Recently, I heard a colleague say something to effect of: “The only people that enjoy meetings are people who have worked for five years or less; everyone else hates meetings”. We laughed, but there is some truth to it. I remember how much I enjoyed meetings during my first few years at my job. That was my opportunity to interact with other people on my staff, hear other people’s thoughts and ideas and learn more about my organization. Now, I’m one of those old-timers who cringes at the thought of a meeting because I typically have at least 50 emails in my inbox that need my attention (but that’s another blog post) instead of sitting in a meeting.
I remember sitting in my first staff meeting in Career Services at being completed overwhelmed and at a loss to most of what everyone was talking about. My head was spinning so fast I couldn’t even decide what to take notes on much less contribute to the conversation. That’s to be expected, you are joining an intact group that is in various stages of different projects and initiatives, your job is just to get a handle on everything that is going on. So, don’t feel bad if you are feeling a little un-informed, but you don’t want to feel unprepared. Here are a few tips to help you prepare for your first meeting:
1. Review the agenda ahead of time and bring it to the meeting. If there are topics on the agenda that you are not familiar with do some research or ask around the office and see what you can find out about it prior to the meeting. Listen to what others are saying and don’t over-contribute in your first meeting. There will be opportunities in the future for you to share your thoughts and opinions when you have more context on the topics and understand the dynamic better.
2. Bring a notebook and take notes during the meeting. Jot down questions you have throughout the meeting and follow up with your supervisor to find out more. Make note of any action items and dates. You can find some great leather bound notebooks and meeting organizers, but a plain old spiral bound notebook works just fine as well. (My intern, Christina, always took copious notes on these cute Kate Spade notebooks. She brought them to every meeting so we always had a running list of things we had discussed in previous meetings.)
This one is from Levenger
These are from At A Glance
3. Arrive a few minutes early and take a seat at the table. This is great time to have some casual “chat” time with your new co-workers and get to know people a little more. DON’T bury your nose in your cell phone or iPad, talk to people.
4. Plan your introduction. If you will be meeting with people outside of your office or department make sure you plan your introduction ahead of time and take the initiative to introduce yourself to people and begin networking and making connections.
5. Turn your cell phone on silent and keep it off the table. Nothing is more important than business at that time (unless you are truly waiting on an important call in which case you should let the leader of the meeting know ahead of time). If you need to use your phone to check your calendar, make sure you are only on your phone to check your calendar and that it’s obvious that is what you are doing.
