Leading a New Hire Meeting
Recently, I was presented with a brand new communication related challenge. My supervisor at my Human Resources internship was out of town for the week, and she asked me if I would be willing to lead a new hire meeting in her absence. I accepted, despite lacking confidence in myself, and I immediately felt a nervous excitement overcome me. At the same time that I was nervous that I would make mistakes, I was also very excited because this would give me a chance to try my hand at a common responsibility of the career I’m looking to go into.
What happened?
Prior to the meeting I created a checklist of all of the things I had to cover. This way, I could use the checklist to study before the meeting, and then I could check the list off after the meeting to make sure that I covered all of the bases.
Walking into the conference room was extremely intimidating for me. I have never been in the position before where i was leading a business related meeting, and in that moment I felt insecure and unqualified. I had to pull myself together, and remind myself that my supervisor trusted me enough to allow me to do this. This made me feel like I was capable of running the meeting smoothly. I just needed to remember all of the things I’ve learned thus far about improving my communication skills and I would be more than prepared.
When the new hires arrived I introduced myself, reviewed the company policies that they would need to be aware of, and explained the legal documents they would have to complete.
What did I do well?
From the reactions of the new hires, I would say that I explained the company policies very well. This was one the aspects of the meeting that I was the most nervous about, but none of the new hires had any questions for me after I gave them the overview. I think that I successfully communicated this because I used a steady and confident tone of voice, and I did not stumble nearly as much as I thought I would.
What could I have done better?
I was just about finished with the meeting when one girl mentioned that she was only 16 years old. Everyone in the meeting appeared to be 18 and over, so I had neglected to ask otherwise. This oversight on my part caused me to have to backtrack and obtain her working papers and her parent’s signature.
This mistake made me realize that it is extremely important to be thorough in important communications. I was so nervous that I neglected to ask a very important question. Thoroughness in business communications is very important because in the most serious of situations simply forgetting something can result in legal trouble.
I plan to look at this situation as an opportunity to learn from my mistake. The next time I am in a position such as this one I will be more careful not to omit any important information or questions.
What’s Next?
Thus far, I have practiced my communication skills in a classroom setting and in a work setting. These two experiences were very different and required a different communicative approach. However, I did not have to be particularly persuasive in my communication either time. I hope that in my next attempt at practicing my communication skills I will some convincing to do. Persuasive communication requires an entirely different mannerism and approach than communications whose sole purpose is to convey information, and I would like to develop that particular skill.
