Business meetings are a fact of life. Bosses love them. Employees often despise them. But the fact remains you must attend them—especially if you're in the junior ranks of a company. That said, there are ways to survive these get-togethers and actually get something out of them. A few useful albeit lighthearted tips:
Take Notes. Jot down the speaker's main points. If things get boring, or the topic no longer applies to you directly, compose your next memo or email until things pick up. The key here is to periodically nod in agreement with the speaker when they make a point. This avoids the risk of getting caught as a "non-participant" in the meeting.
Send a covert TM. Before the meeting, prepare a number of text messages that you need to send out that day. Store them in your Blackberry and have them listed, ready to send at the push of a single key or two. When the meeting segues into an area that has nothing to do with you or becomes insufferably boring, produce your Blackberry and surreptitiously send your TMs.
Force the Speaker to Commit. Ask a direct question about a topic that the speaker or your department has thus far sought to avoid. Make the speaker commit to a specific procedure or task in front of the entire staff.
Beat Boring with Boring. If the speaker wanders off into his or her European vacation speech, chime in with the great time you had in Maui. Eventually, this will make the speaker realize that he or she has wandered off course and will avoid any such boring segues the rest of the meeting.
For some additional tips on business meetings, check out Robert B. Nelson's book, "Better Business Meetings."
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Alex A. Kecskes has written hundreds of published articles on health/fitness, "green" issues, TV/film entertainment, restaurant reviews and many other topics. As a former Andy/Belding/One Show ad agency copywriter, he also writes web content, ads, brochures, sales letters, mailers and scripts for national B2B and B2C clients.
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