Collaboration is key to success in virtually every business enterprise and meetings are necessary, but spare me (and yourself) from bad meetings — via conference call or in person! Bad meetings are a personal pet peeve.
What are the signs of a potentially bad meeting? When you receive the meeting invitation without any agenda or a very vague agenda. That indicates that the meeting host is either inadequately prepared or totally unprepared.
Your time is far to precious to waste. Empower yourself the next time you receive this type of meeting invitation:
- click Maybe (not Yes)
- call the meeting host, then
- ask the host “What is the meeting goal?” and
- “What role can I play to help you achieve your goal?”
With one quick phone call, you just spared yourself from another bad meeting and demonstrated your collaborative work style. There’s a better than 50-50 chance your colleague cannot answer either question or that you can provide what may be needed from you prior to the scheduled meeting (ergo, you can opt-out on participating in the actual meeting). If they do answer the questions, you’ve at least focused the host on goals and roles — and most likely reduced the duration of the meeting for everyone.
~ Gina