How to cancel a meeting

To cancel a meeting, you should notify all staff members that were to be involved in the meeting via email. Here are the steps involved in canceling a meeting by email:

• Include a clear title or subject line

It is very important that you make your subject line clear and concise. The recipients of the email should understand what the email is going to be about simply by reading the subject line. This also increases the chances that the receivers will open the email. Some examples of how to title a meeting cancelation email include:

• Finance department meeting canceled

• Meeting on February 15th at 12 pm canceled

• Meeting today canceled, options for rescheduling included

Clarity is the key with the subject. No matter what it should in some way state that the meeting has been canceled, and it should not contain any extra information, aside from items like rescheduling.

• Use a professional greeting

If your meeting was only going to be with one member of your staff, you can use greetings like:

• Hello Employee's Name

• Dear Employee's Name

• Hi Employee's Name

If your meeting was meant to be with several members of your staff, you can use a greeting like:

• Hello all

• Good morning all

• Good afternoon marketing team

If you are going to be using anyone's name, make sure you double check it for spelling.

• Briefly explain the situation

In your opening paragraph you have the choice of detailing the reason the meeting has been canceled, or simply reiterating the fact that the meeting has been canceled. Your choice should be based on your own individual situation, and whether or not your staff needs to be informed of the reasoning. This should only be two or three sentences long.

• Include rescheduling options

If you are planning to reschedule the meeting at a later date, it is a good idea to use your next paragraph for this purpose. You can list out a few dates and times, but don't go overboard as this can cause confusion and indecision. If you like you can also ask the recipients of the email to reply with what dates and times work for them.

Next you can include a sentence or a short paragraph expressing your gratitude for everyone's understanding concerning the change. Keep in mind your staff has planned around this meeting, so it is important to recognize them briefly and apologize if it is a very abrupt cancellation.

• Conclusion

Now you should close your email with a conclusion paragraph of any additional information that needs to be relayed to your employees. You can also choose to provide updated contact information if they currently don't have it.

You might also encourage them to reach out if they have any questions, depending on your situation. You can then close the email professionally with a proper sign-off like:

• Thank you

• Kind regards

• With appreciation

• Sincerely

Include your full name and official title beneath your sign-off.