4 simple tactics to make your meeting interesting

The meeting is ideally a place to practice new and different behaviors. Everyone sees it – oh, oh 🙂 – and from the reactions of your colleagues you can tell if your approach is working. Meetings can also contribute to your professional development in other ways. In this article 4 interesting tactics to get more personal gain from your meeting.

Meetings? Yes definitely!

At work, you have all kinds of moments when you can show what you have to offer. Meetings lend themselves perfectly to this. I know: you have a kind of love-hate relationship with meetings, a necessary evil, you’d rather spend your time elsewhere.

There is a good reason to watch your meetings with special attention. After all, they are amazingly good for your career.

Meetings are times when others literally see you at work. You can demonstrate your abilities and show what you are capable of. As such, it is physical evidence for all present. You will find that it makes you a better contributor to the organization where you work.

It is good for you

In addition, it is good for you: you show, actively, what your talent is, you come out better, and you are likely to get chances and opportunities to show your abilities at work at other times as well.

How do you do that?

The burning question now, of course, is: how do you do that? How do you make sure you handle meetings more strategically? Straight from practice, I reach out to you 4 ways:

Tactic 1. choose a different perspective

You can also view meetings in the following ways:

A. As a platform to showcase yourself

The meeting as a platform to show what you can do, especially for those people who influence your career and otherwise probably don’t see you enough. In doing so, put yourself in the position of the chairman of the meeting. What would he/she want to know about you?

B. To make working relationships stronger

Try to imagine that you may act as chairman . You can imagine that it is nice for a chairperson to get some help from the participants (that is, you) in the meeting, for example, when the meeting is deadlocked and people are not cooperating to bring the meeting to a good result.

At such a time, ask yourself what could be helpful to make the meeting better and do so. It will be accepted by the chairman in thanks!

C. As a learning place

You can also think of the meeting as a learning space. You then watch and learn from your colleagues’ methods. Observe carefully how they handle difficult situations. Watch how they get themselves into trouble and how they free themselves from it with an unparalleled Houdini act.

Some of your colleagues will give you, just live on the shop floor, a master class when they tell the boss that the plan he/she came up with is not going to work. All without straining your relationship with your supervisor.

Tactic 2. prepare your meeting

Going into a meeting without preparation is a no-no.

Before going into the meeting, determine what you want to get out of the meeting as an outcome. The following questions are helpful:

• Who is present at the meeting and what qualities of yours can you demonstrate to these individuals? First and foremost, of course, remains the purpose of the meeting; however, it doesn’t hurt to also look at the meeting participants present from your career perspective.
• What is the reason you are attending this meeting? What is your role, what role do you want to play? What contribution do you want to make?
• What points would you like to raise or contribute? What do you want to learn?
• In what other ways will you prepare for content? Going into a meeting without preparation is basically a no-no.

Tactic 3. Going there

There are 2 aspects that are important and have a relationship with going to a meeting. They are actually all professional behavioral things.

A. Being mentally present

You can go to a meeting in two ways: physically and mentally. Funnily enough, these 2 are not always simultaneous. So if you are invited to a meeting, go or sign out. If you go, make sure you are also mentally present.

B. Being on time

Being on time at a meeting is a sign of respect to your colleagues. So don’t just quickly finish something but go to the meeting on time. Is there really no other way? Send a message to the chairman and ask him to indicate at the beginning of the meeting that you will be late for good reasons. It ensures that you don’t have to sneak in like a thief in the night.

Tactic 4. The art of active participation

Also, allow yourself the good moment of glory J. Active participation is much more than being a focused listener or asking good questions. Here are 5 ideas from everyday practice:

A. The right time

What moment do you choose to make your contribution? This is primarily a matter of timing. For example, your contribution might be to share information that is relevant at that point in the discussion.

You can also use the question you want to ask at the time when the topic of the meeting may become a little more results-oriented. The good times are those moments to show your added value.

B. Experiment in the meeting

Experiment with active participation at different times in the meeting. What do you feel most comfortable with? For example, consider the following options and just try them all out:

• At the beginning of the meeting to relieve tension in yourself, for example, if you haven’t spoken before
• In the middle of the discussion to add your point and/or to further clarify a position
• At the end of the meeting in which you have an opportunity, for example, to summarize, list all the ideas and/or agree on the steps to be taken.

C. Active participation is a must

Active participation has its advantages. You can follow the line of discussion well and be much more responsive to the situation that is asked for during the meeting. By actively participating I mean that you are actually there. If you’ve ever taken anything from a mindfulness course you understand the concept of “being in the moment”; that’s what you need to actively participate.

Embrace your meetings

For more enjoyment in your work and a more enjoyable career, it’s better not to disappear below the surface at a meeting. It is the a great way to show yourself with all you have to offer as a professional. In addition, you learn more in this way of meeting and it gives more satisfaction.

Good luck trying it out!