10 questions to ask before accepting a meeting
1.What is the agenda of the meeting? Don’t attend a meeting without a clear agenda otherwise you are wasting time. Don’t ever schedule a meeting unless you make it clear to your attendees what the purpose, timeframe and outcomes of the meeting will be.
2.Who is attending the meeting? Ask the question to ensure the meeting set at the right level and the correct people are involved.
3.Why do you need/want me involved? Make sure there is a good reason for you to attend the meeting.
4.What time does it start? Be strict with your own time and also those of the attendees. If you are scheduling the meeting always start on time regardless of if all attendees have arrived. Make it known you will start and finish on time.
5. What time does it finish? Advise all attendees that it will finish on time to allow them to attend their next meeting.
6. May I attend for my section only of the agenda? Where possible don’t sit through unnecessary meeting discussions, only attend when the agenda item relates to your or your department.
7.What do you need me to prepare before the meeting? Get clear instructions of the preparation required. If the person scheduling the meeting advises you don’t need to prepare anything- ask question 3 again, why do you want me involved?
8. When will minutes be available of the meeting? If possible take minutes at the meeting (handwritten is fine) and then walk to the photocopier, take enough copies for everyone and then give them out. Avoid extra work of typing minutes unless necessary.
9.Where is the meeting located? Ask for clear instructions including the floor number and the meeting room number to ensure you don’t waste time looking for the meeting.
10.Can we teleconference instead of a physical meeting? Where possible handle matters over the phone to avoid wasting time in meetings.
By asking these 10 simple questions you will help educate those around you on the importance of managing & respecting time, save yourself time and achieve more in your day.
Neen is an International Productivity Expert: by looking at how they spend their time and energy – and where they focus their attention – Neen helps people to rocket-charge their productivity and performance. A dynamic speaker, author and corporate trainer, Neen demonstrates how boosting your productivity can help you achieve amazing things. With her unique voice (Aussie accent), sense of fun and uncommon common-sense, Neen delivers a powerful lesson in productivity. Find out more and subscribe to Neen’s free monthly ezine at http://neenjames.com
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Productive Networking During the Holidays
It seems during the crazy holiday time many organizations, associations, companies and social clubs have a networking event for you to attend. How can you possibly do it all? Well… you can’t. To ensure your networking is proactive, productive and profitable this holiday season you can apply these productive networking tips for the holiday season.
Choose your activity – you will receive many offers to attend functions, choose wisely. Determine what time of day is best for you to attend. Do you prefer breakfast events, luncheons or after work activities. Assess when the function is being held and if it is the best use of your time.
Don’t accept every invitation – just like you need to choose which functions to attend, you also need to decline many invitations. You simply can’t attend every activity at this time of year and still run your business and meet your business goals. Respond quickly to invitations, send a ‘thank you email’ to the organiser and decline some invitations.
Take a raincheck – one of the most polite ways to decline an invitation to any event is to ask the person “may I take a rain check”. This simple question lets the person know you appreciate their invitation but you are unable to attend at this time.
Send a ‘Happy Holiday’ follow up card instead of a thank you card – you have heard me say before I think it is important to re-connect with people after each networking event by sending a thank you card or a ‘nice to meet you’ card. At this time of year replace this with a ‘happy holiday’ card and include your business card for their records.
Book follow up time – when you book a networking function into your schedule, make another appointment with yourself the day after the event for 1 hour of follow up activity. Use this time to write your ‘happy holiday’ cards, send company information that was requested from you or make follow up phone calls.
Arrive early, stay late – to maximise your time at functions you decide to attend, arrive early to meet the committee, speakers and hosts. Stay late to make new connections with women you have just met.
Don’t book multiple functions in one day – don’t make the mistake of rushing from one networking event to the next. Be fully present while you are at an event and enjoy the conversations and the connections you make. Many people try to fit in multiple events this time of year and don’t do justice to any of them. Choose wisely.
