How to Write a Meeting Reschedule Email: [How-To-Guide + Samples] (2024)

Meetings are a key part of professional and personal life. However, it's not uncommon for meeting schedules to change due to conflicts or other priorities arising. When a meeting needs to be postponed or rescheduled, it's important to communicate this change promptly and professionally via email.

This article provides tips and email template samples for smoothly and effectively rescheduling a meeting by email. We'll cover best practices for composing the email, communicating the change, and finding a new meeting time that works for all participants. With the right approach, a meeting reschedule email can maintain positive relationships and keep projects moving forward despite calendar changes.

Why You May Need to Reschedule

There are many common reasons you may need to reschedule a meeting:

Scheduling conflicts - Perhaps you double booked yourself or a key attendee has another meeting at the same time. Scheduling conflicts are one of the most common reasons to reschedule.
Illness - Whether you are sick or someone else who is essential to the meeting is ill, sickness often necessitates rescheduling. Let the other attendees know the meeting is being postponed due to illness.
Family emergency - Emergencies happen, and family should always come first. If a family matter comes up, don't hesitate to reschedule. Simply explain the situation to the attendees.
Business trip - Maybe you or another attendee was unexpectedly called out of town for work. Business trips often mean having to reschedule.
Cancellation by VIP attendee - If a VIP attendee suddenly cancels, you may want to reschedule to ensure they can be present. Their attendance may be vital to the meeting.
Weather events - Inclement weather like snow storms may prevent safe travel to the meeting. In cases of extreme weather, rescheduling is prudent.
Scheduling mistake - Sometimes meeting dates get entered incorrectly on calendars. If you notice a scheduling mistake, promptly email to reschedule correctly.
Other unforeseen circ*mstances - Other unanticipated events could come up that justify rescheduling. Use good judgment when determining if rescheduling is needed.

When to Send the Email

Ideally, you should send the meeting reschedule email as soon as you know you need to postpone. Give meeting attendees as much advance notice as possible. Last-minute schedule changes can cause unnecessary inconvenience.

Aim to send the rescheduling email at least 24-48 hours in advance. For important meetings with many attendees, try to provide even more notice, if feasible.

If rescheduling a daily stand-up meeting, send the email the evening before or the morning of.
For weekly team meetings, send the notice 2-3 days in advance.
For large monthly department meetings, ideally send the email 1 week ahead.

The more notice you can provide, the better. However, realize rescheduling is sometimes unavoidable due to emergencies or shifting priorities. Do your best within reasonable constraints. The key is clear, timely communication with attendees about the postponement.

Email Subject Line

The subject line is one of the most important parts of your meeting reschedule email. It needs to clearly communicate the purpose of your email so the recipient knows it's about rescheduling a meeting before they even open it.

Some best practices for email subject lines when rescheduling a meeting include:

Keep it short and concise. Subject lines with 6-10 words tend to get the highest open rates.
Include the words "meeting" and "reschedule" so it's obvious what the email is about. For example: "Rescheduling our meeting on Friday".
Put the original meeting date in the subject line. This helps provide context. For example: "Rescheduling our Jan 15th meeting".
Avoid overusing all caps or punctuation like exclamation points, as those can come across as too aggressive.
Be specific about which meeting you're rescheduling. Use the names of people, projects, or purpose of meeting.
If rescheduling a recurring meeting, note the frequency. Ex: "Rescheduling our weekly status update meeting."
Use brackets or parentheses around any secondary information not crucial to the subject line.

The goal is to make your subject line informative but still concise. Following these tips will help ensure your email gets opened and your meeting rescheduled smoothly.

Greeting

The greeting of your meeting reschedule email sets the tone. You want to sound polite and professional. Use an appropriate salutation based on your relationship with the recipient.

If you don't know the recipient well, use:

Dear Mr./Ms. [Last Name],

If you know the recipient, but want to remain formal, use:

Hello [First Name],

For recipients you work with regularly and have a more casual relationship, use their first name directly:

Explanation

When explaining why you need to reschedule the meeting, be brief yet polite. Get right to the point without going into unnecessary details. For example, you can say:

"Unfortunately, I need to reschedule our meeting due to a schedule conflict that just came up. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this causes."

