How to solve meeting schedule conflicts

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The schedule conflict is, of course, the most common problem facing meetings. The solution isn’t always obvious: is it better to cancel or change the time? This depends on the meeting, your audience, and their circumstances.

To get started, here are three steps to follow when scheduling your next meeting:

Step 1: Clarify the meeting’s purpose

A key element of every meeting is the purpose: what do you want to achieve? If you can’t answer this question for your next meeting, I suggest taking a step back and thinking about it first. Sometimes the goal is to ‘catch up’; other times, it’s to ‘get something done’. As a leader in your business, it’s important to be clear about what you’re hoping to achieve from your next meeting.

Step 2: Consider your audience’s time constraints

The second question you should ask yourself is who will be attending the meeting, and are they all available at the same time? Some people might have specific deadlines to meet, and this could influence your choice of a meeting time.

Step 3: Determine the best format for the meeting

Your next step is to consider the format of the meeting. Is it a meeting with your boss, or is it going to be a presentation? If you have the opportunity to have two meetings, it may be better to book two separate times rather than one.

The answer to your first question will drive the other two. If you need to ‘get something done’ and you have a limited number of people in your team that need to be involved, you’ll also need to consider their time constraints. In this case, you might want to consider the ‘catch up’ meeting to be a one-to-one session or a small group setting.

When you’re considering these three steps, it’s important to consider the time and duration of the meeting. If you’re trying to ‘get something done’, a meeting might last a few hours. If you’re trying to ‘catch up’ with your boss, the meeting might only be an hour or two long.

Consider these three steps carefully when you’re scheduling your next meeting. The more you know about what the meeting is going to achieve, who will be involved and what the meeting format is, the clearer your decision about the meeting’s time, date and duration should be.

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