We often find ourselves in a situation where we cannot attend the meeting we are supposed to attend. Sometimes, our absence causes inconvenience to people when we don’t attend the meeting. Considering this, we should always write an excuse letter whenever it Is not possible for us to attend the meeting.
What is an excuse letter for not attending a meeting?
The excuse letter is written to the concerned authorities when you want to let them know that you cannot attend the meeting for a specific time period. This letter generally expresses your regret for not being able to attend. Once this letter reaches the concerned authorities, they don’t expect you to do the work that has been discussed in the meeting.
When to write the excuse letter?
This letter is a basic professional letter that requires you to master the art of communicating the right information at the right time. Therefore, you should learn when it is necessary to come up with an excuse letter. Some common circumstances to send this letter are:
- When you are out of the station
- When you are feeling sick
- When there is an urgent piece of work at your home
- When you feel that the agenda of the meeting is not good enough to consume your time
There is the surfeit of situations in which the excuse letter can save you from annoying the other person and from utter embarrassment. How you write the letter and what you add to it also depends on the scenario in which this letter is being written. So be careful when you write it.
Components of the excuse letter for not attending the conference:
It has been told earlier, the content of the letter is dependent on the scenario in which you have felt the need to write it. A most common and frequently used excuse letter includes the following elements:
- A clear and honest excuse for not attending the meeting
- Statement of apology to demonstrate feelings of regret
- Your willingness to make up for the loss
- Supporting documents required by the company that supports your excuse
- A kind and courteous closing of the letter that acknowledges the support from the company
How to write a perfect letter of excuse for missing the meeting?
In some companies, employees are obligated to attend the meeting, or otherwise, they might make their employer angry. But what if they cannot attend the meeting? The only thing that can save them in this situation is a perfectly drafted excuse letter. If you want to learn how to write a professional letter of excuse, read below:
Know the nature of the supervisor and policy of the company:
Before you write the excuse letter, consider the personality of your employer. Some employers are not so good at handling excuses and they don’t accept them. In that situation, you are required to put more effort into writing a letter that can show that the reason you have come up with is not the fabricated one and the information you are providing is genuine.
In addition, you may also be in the need to add more supporting documents to convince your eccentric employer. Similarly, if your boss is a pushover, you can take the letter lightly and write without giving much consideration. So, it all depends on the nature of your boss sometimes.
Tell the employer how you will cover the missed information:
You should tell the employer who will collect the meeting information on your behalf and then share it with you later. This will let your employer know that you have shown concern and you are a responsible person.
Don’t get too personal:
While writing the excuse, you don’t have to be so personal. Provide the details that you think are necessary. You don’t need to explain the tragedy in your family in detail. Simply describe the situation and show regret over being absent from the meeting.
Write apology statement:
In most situations, the excuse letter is considered the same as an apology letter. However, there is a minor difference. You can still choose to apologize while writing the excuse to show the regret you are feeling. The apology can also be followed by a clarifying statement that will give strength to your position.
Sample Letter
Dear Mr. [name],
I am [name] from [department name]. I am writing to you to explain my absence from the [project name] meeting held on [date] at [time]. I fully realize that this meeting was held to discuss our team’s working strategy for [name] project and hence was very important. I fully intended to attend the meeting and was prepared with all the background research to contribute positively to the meeting.
Right as the meeting was about to start, the clients from [name] project came into the office and the receptionist informed me that they want to have an emergency meeting with me, as there were some issues at the site which needed to be resolved as soon as possible. And since I was running the point for their project, I had to attend to them. The issue they were facing could not be resolved in time, for me to be able to attend the office meeting.
I regret the inconvenience everyone faced due to my absence but as you can see it was unavoidable. I have requested Mr. [name] to update me about the progress at the meeting and mail me the presentation. Looking forward to smoothing the development of this project in the future.
Yours sincerely,
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