Book 1 hour to review your involvement in Networks – it is easy to join multiple networks but not be involved in any of them. Take one hour to assess every network you belong to, determine which networks you want to remain involved in for next year and decide which networks have not been valuable for you this past year. By conducting this activity before the end of the year, you can start 2007 afresh. This will help you make quick decisions about which invitations to accept and decline. Use these questions to help you:
What can I contribute to this network?
What is the investment I need to make?
What is the R.O.N?
Pro-Networkingä R.O.N is a way of calculating ‘Return on Networking’ – I use this proprietary formula to determine if the network is worth my time, attention, energy and money.
Set up your appointments for 2007 – now is a great time to schedule your January through March appointments, don’t overlook this time for planning your next year. Conduct annual reviews with clients; meet prospective leads and book time with your staff to help them set their goals for 2007.
Neen is an International Productivity Expert: by looking at how they spend their time and energy – and where they focus their attention – Neen helps people to rocket-charge their productivity and networking performance. A dynamic speaker, author and corporate educator, Neen demonstrates how boosting your productivity can help you achieve amazing things. With her unique voice, sense of fun and uncommon common-sense, Neen delivers a powerful lesson in productivity. Find out more and subscribe to Neen’s free monthly ezine at http://neenjames.com/
Choose your activity – you will receive many offers to attend functions, choose wisely. Determine what time of day is best for you to attend. Do you prefer breakfast events, luncheons or after work activities. Assess when the function is being held and if it is the best use of your time.
Don’t accept every invitation – just like you need to choose which functions to attend, you also need to decline many invitations. You simply can’t attend every activity at this time of year and still run your business and meet your business goals. Respond quickly to invitations, send a ‘thank you email’ to the organiser and decline some invitations.
Take a raincheck – one of the most polite ways to decline an invitation to any event is to ask the person “may I take a rain check”. This simple question lets the person know you appreciate their invitation but you are unable to attend at this time.
Send a ‘Happy Holiday’ follow up card instead of a thank you card – you have heard me say before I think it is important to re-connect with people after each networking event by sending a thank you card or a ‘nice to meet you’ card. At this time of year replace this with a ‘happy holiday’ card and include your business card for their records.
Book follow up time – when you book a networking function into your schedule, make another appointment with yourself the day after the event for 1 hour of follow up activity. Use this time to write your ‘happy holiday’ cards, send company information that was requested from you or make follow up phone calls.
Arrive early, stay late – to maximise your time at functions you decide to attend, arrive early to meet the committee, speakers and hosts. Stay late to make new connections with women you have just met.
Don’t book multiple functions in one day – don’t make the mistake of rushing from one networking event to the next. Be fully present while you are at an event and enjoy the conversations and the connections you make. Many people try to fit in multiple events this time of year and don’t do justice to any of them. Choose wisely.
Book 1 hour to review your involvement in Networks – it is easy to join multiple networks but not be involved in any of them. Take one hour to assess every network you belong to, determine which networks you want to remain involved in for next year and decide which networks have not been valuable for you this past year. By conducting this activity before the end of the year, you can start 2007 afresh. This will help you make quick decisions about which invitations to accept and decline. Use these questions to help you:
What can I contribute to this network?
What is the investment I need to make?
What is the R.O.N?
Pro-Networkingä R.O.N is a way of calculating ‘Return on Networking’ – I use this proprietary formula to determine if the network is worth my time, attention, energy and money.
Set up your appointments for 2007 – now is a great time to schedule your January through March appointments, don’t overlook this time for planning your next year. Conduct annual reviews with clients; meet prospective leads and book time with your staff to help them set their goals for 2007.
Neen is an International Productivity Expert: by looking at how they spend their time and energy – and where they focus their attention – Neen helps people to rocket-charge their productivity and networking performance. A dynamic speaker, author and corporate educator, Neen demonstrates how boosting your productivity can help you achieve amazing things. With her unique voice, sense of fun and uncommon common-sense, Neen delivers a powerful lesson in productivity. Find out more and subscribe to Neen’s free monthly ezine at http://neenjames.com/
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