Meeting & Scheduling Jargon · Associate level

"Pencil it in"

"Pencil it in" means to add something to a schedule on a tentative basis, with the understanding that it may need to change.

Say this instead: tentatively schedule

How "Pencil it in" shows up at work

A scheduling hedge that lets both parties feel like progress was made without either committing to anything. Particularly popular for meetings that will later be rescheduled twice before they actually happen.

Buzzword

Let's pencil it in for Thursday and confirm once we have the numbers.

Plain English

Let's tentatively schedule Thursday and confirm once we have the numbers.

Corporate Rank: Associate · Category: Meeting & Scheduling Jargon

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