How to be nice when scheduling a meeting
I have found that the effectiveness of email communications often turns on small details.
Consider the case of setting a meeting. Recently I contacted a person I was to interview as part of a project. I sent this message opening the thread (the names have been changed to protect the innocent):
Hiya Fredo!
Nice to meet you!
Sonny mentioned you might have time for a cup of coffee Monday morning (in NYC).
Let me know if that works for you. We can meet early AM or after 10:30
Thanks
Got back this response:
Hi Gary!
Thank you so much for reaching out! I do have to head to the airport Monday so I won’t be able to meet but if it would work we could chat on the phone later in the week.
Let me know what works for your schedule.
Fredo
Which made me immediately miserable and annoyed, it also left me with a negative impression of Fredo’s communication skills. Fredo’s message left me with the responsibility to propose a new time, and with a substantial risk that the time I picked was bad for them. He was trying to be nice, but it put an unnecessary burden on me, not a large one, but small things add up and friction is not fun in communications.
My goal in communications, especially in email, is to always make smooth easy progress toward a goal.
In this case, setting a time to meet with a person. I recommend always stating clearly (in the guise of suggesting) what times work best for you. This works in both initiating the appointment and in responding to the request.
Further this can be extended to other exchanges where instead of asking open ended questions “Where do you want to go for dinner”, “Which mobile devices would you like your application to support”, suggest actions that allow the other party to agree or suggest alternatives, “How about Mario’s Restaurant on Arthur Avenue?”, “I think the app should support iPhone 6 & 7”. Closed ended move the conversation efficiently toward a goal, and require less effort to respond to.
The super-ninja move is to step up and send a meeting invite along with the email request. I only use this in particularly recalcitrant people (I am looking at you Fredo), but it can be effective with folks that are “busy” (aka unresponsive). It should be used sparingly, since it may result in future emails routed to the spam bucket.
Please note all references to characters and locations in the Godfather are purely coincidental.
Author: Gary Gertz,
Producer, ATTCK
About ATTCK: We’re an NYC-based digital agency that specializes in web and native app design and development. We work with companies of all sizes, from startups to Fortune 500s. If you’re looking for an agency to work with, give us a call at (917) 725–0044 or email us at hello@attck.com.
