A suitcase brimming with confidence, you yourself burning with zeal and a particularly hefty planner in hand: You are prepared to go into that meeting. Now, let’s backtrack: What to bring with you?
The usual stuff will come in handy: laptops, tablets, smartphones (techno joy, anybody?), print materials, reports, factsheets, a gazillion stats … but let’s be green at the same time. Only print out what you absolutely need; you can view everything else on your laptop. Be sure to turn the voice off though. You don’t want the conference room warbling with Twitter notifications or resounding with Justin Bieber’s “Sorry”, do we?
Thing 1: First things first
You’ll want to grab a cup of coffee on your way to the meeting. And you might go for some water as well; we don’t want you dehydrated at that meeting. If you’re going to be pitching ideas for a new project or working out the kinks of the current one, the meeting might go on for hours, which will make the water bottle a bare necessity of life.
Coffee, aka the liquid gold of office environments. Medical disclaimer: A scarcity might prove catastrophic.
Coffee will keep you alert and at least a smidgen happier, and if you don’t know where to put your hands, put them on your coffee cup to keep you from fidgeting on those particularly nerve-racking meetings. Let’s not even begin adding up all the positive effects of coffee, we already know it’s liquid gold.
Thing 2: J-J-J, joker face
Leave the poker face at home and put on the funny hat. People like a person who can crack a good joke, whip up some class A sarcasm (think Chandler in Friends) or spin a negative into a positive with a hilarious pivot.
Laughter is the best medicine. Could a joke be any more welcome?
Bring a good vibe to the table. Defuse the situation. A relaxed atmosphere does wonders and people never forget how you made them feel. They may forget what you said, but they never forget how they felt around you.
Take Joan’s advice and laugh more. Here’s an office joke for you: There is a new trend in our office; everyone is putting names on their food. I saw it today, while I was eating a sandwich named Kevin.
A good laugh will squash the stress hormone cortisol, and get the good hormones flowing, it will improve your overall mood and make you healthier, shielding you from disease and blocking pain.
Thing 3: Make a note
Still remember your college days? Indulge in some nostalgia and bring some old school post-its or a legal pad, but not for taking notes, you won’t be tested on this. Use it to doodle! It improves your focus and recall, and even helps you think up your next big idea. So, doodle away, my friend, doodle, away.
Doodle to focus and strike it rich: Your next big idea has appeared because you’ve allowed creativity to reign free and gave your logical brain a break.
Thing 4: Any ideas?
People like ideas, especially good ones. Even if it’s not a solve-it-all idea, it might just be the spark to steer the meeting into the direction of a good solution. Think long and hard about what you can suggest to help your coworkers out. Even if it’s not your department, even if you don’t know a whole lot about the main issue at hand, sometimes the outsider’s perspective is just the thing people need. A fresh outlook is always golden.
Checklist complete. Now you’re definitely ready. Go get ‘em!
