CORPORATE MEETINGS are set at least two weeks in advance, checking on the availability of the participants. The occasion of online meetings, even in these post-pandemic days, requires attendees to be available, and on time. Sometimes, they are asked to join much earlier than scheduled, when the previous meeting has a short agenda — you can now click on the link.
Unless a meeting is prescribed by the company’s by-laws such as a board meeting, or has a specific time it needs to take place like a conference call with foreign investors, is it unusual for a meeting to be canceled at the last minute? (The meeting needs to be reset.) No reason is needed, when the chair or convenor decides to schedule something else, like a visit to the dentist. The new schedule is not set as the meeting may be canceled altogether.
There are meetings that are hastily arranged. Maybe, someone mis-sends a text message about breakfast and the unintended party asks, “Who’s this?” The sending party identifies himself and pleasantries are then exchanged: “Oh, I haven’t seen you in ages. Why don’t we have lunch instead?”
This casual invitation to a meeting is too easily canceled. Two days before the supposed lunch is to take place, one or both accidental lunch mates send a message, “Can we reschedule after Bonifacio Day? I need to meet with a defense lawyer on a paternity suit.” This cancelled lunch then falls outside the to-do list and then is casually junked. Neither party will find the need to resurrect the idea until one bumps into the other at a mall.
Petitioners who arrange meetings with those who dispense favors may not even be getting any response from the secretary. If a date for dinner is set, usually far into the future, it is seldom calendared. Appeals for confirmation a week before can be met with a vague shrug. (Yes, Sir, I know you already have a rock band to provide the entertainment for your 80th birthday but the boss must fly to The Hague tomorrow to show support.)
When a meeting is called by a powerful person summoning someone lower in the food chain, the appointment is still tentative. The higher-up can unexpectedly find the meeting unnecessary — I’ll just send you an e-mail.
Canceled meetings can be welcome when there is no compelling reason for them to take place. There is this chunk of time freed up in the calendar that can be put to good use by calling yet another meeting with another person… who can also choose to cancel later.
Canceling meetings too often is perceived as a bad habit. The frequency and routine nature of last-minute changes of appointments can be a trait that attaches to someone considered unreliable in his commitments.
Social meetings, usually called “get-togethers,” to differentiate from formal conferences, can involve at least five people. There is a greater likelihood for these to push through even if one or two cancel at the last minute — I just got struck with vertigo.
Of course, weddings and birthdays are scheduled months before and often take place as planned. Cancellations on these occasions can be dramatic, especially when involving the celebrants. Guests not showing up after confirming attendance and being counted on the guest list can invite lifelong feuds. (You should at least have sent the gift.)
When bumping into someone at a mall, the small talk that arises is replete with vague promises of getting together after not meeting for so long. (How many grandchildren do you have?) That open-ended event is unlikely to take place. No specific date is set. (Let’s get together before the next solar eclipse.)
Some meetings are seldom canceled, even moved earlier with anticipation and bated breath. These entail mutually satisfying expectations between two parties. It can involve money changing hands for favors granted, or just a clandestine rendezvous. The venue is usually out of the way and unlikely to raise the possibility of bumping into other parties seeking to have lunch sometime. Taking selfies is not an option.
Cancelling meetings may be a cultural trait. It entails a social hierarchy, as well as obligations too easily shrugged off. Always, there’s something important that requires more immediate attention than a simple lunch.
Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda
