In me a previous article called "Business Etiquette - Part 3 - Interviews" we were exploring manners and discussed a few tips on how to show your professionalism during the first meeting with your potential employer: Interview. Today, we will look closer at business meetings in general. Let's discover what are the benefits of good manners in any type of meeting.
Types of meetings
Let's look at the types of meetings you are likely to attend.
First, there is an office meeting. This is a standard meeting that can be held in the open office, meeting room, or conference room environment.
Next, we have conference calls. These are typically over the phone and generally not face to face.
Teleconference meeting, which is a different type of meeting, that is on a video, where potentially you can see each other.
And finally, a more casual meeting: the meal meeting.
Planning office meetings
Chances are, in your role you might be planning a meeting in the office environment. So, let's look at some of the things that you are going to have to plan for.
Consider:
Who
Where
Type of seating
Agenda
Copies of materials
IT set up needs
Beverage or Food
Anticipate problems
The most important is the last point: Anticipate problems. This is one of the most important aspects of planning. In addition to all the other seven points: who, how, and when, anticipating what could go wrong can save the day. Anticipating what should we do if somebody doesn't show up, what if I don't have enough materials, what if someone has a need, and how I can prepare to take care of that need, is a recipe for success.
Planning a business meeting shows professionalism, not only to your boss but to everyone who will be attending it.
Attending a business meeting
Show up early. If you have planned the meeting, ensure that everything is clean and clear and all the IT and audiovisual (AV) needs have been met. You should be there to greet and introduce anyone who will be attending if the participants may not know one another.
If there are new individuals who have not met before, ensure that you know their names, titles, and others can understand who they are.
You should dress appropriately for the meeting. Ensure you look professional, neat, and clean.
Additionally, the position of each person is also very important. The individual who is leading the meeting should be able to see others and everyone can see them.
Listen attentively, focus on the subjects, and don't get distracted by other things. Your phone should be off. Your computer (other than taking notes) should be off.
You are there engaged, present, and focused on the meeting.
If you are asked to contribute, do so. If you are present and focused on the meeting that should be an easy thing to do.
In the event, there is a need and you need to leave the room, avoid any distraction it can create, and follow up afterward.
Planning conference call meetings
This one can be a little bit tricky because it often involves a conference call system. Understanding how the conference system works and the rules around that are very, very important. You should take the time, to learn the system first.
Ensure that you have all the instructions on hand regarding the conference call and send them to participants. This will ensure that it is clear from their end how to participate in the conference call.
When you are sending those instructions, you should also consider, whether you will be recording the meeting and advising them about it. Why would you do that? First of all, there is the legality around that and you must advise the participants that it may be a requirement. Ensure that you understand the recording rules, both based on the organizational needs and the legality needs.
You also want to take an opportunity to remind the participants about the call. You can contact them directly and ask whether they are going to participate if they did not accept your invitation. For those who accept the invitation, ensure you remind them around 24 hours beforehand and that they have the information on how to dial in.
Hosting a conference call meeting with professionalism
You want to dial in early. You should be first on the call and wait for your participants. If you have planned well then you have the list of the participants in from of you. As they join the call, you can check off who is there. Conference systems have an alert that should let you know when someone joined the call. As an early participant, you can welcome them and ask who joined the line.
As you start the meeting, you may want to review the instructions.
Ensuring that everyone understands the rules around the call is very, very important.
These rules would be for example that they need to mute themselves or so everyone can contribute as they speak. Explain to everybody when questions will be taken, how questions will be handled, or any other ground rules of the meeting. Reviewing the agenda is appropriate as well. Again, you might want to remind me about recording rules.
Making introductions is a nice way of starting a conference call. However, you must ensure that the introduction is brief. It is also advisable to remind everybody to not multitasking. Being present in the call is very important. Missing anything while multitasking and not able to contribute when asked can be a critical element showing your lack of professionalism.
It is appropriate, that in the event when you discover someone left their phone or device off mute, it is appropriate to stop and remind everyone to mute themselves so you can hear the speaker. That is professionalism, as well as showing good etiquette appreciating everyone's time at the meeting.
At the end of the conference call, you want to thank everyone at the meeting. Thank them for their time and attendance. If the call was recorded, remind them how to access the recording. Allow them to know how to reach the information or reach you if this is necessary.
Planning video conference call meetings
Planning video conference call meetings can be even trickier than the call itself. It has a whole new dynamic. Not just the agenda and the people, but now you will be dealing with all the IT needs. Take your time to plan and identify what those are. You may need to contact AV/IT experts and ask them to help you with it.
