In today’s world, we seem to be having more meetings than ever. At the start of the technological revolution it was suggested that improved ways of communicating would reduce the need for all these face to face meetings and that we could all get on with the day job!
It seems to me that what has happened as a result of these new innovations is that the world wide web and digital communication generally have meant it is easier to get a group of people together, without moving from their desks, and that we now have more meetings!
I have no problem with this if it means that the end result is employees in organisations gaining a greater understanding of what others do in the organisation, and that this leads to a better co-ordination of available resources and capabilities.
Given that the meeting is ever more a part of our work, I thought it sensible to put together some notes on a method that I have been using successfully for a number of years, to make sure I generate as MUCH VALUE as possible from EVERY MEETING.
Before the meeting
- Think about what you want to gain from the meeting and write it down. This could be a piece of information, an order, or just to gain the views of the other attendees
- Produce and circulate an agenda if it’s a formal meeting that you are running, or make some private notes for your reference if it is a catch up with existing or new contacts
During the meeting
- Don’t make the agenda too rigid – it’s amazing what other information can come from both detailed discussions that take the conversation off in another direction, and social discourse that crops up before, during or even after the meeting.
- Don’t be afraid to explore the social side of getting together with others. It can be incredibly valuable to find you have a shared interest in a sport or children of a similar age or that you come from the same county.
- Make notes as you go along. This doesn’t have to be ‘War and Peace’, just enough to remind you of the key issues and little giveaways that often come up and then slip your mind if it’s not written down!
- When you seem to be getting stuck on a particular issue, try to metaphorically withdraw yourself from the gathering. Whilst you are still there in body, imagine yourself hovering over the top of the proceedings looking down on the meeting. It’s amazing what insights this can give you, and how you can then come back in and make some really insightful points.
After the meeting
- Make notes as soon as possible about the content of the meeting. This is where your earlier jottings will come in very useful.
- Once you have done that, try to sit back and, with the benefit of your notes, reflect on what has happened in the meeting. Until you do this, the meeting will remain a mechanical undertaking that happened to you earlier in the day. By reflecting on what has been said, the mood of the meeting, how open the other attendees were, and if there were any unsaid messages trying to be put across, you will start to get so much more from the meeting process.
- Once you have completed this period of reflection (to determine what was really going on) you are now in a position to start a period of strategic thinking on what all of this could mean both now and in the future. Was the other person trying to tell you their business is for sale, are they interested in buying your business, have they got financial problems and need some additional support or whatever it happens to be. Once you have mastered this technique you are really starting to get somewhere and extract true value from your meetings.
- Finally, make an action plan, based on your reflections and strategic thinking. This could be to follow up, explore other sources of business finance, speak to colleagues, make contact with other parties, make a subtle change to your business model; whatever is appropriate?
Summary
If you have to attend a lot of meetings it makes sense to seek as much value from every one you can. It’s my experience that if you follow the above methodology it starts to become second nature to plan, reflect and strategise on meetings, and I can guarantee you will see virtually instant results.
Finally, I must make mention of an excellent book called the ‘Reflective Practitioner’ by Donald Schon, which has been instrumental in developing a lot of my own practices over the years.
As always, if you have any comments or any of your own experience you would like to share on this subject, please contact me at john.thompson@transcapital.co.uk or on 0845 689 8750.
Image by: Amanda Schutz