Top 3 Tips for Creating Impact at Meetings

One of the coaching themes I often come across is  ‘how can I  create consistent impact in larger meetings I attend in my organisation?’.  

These meetings typically are 

• with both peers and more senior members of the organisation

• mostly on video

• both as the chair and participant in the meeting

Working with each client specific needs and context, we develop their individual playbook of insights and actions  which they can use as a cheat sheet to change their behaviour, measurement  and mindset.  I thought it would be useful to share some of the common insights and actions emerging from these coaching conversations.

Insight 1:

Not being adequately prepared for the meeting which results in 

• Not speaking up

• Losing confidence when challenged.

 Insight 2:

Not having objective feedback of your impact in the meeting

 Insight 3:

Attention diverted in the meeting by emails, urgent messages, instant messaging

To improve your presence in meetings consider these 3 Key areas:  Preparation, Focus & Feedback

• Identify the key 3 or 4 meetings in a week where you want to have impact

• Diarise 1 hour the day before the meeting to prepare for the meeting.

1. Preparation:

• Review who is attending, the purpose, agenda, decisions required. Read any pre read available.

• Consider the perfect and worst meeting outcome for each of the attendees

• Ask yourself how you want to show up in the meeting. Once you know this and where everyone else stands you will know what other preparation is needed with regards data, opinion and positioning.

• Set yourself a goal rating for your presence in the meeting ( 1 poor impact – 10 strong impact)

2. Focus:

• In the meeting be present, turn off notifications during the 3 to 4 key meetings which you have prioritised. This includes email, slack, teams, whatsapp, mobile etc. Specifically let others know that you will not be using instant messaging during the meeting.

• Instead focus on the people in the meeting, what they are saying, who is listening to whom, what is not being said. Read their body language through their tone, their body language, inflection etc.

3. Feedback:

• After the meeting reflect on your impact. Write down whether it was as you planned. If yes what contributed to this if no what happened that you didn’t expect. Rate your impact between 1 and 10

• No later than one day after the meeting ask another participant for feedback on your impact in the meeting. The participant doesn’t have to be your boss or someone more senior but ideally someone you trust and who’s opinion you value. Ask for specific feedback on what impact you had on the overall meeting and ask them to rate your impact between 1 and 10

If creating impact at meetings is something you have already cracked please share other tools and techniques which have helped you improve your impact.

 If this is an area you struggle with, please try these tips and let me know how you get on at elaine@elaine-russell.ie