Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to be a bit more creative in
Speaker 1: how you start your meetings, especially when you're meeting virtually.
Speaker 1: It's easy to skip the niceties or have them be meandering.
Speaker 1: A little more thought can set a much better tone.
Speaker 1: We have all been in enough virtual meetings by now
Speaker 1: to know how terribly some can go. People log in
Speaker 1: but are clearly multitasking. Worse, maybe no one is clearly
Speaker 1: in charge. There is no set objective, which means there
Speaker 1: is no way to end the meeting except when the
Speaker 1: allotted time is up. As people log on, there's a
Speaker 1: lot of hey, how's it going and good you, and
Speaker 1: then awkward silence. You can move from this slow start
Speaker 1: to real productivity, but it's not going to be easy.
Speaker 1: But that is not the way things have to go.
Speaker 1: I was recently in a meeting where someone asked us
Speaker 1: all to lead off with a recent win. It was
Speaker 1: a great way to start in a positive problem solving
Speaker 1: frame of mind. We were all winners. Now we were
Speaker 1: just going to keep winning together. That's probably the tone
Speaker 1: you want to strike. Two now, it doesn't have to
Speaker 1: be the recent win question. That only works if you
Speaker 1: don't work all that closely with the people you are
Speaker 1: meeting with, But it could be anything conversational. Really, ideally,
Speaker 1: it is related to, but not exactly the same as
Speaker 1: the meeting topic. So, for instance, if you are meeting
Speaker 1: with the team that's reshaping your organization's summer internship program,
Speaker 1: everyone can talk obout something that they learned at an
Speaker 1: early job. If you are setting budgets, one topic might
Speaker 1: be an interesting way any team you've worked with has
Speaker 1: saved money. Of course, it doesn't have to be strictly related.
Speaker 1: Asking for book or restaurant or podcast recommendations can be fun,
Speaker 1: or maybe it's the place you haven't been but would
Speaker 1: most like to visit. Doing this can help you establish
Speaker 1: common ground, Joan. If you do wind up planning that
Speaker 1: trip to Hawaii, tell me I'll send you the itinerary
Speaker 1: my mom followed when she was there. She loved it.
Speaker 1: And this is key. Someone needs to be directing the discussion,
Speaker 1: and even more importantly, they need to make sure everyone
Speaker 1: goes around and answers in turn briefly and positively. The
Speaker 1: person leading the meeting is setting the tone that this
Speaker 1: is how the meeting will run. Everyone will be heard,
Speaker 1: everyone will contribute, and things are going to run like
Speaker 1: clockwork because guess what this opening chatter is going on
Speaker 1: the agenda. Yep, you want to account for it since
Speaker 1: some banter is going to happen anyway. This make sure
Speaker 1: it doesn't run over and also keeps someone from snarling
Speaker 1: that no one has time for any of this, thus
Speaker 1: poisoning the tone of the entire meeting. Putting the question
Speaker 1: you plan to ask on the agenda also allows people
Speaker 1: to think about their stories ahead of time. This is
Speaker 1: particularly good if the stories are going to require some thought,
Speaker 1: like the example of the team that has saved money
Speaker 1: or a lesson from an early job. We all love stories,
Speaker 1: but guess what stories are better when you think them
Speaker 1: through and practice telling them. When the meeting starts well though,
Speaker 1: you're most likely going to have a good meeting. People
Speaker 1: will feel closer and more trusting. They will feel like
Speaker 1: everything is positive, but their time is being respected. The
Speaker 1: meeting has a format, an introduction leading to the main course. Yes,
Speaker 1: this takes some time and thought, but you know what,
Speaker 1: if you are asking for people's time and a meeting,
Speaker 1: you owe this thoughtfulness to them. So start your meeting
Speaker 1: will and you'll likely ended feeling pretty good. Two. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod. That's B the number four,
Speaker 1: then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot me
Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart media
Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio.
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