The Business Meeting - Who are You Dealing With?

For anybody who follows me on The WordSlingers' blog, you know that I often find inspiration for my communication tips in my personal life. The genesis of this entire series on Leading Effective Business Meetings goes back to a recent meeting I attended. And as you guessed, it wasn't a business meeting. It was personal.

The coach and team manager for my son's travel hockey team called a meeting of all the players' parents to discuss the plan for the season, the schedule (lots of travel) and the rules for the players. It was a very informative meeting and I appreciate all that they've done to get us ready and organized for the season.

I did, however, have one small problem. No one conducted introductions. This particular team consists primarily of skaters who have not played with each other before so very few at the meeting knew anybody else. With travel hockey in Charlotte, all of these families will literally be spending every weekend for the next six months together traveling all over the southeast. So it might be nice to get to know each other. And I know, over six months time we will get to know each other, but it got me to thinking about how often you go to meetings and no one bothers to make introductions.

This can slide for a youth hockey program, but if you are leading a business meeting with a group of people that have never worked with each other, but you expect them to collaborate during the meeting and possibly work with each other after the meeting, you need to introduce every one in the group. Or let's say you have a group that's been meeting together for a long period of time, but a new person joins the group. Make sure to welcome them to the group by having everyone in the meeting introduce themselves.

Introductions also provide a great ice breaker at the beginning of a meeting. In most cases, it should be as easy as getting everyone to give their name and what role they are playing in the project or relationship that's being discussed.

You might think I'm a stickler for details but many times in life, it's the little details that make all the difference. Building camaraderie among your team or group is crucial to driving them to success, and it's difficult to engender lasting good will with someone whose name you don't know.

Related Posts:
The Meeting - The Necessary Business Evil
The Business Meeting - Somebody's Got to Take the Lead
The Business Meeting - Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?
The Business Meeting - The Best Weapon for Keeping Things On Track