External Meetings
You represent the company.
1. Be punctual
- Early is on time, on time is late, and late is unacceptable
- The sooner you are able to assess external participants’ attitude and objectives, the sooner you are able to identify gaps between your goals and their ability to deliver
- Drive towards your goal: our objective is to maintain control, lead, and drive
- Tell them exactly what they need to do to accomplish a task
- Agree on the necessary next steps during meetings
- Anticipate all questions your audience may have.
- If caught unprepared, it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt
- Send summary of conversation covered and results/next steps to confirm what was discussed/agreed upon
- This is also a Thank You note — always follow up with a Thank You email
- Think through two things that matter most to an external participant:
- What will get him/her promoted: highlight and address these items
- What will get him/her fired: address and mitigate
- Ambiguity in contracts can be good if you are the one with the checkbook — if you have the checkbook, you have the leverage
Last modified 11mo ago