People attend meetings all too often, squandering valuable time and leaving with nothing to show for it — squandering an opportunity to be discovered, exhibit their talent, earn respect, and share the momentum they build with others.
Meetings are similar to innovation laboratories in that everyone in the room can come up with the next big idea, discovery, or solution. Unfortunately, instead of attending a meeting with strategic focus, intention, and purpose – to propose, discover, or curate the next big idea – most people don't take meetings seriously enough, are unprepared, and consequently don't contribute or perform at their best.
How do I make a difference and give real value at a meeting without pushing too hard or feeling compelled to self-promote? It is one of the most frequently asked topics. To begin with, remember that a meeting is never about you. It's all about your capacity to listen actively, watch, and recognize opportunities in a given situation. Second, it's about your capacity to connect the dots of thinking - your strategic ability to package and communicate the actionable and measurable prospects that can advance the meeting's objectives into consumable tidbits that everyone can relate to and buy into.
Finally, it's about leaving a lasting impression on your coworkers that you're dependable and capable of turning conversations into action and enforcing accountability — all while motivating people to succeed, stretch their thinking, and test their talents to grow and prosper.
When you're in a meeting, regardless of your position or hierarchy, your job is to lead and encourage people to achieve and solve the problem or opportunity at hand. That is what will make your presence known and, more importantly, respected. Meetings put your abilities to be a 21st-century leader to the test, one whose primary goal is to advance by helping others.
Here are four methods to have a stronger impression at meetings from a communications standpoint.
Do your homework
Understand the meeting's purpose and topic(s) that will be the key talk. Decide on your stance (which may be to gain more information). Consider how you want to present yourself at the meeting: advocate? Are you an extensive picture thinker? Skeptic? Are you a subject matter expert? Prepare how to communicate your opinion to the other guests.
Be a good listener
Develop active listening skills so you can focus entirely on what others are talking about and actively participate in the conversation even if you're not speaking. To show that you're involved, use "connect" phrases and gestures like "OK," "I see," nods, and grins. When you talk, refer to other people's opinions and perspectives to show that you've been paying attention.
Value other people opinion and connect all the dots
People cannot frequently translate the brainstorming in a meeting into substantive, concrete ideas or solutions. Opportunities abound, but few people have the sight to notice them. In other words, the answer may lay hidden throughout a meeting, but it was not valued, examined, or taken seriously because the influencers did not suggest it in the room.
If you believe someone in the room has made a valuable suggestion, acknowledge it, assist others in seeing it, and guide them to grasp it by connecting the dots of thought to give the direction greater context, structure, and significance.
Sometimes all an idea requires is to be filtered through a new narrative/lens of perspective to realize its potential fully. Be bold enough to stand up and alert the other minds in the room to opportunities that aren't immediately apparent.
Speak-up and ask questions
There is a widespread belief that there is no such thing as a terrible question. Unfortunately, because the one who asks the wrong question doesn't want to be judged by other people, many don't ask enough questions. To move the room closer to the idea and solution, you must have self-confidence and understand that you are simply attempting to provoke diversity of thought. Meetings don't start to have an impact until there's a sense of vulnerability in the room and individuals feel comfortable being themselves and asking questions.
You will have created a lasting impression in the meeting if you can be the icebreaker by displaying some vulnerability inspiring others to feel more confident and speak up; This is why outstanding leadership requires the ability to be vulnerable.
The key is to set your mindset that a meeting should be a session with all team members to find a solution. If you need more tips about this, let's learn more advice for any self-development topics and consult with us! Also, don't forget to follow us on Instagram @baikgp and @ayureadypodcast if you want to get more information and extra insights.