The newbie in a meeting

How to speak up without being annoying

The newbie in a meeting – how to speak up without being annoying

I have been part of a few women’s development days, programmes, webinars etc. Most of the time I come out of it feeling motivated to become a Chief Officer with a giant desk, or become a virtual PA and be a digital nomad.

That’s a very pleasant and very regular daydream: me, my husband, and our laptops in the Azores. Bliss!

But I was in some training recently that offered advice that I found unhelpful and would risk participants coming across a little obstructive, or maybe even wasteful.

In short, I do NOT recommend that you “Say something in every meeting” if you’re looking for more status at work.

If you’re going to a meeting with an aim to be seen, that’s fine. If you don’t care about the way in which you’re seen, go for it. Wear an Akubra and a feather boa while you’re at it, really get noticed.

On the other hand, if your aim is to be seen as knowledgable and capable, worthy of recognition in your field, you should aim to contribute to every meeting.

This will become easier as you develop the habit of contributing, and there are steps you can take to set yourself up to do well and enjoy it!

1. Read the papers – and the invitee list

Larger meetings usually have an agenda, papers, and a mailing list. Start by looking at who else is going. This gives you an idea of the overall level of the meeting and who your peers are. If this is a new meeting for you, it can also be reassuring to see some familiar names and decide who to sit next to if it’s in person. You can also see if there is anyone there that you’ve been wanting to meet or you have been chasing via email. You don’t necessarily have to approach them at the meeting, but when they learn that you are there that might give them a nudge. I often approach people directly after the meeting. This is also a great way to build your confidence in meetings – chat to people after the meeting and you will feel less intimidated in future meetings.

One thing to know about meetings with papers is that not enough people actually read the papers in advance. If you really want to show that you know your stuff and that you are taking this seriously, that’s the best tip. Read. The. Papers. Start with the agenda, and note which items are the most relevant to your work. I’d like to say that everything will be highly relevant, but I’ve been to enough meetings to know that this isn’t the case. Sometimes the attendees of a meeting are just a hodgepodge of people because the Chair wants to capture everyone in one sitting, offload a bunch of things at once, and then get on with other work. Which is fine, but it does mean that you turn up to discuss changes to online application processes and have to listen to in depth discussions about the timing of screed pouring.  Prep yourself by know when your topics are going to be discussed.

2. Expect people to ask you questions

If you have items of your own on the agenda, be ready to accept questions. The content might sound clear to you, but you are the expert. Others may come in with questions of any kind, so be prepared with the basics:

1. Who – Who else is involved? Often asked by people who have a team of their own and are concerned that you’re going to need some of their staff to get involved.
2. What – What is this? Be ready to explain your topic to someone who has no prior knowledge. There will be people there who haven’t read the paper, so be prepared with a short statement about what it is and what outcome you’re looking for.
3. Where – Is the impact of this online, or in the world? In what space?
4. Why – Similar to the “What” question, be ready to explain why this is important to the business, and important to other people/departments if you’re concerned that there will be dissenters.
5. When – What is the timeline for this? How flexible is the timeline if it turns out that your great idea clashes with someone else’s?
6. How – how is this going to be achieved? Is it realistic? Can you defend your timeline and resources?

3. Prepare a few questions of your own

Now take all of the above questions, and have a look at the other items on the agenda. Ask yourself if you understand the papers, and if not, phrase some of the questions above for the other meeting members. If you’re new you can use this to your advantage, although anyone can ask a newbie question. Ask “This is new to me and I want to make sure I understand it, can you explain what (insert terminology) means?”, or paraphrase some to make sure you understand it, e.g. “Can I just confirm that section 4b is talking about both the primary lift and the service lift?”. This can be a great way to contribute because often other people will have the same question (later, when they actually read the papers!), and also you aren’t adding time to the meeting as it should only require a short answer from other person.

Even for an introvert, speaking up in meetings can become a comfortable experience. It’s comes down to knowing your topic and knowing your audience. Understanding your topic in depth gives you the expertise, and practicing speaking with other meeting attendees can build your confidence. The confidence can come with practice, and you can start as small as you like to get there.

^{Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay}