[MeetingArkAdmin]

What are the protocols and best practices for sending Invitations? How do invitations practices vary across cultures?

[MeetingArkAdmin]

Send out meeting invitations to all attendees specifying date, time, location / media, access code / dial-in number (if required) and a clear description of what the meeting is about

[Ron Eagle]

Invites should be sent in the following order of preference/priority where feasible:

1. Best of all by face to face request which allows immediate explanation/justification etc and makes invitee feel personably valued plus a probable immediate answer.
2. If not then by telephone – again giving some immediacy of outcome with some degree of a one to one personal deference.
3. Lastly by email. While each of the above should be followed up by an email (and if available an entry in their electronic diary – see comments under ‘co-ordinating diaries’ in this group)  to confirm the agreement and give reminder details of the meeting time/place etc. it should be a last resort as an invite initiator as it can feel impersonal; be regarded as less important; be overlooked or missed; be seen as ass covering ( well they were invited”- no they were emailed  in a supposition they’d read it and be invited) rather than actively ensuring an answer.  It may be said oh well there are too many on the invite list to use anything but email: the answer will still be to use method 1 or 2 above in those areas that you can and resort to 3 only where necessary…or better still if there appears to be too many in a meeting then you should start to question the real requirement for each invitee to be there at all.

BTW if the method is ‘by snailmail i.e sending letters’ then pinch yourself as you have fallen through a time warp in your sleep  into the 1950’s and need to wake up.

[MeetingArkAdmin]

Hi Ron!

These are great – thank you.

Couple of questions for you –

First – do you have any specifics about how to invite people who you think it is very important that they attend but may be extremely busy (perhaps a person further up the organisation) and have a default of NO! to meeting requests?

Secondly – could you give an example of what might be useful framing for the person doing face to face – any pitfalls you have come across?

[kieranfoley]

I’ll jump in on this

First: If you think the meeting truly needs the attendance of the senior person, ask Why? Find out the benefit for THEM  to attend and pitch it to them face to face in 10 seconds.

Secondly, dont frame it in terms of your own wants, frame it in terms of theirs. You could also just ask for a steer – you wondered whether this was something you should give a heads-up about..

[Ron Eagle]

Perhaps find an ally or two to support and strengthen your request; especially one(s) whose opinions they respect.

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