Although it feels rude, the best way to get out of invites is to use the Decline button.
But, you can add a message to the Decline button as to why you can’t attend – that gives people an indication that it’s not for flippant reasons.
It’s a simple process, but we struggle to use it because someone might be offended, or they might never reach out to us again, or we might be ignored because we “declined” the chance to have a say.
All of these are invalid and speak more to the group culture of trust as to why you are declining, because maybe you can’t add value to that meeting, and it would be better for you to add value somewhere.
Can you add value to this meeting? That’s the question to ask yourself before declining it.
