Part of being in Business is Meeting with other people. Over 2o plus years in Business I can’t tell you how many THOUSANDS of meetings I have been to.
Some were OK, some ordinary, many FORGETFUL.
Nothing annoys me more in Business than WASTING valuable time and a BIG sapper of time is the humble meeting.
Clients, Prospects, Partners, Peers and Employees will respect you and be HAPPY to meet with you if you can run a good, well structured meeting thats VALUABLE to all parties involved.
If you are planning on meeting someone, here are a few points I think can make a difference:
- Be ON time, call ahead if you are going to be late, even if its just a few minutes.
- Have a SUCCINCT spiel about WHY you are there (be very clear and specific).
- Be PREPARED. Nothing worse than someone fumbling through a meeting they arranged as if they are making it up as they go along.
- Keep the meeting on TRACK and to Topic and be RESPECTFUL of the time that has been committed. If possible finish a little earlier than expected.
- Have a defined NEXT steps so the other party know exactly what to EXPECT.
- Ensure the next steps actually HAPPEN as promised.
Simple I know but you’d be amazed how many meetings are poorly run and are a complete waste of time.
Very helpful tip. Thanks a mil. Been trying to apply this system as much as possible and funny enough – am soon on my way to a guess what – a meeting! So, I’ll be sure to remember the tips