude. They made a commitment, and more notice would be appreciated: 16.18%
- No big deal. Things happen and come up: 44.12%
- Yay! I have free time now to get some work done: 39.70%
Notice is appreciated. While 60% of you don’t mind last-minute cancellations (or are even excited when they happen), a large portion of respondents (40%) can get frustrated by the last-minute change. Knowing it’s such a large portion of the people you deal with, even if last-minute cancellations don’t bother you, do recognize that they bother many others. To avoid unintentionally frustrating a colleague, boss, customer, supplier, partner, etc., do give them as much advance notice as you’re able. As soon as you have an inkling that plans may change, a courtesy “heads up” will likely be most appreciated. Failure to do so can send a signal that you don’t value the other person or their time. A little courtesy can go a long way.
Mike Figliuolo is managing director of thoughtLEADERS, which includes TITAN — the firm’s e-learning platform. Previously, he worked at McKinsey & Co., Capital One and Scotts Miracle-Gro. He is a West Point graduate and author of three leadership books: “One Piece of Paper,” “Lead Inside the Box” and “The Elegant Pitch.”