If it's a recurring meeting, you may want to explain the specific conflict, such as:

"I need to reschedule this week's status meeting because I've been asked to attend an important training session that was just scheduled at the same time."

The key is to keep the explanation simple and apologetic. Avoid overly elaborate stories or excuses. The other person usually doesn't need to know all the details behind why you need to reschedule. A brief yet sincere explanation is sufficient in most cases.

Apology

When rescheduling a meeting, it's important to apologize for the inconvenience caused. Here are some polite ways to say sorry:

I sincerely apologize for having to postpone our meeting.
Please accept my apologies for needing to reschedule.
I'm very sorry for any disruption this causes. I appreciate your understanding.
My apologies for changing our plans last minute.
I do hope you'll forgive me for adjusting our meeting time.
Thank you for your patience as I request we move our discussion to a later date.

The key is to take responsibility, acknowledge the inconvenience, and express genuine regret. Avoid making excuses or blaming others. Simply state the need to reschedule clearly and politely ask for their flexibility. A gracious apology paves the way for a smooth postponement.

Proposed New Date/Time

When suggesting a new date and time for the meeting, provide at least 2-3 alternative options. This shows you've put thought into finding a time that works for everyone involved.

For example:

"I'm available on Monday at 2pm or Tuesday morning at 10am if either of those times work for you."

"Let me know if you're free on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning and I can send a calendar invite."

Providing a range of options increases the likelihood you'll find a time that works for all parties. It also demonstrates you're flexible and willing to accommodate others' schedules.

If possible, suggest specific dates and times rather than vague windows. "Next week" or "sometime in the afternoon" can be ambiguous. Something like "Are you available next Tuesday at 3pm?" makes it easier for the recipient to respond.

Expressing the Importance of the Meeting

It's important when rescheduling a meeting to reaffirm why the meeting is valuable and your interest in keeping it. This shows professionalism and respect for the other person's time. For example:

"I know we had important items to discuss regarding the upcoming project launch. I'm looking forward to meeting as soon as possible so we can finalize the plan."

"This meeting is an important step as we finalize the contract details. Please let me know some other times that could work for you, as I am eager to get this completed."

"I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me about the open position. I'm still very interested in learning more about the role and hope we can find another time that works for both of our schedules."

Reiterating your interest and the value of the meeting helps maintain positive relations when unavoidable scheduling conflicts arise. It reminds the other party that you are eager to meet and keeps the lines of communication open.

Closing

In closing your meeting reschedule email, be sure to extend some final courtesies to the recipient. Thank them for their time and understanding about needing to reschedule. Provide your contact information in case they need to get in touch with follow-up questions or concerns.

For example:

Thank you for your flexibility in rescheduling this meeting. Please let me know if you have any other questions. I look forward to meeting with you soon.

Best regards,

[Your name]

[Your phone number]

[Your email address]

Adding your contact information makes you available to promptly address any issues that arise from postponing the meeting. It also helps reinforce that you value their time and are willing to discuss any inconvenience the change may cause. With graciousness and professionalism, you can reschedule effectively while maintaining positive relations.

Informal reschedule meeting email

In general, you might use an informal email template for any meeting that is not time-sensitive or the result of a formal request (such as a job interview). This includes:

Most internal meetings
Meetings with acquaintances

Sample one

Dear [name]/ Hi Team,

I regret to inform you I am not able to attend [the meeting] scheduled on [date] and need to reschedule it. [Reason for rescheduling]. I apologize for any inconvenience and hope we can reschedule for another date.

Can we meet on either [date 1] or [date 2] instead? Please let me know what time would work best for you.

Thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

Sample two

Dear [name],

I'm afraid that we have to reschedule our meeting at [time] on [date] due to unforeseen circ*mstances.

Please accept my apology for any inconvenience caused, and hope we can postpone the meeting to another date.

Would you be available on [alternative time] or [alternative time]? If not, please let me know what works best for you, and I'll try to fit it into my schedule.

Again sorry for the trouble, and thanks for your understanding.

All the best,

[Your signature]

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