Understanding the video call and conference systems are just one part of the game. You have to understand it and set it up in advance. You also need to think about light and sound. These are important during the teleconference. Take care of placements of microphone, and those who are speaking can be seen.
If you are facilitating the teleconference consider your clothing and appearance. Ensure that you are not wearing white and you are fully visible at the conference. check your jewelry is not noisy as the microphone will pick it up.
As you plan the video conference call, remind the clothing and jewelry rule to participants. Communicating this information is as important for others as for yourself.
During the video conference meeting
There is a lot happening during the conference meeting, therefore you have to ensure you have it nailed down as a professional.
First of all, you want to arrive early. Just like that conference call, ensure that the technology is working. Ensure that the video is up and running, microphones are working and everything is ready to go.
You need to speak clearly. Ensure that others can hear you. It could be tricky to prepare a video conference call with few participants in the same room, therefore be prepared that there may be some background noise coming through.
Look at the camera. This might feel unnatural, but others will be looking at you, therefore you need to make that eye contact with the camera.
As the meeting begins, you should welcome participants on both sides or multiple sides of the teleconference and ensure that everyone can hear you and can see you.
Ensuring that any type of multitasking or moving of papers is limited to a minimum. This is because it will most likely be picked up by the microphone. We want the audience to hear the meeting and not any side noise.
If you notice any side noise from the same room or any side of the conference, it is appropriate to pause and remind everyone to reduce the side chatter during the presentation.
That is professional and part of practicing etiquette, so don't fear asking others to reduce noise or side chatter during the meeting.
At the end of the video, take the time to thank the participants for attending and show that you value their time and effort given.
Meal meetings
There will be times when you have to attend meetings where a meal is being served. These meal meetings have an interesting etiquette of their own. So we are going to take some time to talk about it.
First of all, if you are responsible for planning the meeting you want to ensure that you are aware of any dietary needs of the participants. Make the reservations appropriately know how many people will be attending and where the reservations should be made. You also need to think about travel needs. Plan for it and ensure it is done.
If you are not sure of the participant's dietary needs, ensure you ask them prior to making a reservation. You need to know about any allergies and ensure the restaurant and the cater know about them as well.
As you attend a meal meeting, it is appropriate to know the table manners. It sounds like common sense, but it is a good refresher:
1. Know where to put your hands and not to put your hands. Your hands should not be rested on the table. They should be on your lap.
2. You should have your napkin placed on your lap as soon as you are seated and act as if you were dining in a very fine restaurant.
3. Think about what you are ordering. Order the appropriate amount of food you will actually eat.
4. Consider the pace at which you eat. Watch your conversation, be quiet as you eat and slow as you eat.
5. Consider the payments and tips. The host is the one that should be paying and tips should be appropriately decided.
6. Know your table setting and how to use it. Use the utensils from the outside and work your way in.
7.Enjoy the company that you with. Take your time eating, talk to others, be positive, and take interest in others.
8. Chew with your mouth closed. Refrain from chewing and talking. When food is in your mouth you should not be talking.
9. Prepare a polite exit from the table. You never know when you may have to exit from the table. Have a polite exit prepared that as you have a need you are prepared for that need.
10. Break the bread with your hands. Break it into smaller pieces as you eat it.
11. Refrain from pushing away or stacking the dishes. At a professional meal, it is actually a vulgar thing to do.
12. Always send thank you notes to those who have attended. These need to be individual thank-you notes to all participants. They should be personal, handwritten, and sent immediately after the meal (24 hours max). Dropped in the mail. Thank your guests for their time and energy and for sharing the company with you.
Making reservations for a meal meeting
As I have already mentioned, you want to ensure that you discover any dietary restrictions. This is incredibly important. The last thing you want to do is to create a meal when someone with dietary restrictions cannot eat. This can start the meeting with a bad tone. If somebody can't eat due to their dietary restrictions, they will be left out.
You also want to choose an appropriate venue. It should be based on where people have to travel and the choice of meals.
It is appropriate to knowing the full names of the participants and having place cards so you can position people around the table based on the needs of the participants.
Definitely send invitations. Whether this is an e-mail invitation or mail invitation. You need to ensure they have been invited appropriately.
Confirm your reservations prior to having a meal meeting. Whether it is at a restaurant or any other venue, you want to ensure that the restaurant or cater has the reservations and there are no mistakes.
Summary
It is very, very important to know and understand some basic rules around business meetings. The knowledge will not only ensure you act with good manners and etiquette but also make the meeting more pleasant and effective for others.
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