How to tactfully decline a business meeting without ruining your relationship

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In the professional world, people often schedule a large number of meetings for a variety of reasons. But, as a rule, one of the two parties is more interested in the negotiations than the other. What to do if you are the other party and you are asked to waste your time - we tell you how to tactfully refuse without offending the interlocutor.

Ask for more information
If you receive an invitation by email without any explanation of why the meeting is needed and what issues will be discussed, it may seem that your colleague has not thought through a plan in advance and the negotiations will be in vain.

However, if you simply say “no,” the other person will think you are neglecting them. It is better to show interest and ask a few questions first, such as “What topics do you want to discuss?” or “What is required of me at this meeting?” This way, even if social media marketing service you decide to decline, you will be able to do so in a reasoned and polite manner.

Please clarify whether it is possible to organize an online discussion
In order to save time, a face-to-face conversation can be transferred to the online space. In this case, it is worth formulating your answer so that the person sees the advantages of an online meeting, for example:

"Can we discuss this issue via email or messenger to record all tasks in one place? It will be convenient to open the correspondence and check who is responsible for what."
"I suggest we resolve this issue in a messenger so that other colleagues can take part in the conversation."
If you are more comfortable communicating via email or chat rather than in person, and you can justify your decision, then over time you will receive fewer such invitations.


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Refuse to help after offering
If you have absolutely no free time, then it is worth saying so. At the same time, you can offer the person alternative ways to solve his problem. Here is a possible answer:

"Good day! Unfortunately, I won't be able to comment on your article because I'm busy launching a new product all next week, but I can give you the contact of another expert. Will that work?"

If you find it difficult to refuse others and you do not know how to properly build a dialogue in a business environment, then take a look at our free online course " Communicative Literacy ". You will also be able to learn active listening techniques and other ways to overcome communication barriers and manipulations.