There is a cultural reluctance to cancel meetings. Cancelling feels like giving up, or like the work is not important enough to discuss. This is backwards. Cancelling a meeting that does not need to happen is a gift to everyone who would have attended it.
Cancel when the objective has been met
If the meeting was scheduled to make a decision and the decision has already been made — by email, by a quick conversation, by someone just doing the thing — cancel the meeting. Send a brief note explaining what was decided and how. This is more useful than holding the meeting anyway to confirm a decision that is already done.
Cancel when the key person cannot attend
If the meeting requires a specific person to be present — the decision-maker, the subject matter expert, the person with the data — and that person cannot attend, cancel and reschedule. Holding the meeting without them produces a recommendation that will need to be reviewed again when they are available. You have not saved time. You have added a meeting.
Cancel when the preparation is not done
If the pre-read has not been distributed, the data is not ready, or the agenda has not been finalized, cancel and reschedule. An unprepared meeting is a meeting that will produce another meeting. The preparation time is not wasted — it is the meeting, done asynchronously.
Cancel when the recurring meeting has no content
If the standing weekly has nothing on the agenda this week, cancel it. Send a note: "Nothing urgent this week — skipping the sync. See you next week." This is not a failure of the meeting. It is evidence that the team is functioning well enough that a meeting is not needed.
How to cancel without causing alarm
Be brief and specific. "Cancelling this week's sync — the Q3 decision was made yesterday, so we're good. I'll send a summary." This is more reassuring than a vague cancellation with no explanation, which causes people to wonder what happened.
The permission: You are allowed to cancel meetings. Especially the ones you organized. Especially the ones that have outlived their purpose. The people who would have attended will thank you, silently, by using the time for something useful.