Vinod Kumar (Blog home)

As part of our work, meetings seem to have become an integral way we perform our job. But it is critical to understand the importance of doing meetings on the first place. Have you got a bubble in a middle of a meeting –“Why on earth am I out here?”. In mature organizations, the problem is in the fact you have weekly status meeting, project meeting, Quarterly meeting, monthly meetings, business update meetings and so on. Trust me, more than half of it can be of no significance to you as an individual. Knowing the state of business is critical, but knowing your role and contributing to the business is also critical. Let me take a stab at some of the do’s and don’t when it comes to meetings based on my experience.

Take care of the minutes and the hours will take care of themselves.

Prepare, else prepare to fail

It is a common phrase that if you fail to prepare, prepare to fail. And meetings are no exception. If you are calling for a meeting, make sure you have a proper plan to execute and talk with the members. It has to be clear, concise and the give-gets properly outlined. Walking into a meeting with no plan could make you appear disorganized and uninterested in the topics of discussion. And, your teammates will feel like you don’t value their time.

At the same time, be flexible to constructive and productive ideas that might hijack the meeting. Keeping a closed door to the meeting structure can sometimes restrict creativity and stop people from opening up. Sometimes go with the flow, people do know when it is zero plan unorganized method versus a spontaneous discussion session. Irrespective of the style, know the limits and time constraints as part of the discussion.

People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything. – Thomas Sowell

Focus and don’t get distracted

When I started working in the industry more than a decade back, this was not the case. But this tip is more relevant for the current generation who have tons of choices to get distracted. Answering a phone call, emailing or text messaging have become a way to get distracted easily. These are clear signs of disinterests and can be really frustrating for the meeting organizers.

I personally like to silent my phone before and during the meetings. I even refrain from picking them up till the meeting gets over. There is always choice and most importantly someone has taken time to share something with you, give them the time and attention that they need.

If there is burning issue and you are expecting a call, just inform the organizer of the same well before hand and walk out to attend the call so that the meeting does not get distracted because of the phone ringing at your end.

A meeting is an event where minutes are taken and hours wasted. – James T. Kirk

Some more non-negotiable

1. Honor time of others, be there on time. Those in the meeting will be appreciative that you respect their time and, will in turn, respect what you have to say. Sometimes running a few minutes over is unavoidable, but consistently keeping your audience waiting is disrespectful of their time.
2. Avoid offending anyone during the meeting. Don’t get into a conversation just with one person but try to get a gauge of the situation and address all the audience.
3. Avoid eating during meetings, it most of the times distracts and annoying too. If you keep munching a packet of chips during the meeting, it will surely annoy the person sitting next to you. Unless this is a breakfast or dinner business meetings where eating is encourages during the talk – my suggestion refrain. It is not for you, but to respect the person next to you :).
4. Learn how to run a meeting. There is a subtle difference between running a meeting and throwing a party. Engage with people and get opinion from all to get to an common consensus. This is critical.
5. Take notes during the meeting and follow up post the meeting. This is critical because you want a proper closure to the activities and make people aware of what they need to do post the meeting. Assign action items at each meeting (who commits to do what and by when) and do so in writing.
6. Before any meeting, communicate your own thoughts in e-mails and casual conversations. If you see to many emails floating, call for a meeting and keep announcements brief and crisp – discuss and then close the activity.
7. Meeting organizers sometimes feel they are inspiring and know everything, the fact remains completely opposite to what reality is. So be critical about the whole meeting process and design a meeting where the attendees get an opportunity to contribute too.
8. Look for signs of agreement – seeing nods, smiles and eye contact does measure some acceptance. If people think you are upset, they might just accept and agree to what ever you say. This is a bad sign because post the meeting, they forget the meeting, ignore the messages discussed and more alarming – ignore the idea shared.
9. Don’t be a slave of the meeting duration. If the meeting gets over in 25 minutes, give back the rest of the time.  Don’t waste time as it would be demotivating.
10. Avoid death by Powerpoint – get the message, discussion points and closure in simple steps.

Meetings are everyday activity for many of you who are reading this article. I just wanted to air some of the facts and things that I personally felt were important and non-negotiable. Hope these made sense and do drop in a line if you had more additions.

This is a very sensitive topic because I have had people come to me and asked for mentoring – career or business related. I am all ears and out there to help as many people as I can, most of the time it is just the direction I give and want the passion to take over to guide them rest of the way. So that has always been my style. Taking a step back to think, what is it that I look for in my mentors and what do I look for people who come to me with this request? Personally, I am gifted to have met tons of interesting people and have made many as my mentor. The list is literally a big one – trust me :).

Mentor is someone who praises when you deserve it and gives heads-up when trouble is coming probably eve before you even have noticed it.

I see multiple qualities in a mentor to guide me. These may not align to your needs but I can assure you that these are non-negotiable for me. These are my Top 5 -

Take time for you

Networking isn’t just time to find your new customers, it is also a way to find new mentors if you like. One who takes time in writing a note to you, remembers you when you need them are critical aspects for a great mentor. More importantly, you want someone who knows the market out there, trends and is willing to point you in the right direction.

Mentor: Someone whose hindsight can become your foresight.

Knows your needs

As you grow the mentoring needs change, you change personally and professionally – knowing someone who can properly guide you in the direction you want to go is critical. Take time clearly to understand what type of mentor you want, understand where you want to go from where you are. What are your key plans, strategies to reach there? Now a mentor has clear understanding to guide you with the intermediate milestones to reach that destination.

For many people who have come to me, I ask them where they want to be in 5 years time. The answers vary from a blank face to something like “I want to be ***** in 5 years”. Now if you have such goals, who are your idols? What has been their path? If you have a reference and you know how they got to where they are – this give you a good indicator to what steps you need to take. Isn’t this a simple strategy? There are no shortcuts to this exercise.

I can accept failure but I can’t accept not trying.

Listen and be Open to ideas

Given the enthusiasm of people, I often see people find it hard to stay calm and listen for the conversation to finish. Listen carefully and to find a mentor this is critical. Pay attention to the choice of words they use, how real they are, and what smart choices are they giving you. These are critical because you never know what ideas might spark from that 5 minutes conversation.

Do your homework, more importantly be open to receiving. If you come out as someone who knows everything the probability to find a right mentor is down the drain. Don’t fall victim of your own knowledge (or lack of it).

The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.

Look beyond the traditional

We are in the age of internet and connected world. So don’t always derive source of inspiration from people around you. There are interesting speeches, videos from TED, books and of course the family hero’s around you from whom you can derive immense inspiration from. You don’t have to meet people to get that insights, but given an opportunity take the extra step in meeting them. The world of social networking has surely brought the divide between people a step closer. Don’t miss out on these channels of Facebooks, Twitters etc !!!

Thank in advance

People help you intentionally or unintentionally, let them know of that help. Someone mentors not for money but for the good will in seeing you successful.  The very thought that they want to help someone grow is noble – hats off.

I know there are more to the points I have discussed. Please feel free to share your experiences, I would surely love to hear them. Thanks for reading this far.