Inevitably, new employees are invited to attend meetings and at times are asked to perform menial tasks like taking notes. Regardless of why you are in attendance and what you are expected to do (even if the expectation is to sit quietly and listen), take the time to overprepare. Learning how to prepare for a meeting will benefit you at any stage of your career.
As a new employee, you might feel hesitant about speaking up during a meeting. That might be the right instinct, but depending on the culture in your company, your comments might be welcome. Follow the tips in this chapter to prepare for meetings and to feel far more comfortable in participating in the discussions.
Many Employees Are Afraid to Speak Up at Work
Being afraid to speak up is a common issue, even among employees who have been in their positions for a while. But staying silent about important issues can be costly to companies.
A 2018 report by leadership training company VitalSmarts revealed that employees who keep silent about a problem, process, or strategy that just isn’t working out—often because they’re worried about being labeled as complainers or because they fear retaliation—costs companies in terms of productivity. Most workers in the survey blamed their workplace culture for making them too scared to speak up. Almost half (46 percent) expected retaliation for reporting something; 45 percent didn’t think any of their colleagues would support them, leaving them socially stranded; and 37 percent were afraid that speaking up would brand them as a complainer, hurting their careers.
To encourage employees to speak up, the study recommends that leaders employ strategies like establishing safe channels, such as a company hotline, to encourage employees to report issues without fear of retribution.”
Poorly Organized Meetings Waste Time and Money
New and veteran employees alike often feel frustrated about having to participate in meetings that seem pointless.
An online scheduling service called Doodle studied 19 million meetings and discovered that the cost of poorly organized meetings in 2019 was expected to reach $399 billion in the United States. Bad meetings cause a diversion of attention from employees’ work, a loss of focus on projects, and inefficient processes that weaken client/supplier relationships. The authors of the study report offered suggestions for improving meetings, such as following an agenda for every meeting and using visual stimuli such as videos.
As you gain longevity at your company, you can make a valuable contribution toward helping your peers conduct meetings that are more efficient, organized, and useful. However, the advice in this blog is more about attending meetings than it is about organizing or running meetings.
If you are new to your company or to the workforce, you probably won’t be asked to chair a meeting until you have gained some experience. However, if your job does require you to conduct meetings, plenty of resources are available online that can help you gain insights on organizing and chairing a meeting.
For example, a 2019 article from The Balance Careers website explains how to plan a meeting, enable group involvement, handle logistics, record meeting minutes, solve problems during a meeting, build consensus, and more.
The advice that follows is from different perspectives, depending on your role as a participant in a business meeting. I recommend anyone who attends a meeting at their place of work should always strive to overprepare. Also note that the following tips for attending and participating in meetings apply to relatively small group meetings in which anyone in the room might participate in the discussions. They are not meant to apply to large group meetings like conventions or all-hands-on-deck town hall meetings. Although these tips can apply to large group meetings, the focus of this chapter is on smaller meetings in which active participation is likely to be expected or encouraged.
Tips for Anyone Attending a Meeting
If you are invited to a meeting, you are likely to receive some form of communication inviting you to attend. The invitation will probably include an agenda that will provide you with some basic information like the following:
- The date, time, and location of the meeting
- The purpose or objectives of the meeting
- The topics to be covered and who will cover each of them
- A list of other invitees
- Attachments containing materials to be read in advance of the meeting
Your tendency might be to worry later about the specifics related to the meeting. However, I encourage you to prepare early so you have adequate time to be ready to participate. This will reduce any anxiety you might be feeling about the meeting.
One Response
Excellent advice. The only thing u might add is : when you have any doubt about commenting or questioning etc…. Either just stay quiet . Or. Say. “ I have some comments but want to reflect more on my phraseology before I speak up.