R.
Jason Weiss, Ph.D.

President, Evacor Inc.

On a recent call, a business contact and I agreed to meet at
his office a few weeks later. As we were finalizing the details, he said
generously, “Don’t worry about putting it on your calendar, I’ll have my
assistant send you a meeting request in Outlook!” When I looked at it on my
calendar afterward, I saw that subject of the meeting was my own name, and the
location was simply, “Office.” This was convenient and familiar shorthand for my
contact, but it didn’t convey a very good impression. Plus, it didn’t do
anything more than block out the time: If I kept it in my calendar as it was, I
would have to spend some time digging before the meeting to remind myself who I
was supposed to be meeting, whose office it would be in, and what we were
meeting to discuss.

I'm a big fan of Andrea’s approach to networking because it
has a lot of wisdom around how people work. One of her key insights is that small
courtesies can mean a lot: They show that you value the other person, that you
are professional, polished, and in charge of the details, and that you want to
have a positive impact. Just like thank-you notes, good meeting invitations are
seemingly little touches that help to build that strong impression, but they also
provide practical value: Good invitations make calendars easier to read, and can
even help you and your meeting partner get to your meeting!

Here are three quick and easy tips to help you create
professional-class invitations that pave the way for positive, productive
meetings. These tips will work for you whether you use Outlook (where invitations
are called “Meeting Requests”), Google’s GMail, or pretty much any other
calendar system.

TIP 1: USE DOUBLE-BARRELED SUBJECT LINES THAT TELL YOU WHAT
YOU NEED TO KNOW

The subject of the meeting is what you and your meeting
partner will see on your calendar, so build it around two key pieces of
information: 1) What the meeting is about, and 2) Who it’s with. These two
elements together will provide a powerful reminder when you both look at your
calendar later on. Do try to keep the subject line as short as possible, since
long subjects are hard to read on smartphones and small laptop screens. A short
subject line such as, “Networking meeting: Andrea Nierenberg/Jason Weiss” says
everything we need to know in just a few words.

TIP 2: MAKE LOCATIONS “SMART”

Many current smartphones can intelligently use properly
formatted telephone numbers and street addresses in
calendar entries to link to dialing and mapping/navigation apps, respectively.
Here’s what to put in the “Location” box to make it happen:

• If the meeting is by phone, say who is calling
  whom (use initials) and at what number. For example: “JW will call AN at (212)
  555-1212.” If it’s a conference call, note whether callers have to press #
  after the meeting ID or password.
• If the meeting is in a location for which travel
  is necessary, give both the name and address. For example, “XYZ Business Club,
  2 W. 45th St., New York, NY 10036.” A long “Location” entry is unreadable on
  smartphones, so enter “See notes” and use the area for notes at the bottom of
  the meeting invitation to provide any extra detail.
• If the meeting is in a hotel, Starbucks, or
  other location where there are multiple places with the same name, be specific as
  to which one. I once had a meeting set up for the Hilton in Newark, only to
  discover that it was at the airport Hilton, rather than the one downtown. Guess
  which one I went to first?

TIP 3: PUT DETAILS AND NOTES WHERE
THEY BELONG

In Outlook, there’s a big,
unlabeled box for additional notes at the bottom of the meeting request window.
Google’s GMail’s calendar system has a similar box, labeled “Description.”
These are great places to put additional details, depending on the meeting. Based
on the specifics of what you include, it may be helpful to put a pointer in the
subject line or location to say that there is more to be found (e.g., “Dial-in
information and webinar link in notes”). Here are some helpful examples of what
you can put in the additional notes:

• A phone number to call if the other person is
  late or lost—particularly useful if you are meeting out of the office and the
  other person is used to calling you at your desk.
• A copy/paste of an email that set up the meeting
  topics.
• Detailed instructions for getting to the meeting
  location (e.g., security check-in, what entrance to use, etc.).

THREE BONUS TIPS TO TAKE YOUR MEETINGS TO THE NEXT LEVEL

• If you offer to provide a meeting invitation,
  put it together and send it as soon as possible. As with any courtesy, the
  positive effects wear off quickly if there’s a lag between making the offer and
  following through.
• Phone or email to confirm meetings 2-3 business
  days ahead. As a benefit, your meeting partner may be prompted to provide you
  additional, late-breaking information that you can use to prepare for the
  meeting.
• Make sure you know your meeting partner’s time
  zone when setting up the meeting, then subtly check on it when confirming the
  meeting as described above (e.g., “Confirming that we are on for our meeting at
  3pm ET…”). This will be especially helpful if your partner regularly travels
  across time zones.