Schedule a Meeting Email: 5+ Templates for Success

The key to hosting a successful meeting is preparation. A successful meeting doesn’t start when the clock starts ticking, but instead as soon as you send out your meeting request email. In this article, we’ll detail everything you need to know about sending out a comprehensive meeting request email so you can get started on the right foot. 

• How to request a meeting by email
• How to structure your meeting request by email
• Email meeting request templates

How to request a meeting by email 

• Consider the cost of your meeting
• Find a time that works for everyone
• Write a concise subject line and email introduction
• Include the meeting purpose statement
• Clearly state the time
• Share a collaborative meeting agenda
• Add attendees to your meeting management tool

1Consider the cost of your meeting

When done correctly, meetings can be the ticket to motivation, collaboration, and connectivity. When done poorly, meetings can cost your organization thousands of dollars. Before requesting a meeting by email, it’s important to consider the cost of your meeting. You can do this by inviting as few guests as possible and leveraging Fellow’s meeting cost calculator. When determining who to invite to the meeting, keep key stakeholders in mind. If all key stakeholders or decision makers are invited, it will suffice. Inviting unnecessary bodies may end up being a waste of time and may even cost your organization tens of thousands of dollars in the long term. Calculate the cost of your meetings with our meeting cost calculator and learn how you can save $2,600 a year by using Fellow today!

2Find a time that works for everyone

Before requesting a meeting by email, it’s important to find a time that works for everyone. While it may sound simple, finding a time that works for everyone can be difficult—especially if you work with a remote-first team that’s operating out of different time zones. Taking a proactive stance and sourcing a meeting time that works for everyone before sending out the invite will help ensure you get the turnout you desire. If you aren’t sure where to start, the free Meeting Guidelines for High-Performing Organizations ebook covers everything you’ll need to know about meeting etiquette, including proper protocol for inviting attendees to meetings. 

3Write a concise subject line and email introduction 

There’s nothing worse than a lengthy subject line that’s hard to decipher. Instead, be concise. Use the subject line and email introduction to educate potential attendees both quickly and efficiently. It’s important that only pertinent information be included in these fields. Anything more will result in confusion and disengagement. 

4Include the meeting purpose statement 

Having a clear meeting purpose will help set the course for your entire meeting, which is why it’s so important to include the purpose of your meeting in the meeting request email. Your meeting purpose will serve as a framework that shapes your guest list, meeting agenda, talking points, and outcomes, promoting efficiency, engagement, and effective decision making. In addition, the clarity that comes from having a clear meeting purpose will help participants align their efforts and contributions toward shared goals and outcomes. Including the meeting purpose statement when requesting a meeting by email will also provide potential attendees with the context necessary to make an informed decision before accepting the meeting invite. 

5Clearly state the time

Before meeting participants can make an informed decision, they must be provided with all relevant details. Including the time and date of the meeting in your meeting request email will ensure potential attendees have the information they need to determine whether they’re able to attend. If they are equipped with this information upfront, they’ll be able to commit or decline immediately, allowing you to pivot accordingly. This will also eliminate the need for unnecessary back-and-forth communication. If you aren’t sending out a request for a virtual meeting and instead plan to host an in-person meeting, you’ll want to make sure you include the location of your meeting in the email as well. 

6Share a collaborative meeting agenda

Sharing a collaborative meeting agenda in your meeting request email will give attendees the opportunity to add to the agenda, helping to boost engagement and participation before the meeting has even started. Fellow makes it easier than ever to create thorough, collaborative agendas—especially when you can find everything you need to host an intentional meeting in one place. With Fellow, all meeting attendees are automatically added to a collaborative meeting agenda where they can add talking points, comments, action items, and more. During the meeting, you can record decisions, assign action items, and hold your teammates accountable, making Fellow perfect for your next meeting.

7Add attendees to your meeting management tool

Adding attendees to your meeting management tool during the preliminary stages will ensure everyone has access to all information about the meeting upfront. It also ensures that everyone can contribute from the get-go. Fellow is an all-encompassing meeting management tool that helps users drive engagement and productivity by building better meeting habits before, during, and after every meeting. As your one-stop shop for meeting agendas, action items, and feedback, Fellow makes it possible to run more effective meetings with collaborative meeting agendas, real-time note-taking, and time-saving templates. With Fellow, you can keep track of work interactions and feedback over time, collaborate on meeting agendas, assign clear action items at the end of each meeting, and centralize information, making it easier than ever to foster alignment and accountability.

How to structure your meeting request by email 

• Subject line
• Introduction with meeting purpose
• Link to the meeting agenda
• The required resources to read or view before the meeting
• Closing sentence or reminder

1Subject line

The first step to structuring your meeting request email is crafting a clear and concise subject line. Your subject line should be short and impactful. It’s important to leave out unnecessary details and include only pertinent information. 

2Introduction with meeting purpose

The next step to crafting the perfect meeting request email is writing your introduction and stating the meeting purpose. It’s important to cover all overarching details in the introduction, ensuring that recipients can get a clear understanding of your request upfront. Noting your meeting purpose right out of the gate will provide context for the rest of the email. 

3Link to the meeting agenda

It’s important to include any relevant attachments in your meeting request email, like a link to the meeting agenda. Linking to the meeting agenda will ensure recipients have access to all pertinent information. If you’ve attached a collaborative meeting agenda, this is a great opportunity to let recipients know that their contributions are welcome. 

4The required resources to read or view before the meeting

The next step to crafting the perfect meeting request email is assigning homework. During this step, it’s important to let recipients know what’s expected of them. If any reading materials must be reviewed or tasks that have to be completed before the meeting, it’s important to let recipients know in the meeting request email. 

5Closing sentence or reminder

Lastly, it’s time to wrap things up. You can use your closing sentence or reminder section to note any other pertinent details that may not have fallen into another section. Make sure to thank participants for their time and add reminders that may be crucial to the success of the meeting. 

Email meeting request templates

• Business meeting request
• Request for a meeting with your boss
• Request for a meeting with your manager
• Meeting request follow-up email
• One-on-one meeting request

1Business meeting request

2Request for a meeting with your boss 

3Request for a meeting with your manager

4Meeting request follow-up email

5One-on-one meeting request

Ready to host a productive meeting with actionable outcomes? 

Writing out meeting invitations via email has worked for a long time, but with advancing technologies, there are simpler, more effective ways to create meeting invites. Fellow is the only all-in-one meeting management solution that allows you to schedule meetings directly from one platform. Because it connects to your work email, you can simply select the time you want to have a meeting in your calendar, and a modal will pop up with all the necessary details to fill out, like the meeting title, purpose, time, and relevant participants. Once everything is filled out, it automatically sends meeting invites to attendees on your behalf.