Need to miss a meeting but have to come up with an excuse to do so? If so, you are going to need a good one so that you won’t get caught out.
Here is a list of the excuses that you are likely to have the most luck with:
What are Some Good Excuses for Missing a Meeting?
You have to tailor your excuse to the person or people that you are informing – some of the excuses that you can rely on include: a family emergency, a house emergency, an illness, a car emergency, work deadlines or priorities, or a prior meeting.
How to Use a Family Emergency Excuse
This is one of the best excuses that you can use when missing a meeting as it is something that everyone can relate to. However, you do have to be careful who you use this excuse with.
For instance, if you are missing a meeting with a client or someone who doesn’t work directly with you, then this is a good option. This excuse rarely leads to follow-up questions unless the person knows you really well.
You should bear in mind that this person may ask you about said emergency later on so make sure that you come up with a short answer.
Using this answer with a colleague or your boss isn’t as easy. This is because they are likely to ask questions about the emergency, particularly if they know something about your family.
Therefore, you should be prepared with a backstory or use another excuse.
When using this excuse with someone you know, you should also be prepared to be asked frequent questions about it for a while.
How to Use a House Emergency as an Excuse
A house emergency is where something goes wrong with the house. This could be flooding, blockages, a burst pipe, etc.
These are the kind of emergencies that can take place without warning. Not to mention, they are often serious enough to warrant you staying right where you are until you can get a handyman to fix the issue for you.
If you are dealing with someone that you don’t work closely with, then saying that you have an emergency at home may do the trick.
A boss or a colleague is likely going to need a few more details.
In this case, choose an emergency that is based on how much time you need to take off. If you only want to miss the meeting, then say that the sink is blocked as this is a problem that can be fixed in a timely manner.
If you want the entire day off then consider something like a burst pipe.
How to Use the Excuse of an Illness
This is another good excuse as it is a very believable one. What’s more, when dealing with people who don’t work directly with you, you don’t have to offer any details.
Instead, simply saying that you are feeling unwell is enough to cancel or postpone the meeting.
When using this excuse with people that you work with, however, requires a bit of additional planning.
For instance, you may need to take a sick day if you are claiming that the illness is pretty bad. If you are only missing a meeting in the morning, then you have to think about how many hours of work you will be missing out on here.
If you are planning on skipping an afternoon meeting, then this illness can’t come on suddenly, right before the meeting. This may appear too suspicious. Therefore, you will need to inform your boss or colleagues about your ill health ahead of time.
Another option is to claim that your spouse or child is ill as this gives you a bit more wiggle room and you don’t have to worry about your acting performance.
This is also a good idea if you only want to miss the meeting and show up for work later on.
How to Use a Car Emergency as an Excuse
This is another popular excuse as it happens all the time. You can use this excuse as you are heading to work or if you need to drive to the meeting.
Keep in mind that if you claim that your car won’t start that this may not give you a license to skip the meeting. You may be required to get a ride with someone else or simply take a taxi to work or the meeting.
On the other hand, if you claim that your car broke down on the way to work, then you have to wait for someone to come and take a look at the vehicle as well as tow it away. This gives you a better opportunity to miss the meeting.
Claiming that your car broke down can seem like a pretty major excuse. This is especially if you only want to miss the meeting and not skip too much of your work day.
In this instance, claiming that you got a flat tire may make more sense. You can also say that you didn’t have a spare and had to wait even longer.
How to Use Work as an Excuse
This is an excuse that will work best with clients or partner businesses.
Telling someone that you have deadlines due is a good way of skipping the meeting. Of course, this should be in line with the kind of work that you do.
You could also say that your workload is particularly great at the moment and that you are wading through a lot of work. Due to this, you can’t find the time to make the meeting.
Now, if your team or boss has access to your workload, this isn’t going to be a good excuse to use. They will be able to see just how much work you have to do and may know if there are any deadlines assigned.
Not to mention, you often have to make a show of working later to prove that you really do have a lot of work to do.
One way that this excuse can work with your boss is if you have more important work to do. If your tasks take priority over the meeting, then your boss should accept it.
How to Use the Excuse of a Prior Meeting
This is a good excuse but typically only works if you have just been informed about a meeting or are only given the short notice.
In this case, you can claim that you have another appointment for that time slot and inform people that you will need to miss their meeting. Just be aware that they may reschedule to accommodate you.
If you are using this excuse with people that you work with, keep in mind that you may need to follow through with your excuse. Therefore, you may be expected to leave the building for the duration of the fictional meeting.
It is best not to claim that you have an online meeting unless you can move to another room for this period of time.
What are the Best Excuses for Missing a Meeting?
The best excuses for missing a meeting include having a family emergency, having an emergency with your house, your illness or a sick loved one, a car emergency, work deadlines, or a prior meeting – the exact excuse that you use will depend on various factors.
