Do You Suck at Meetings?

People dread meetings, and the time they spend in them. There are many ways to improve meetings and would love to discuss all of them, but that would be a very long Blog. I focused on the individual meeting and ways to handle worst case scenarios, plus a couple of tips to make them efficient. 

1. Are you going to be late? 

This is a bad scenario. Being late for a meeting shows a lack of respect. It doesn't matter if it's a long time client or your initial meeting, never be late. A person's most valuable resource is their time and if you don't respect it, why should they respect you. 

2. Canceling the Meeting 

An absolute last resort and you better have a good reason. If you have to cancel, do not send an email. Pick up the phone apologize and explain why. While on the phone set up another date. Make sure you apologize for the inconvenience and THANK them for rescheduling. 

3. When should I show up for a meeting? 

I show up 15 minutes before every meeting. I sit in my car, or my office and focus on what I want to accomplish. I go over my questions and the responses I might receive. I also review the questions I think they might ask me. During this time I'm 100% focused on the meeting. I arrive 5 minutes before the meeting starts. Arriving too early puts pressure on them to finish what their doing, respect the time they've allotted to you.

4. How long should the meeting be? 

I always ask how much time there willing to give and try not to go over 30 minutes. Research says that 20 minutes is the perfect length, any longer you lose their interest. Send the person information ahead of time and ask them to read it. This speeds things up and allows them to do more talking. It also shows that you respect their time. 

Be on time, be prepared and ready to go as soon as the meeting starts. A lack of preparation is easy to sniff out, don't let this be you. 

Thank you for your time and have a great day.

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