Principles of Diary Management

What good diary management is

A diary is not a container to be filled. Managing it well means protecting the time needed for the work that matters, ensuring the person arrives at each commitment prepared, and keeping enough space that the inevitable urgent matter does not derail everything. A diary that is completely full is a badly managed diary, because it has no capacity to absorb anything.

Agree the rules first

Every person works differently, and most friction comes from unstated assumptions. Agree explicitly:

• What you can book without asking, and what needs their approval.
• Which recurring commitments are immovable.
• Preferred meeting lengths, and whether they want gaps between meetings.
• Protected time for focused work, and whether it can ever be released.
• Earliest start and latest finish, and any days or times they will not travel or meet.
• How much notice they want of changes.
• Who has standing priority — a chief executive, a major client, a regulator.
• How to handle requests they would want to decline.

Write it down and review it occasionally, because preferences change.

Practical disciplines

• One authoritative diary. Parallel diaries, paper notes and unshared commitments guarantee double bookings.
• Build in travel time as a diary entry, not as an assumption. Include getting to and from the building, not just the journey.
• Leave gaps. Back-to-back meetings all day mean every overrun cascades and there is no time to act on anything decided.
• Protect preparation time before significant meetings, and follow-up time after them.
• Record everything an entry needs: exact location including floor and room, joining link and dial-in, attendees, purpose, contact telephone number, and where the papers are.
• Check the diary a week ahead and again the day before — for conflicts, missing details, unconfirmed attendees and anything requiring preparation.
• Keep a short note of standing commitments that recur annually, such as board dates, returns and renewals, so they are entered before the diary fills.

Prioritising and declining

You will receive more requests than there is time. Assess each on: who is asking and their relationship to the organisation, whether the person’s presence is genuinely required, whether it could be delegated, whether it could be shorter or handled by correspondence, and whether it aligns with what they are trying to achieve this quarter.

Decline courteously and promptly — a late decline is worse than an immediate one. Offer an alternative where you can: a different date, a shorter slot, a colleague, or a written response. Never leave a request unanswered because the answer is awkward.

Changes and cancellations

• Tell everyone affected as soon as you know, including anyone who was travelling to attend.
• Give a reason where appropriate, and apologise for short notice.
• Offer a replacement slot at the same time as cancelling, rather than leaving it open.
• Cancel the room, the catering and any travel, and check for cancellation deadlines.
• Keep a record of who cancels repeatedly; a pattern is worth raising.