Preparation is the key to success

Didit Editorial

10 years ago

November 13, 2014: One of the biggest challenges in the workplace today is maximizing productivity. How, you ask, can you save 5 minutes here or 10 minutes there? Sure everyone is busy, and this fact won’t change anytime soon. But one thing that hasn’t changed is the importance of preparation, especially when you meet and collaborate with co-workers and clients.

If you’ve been in the business world long enough, I’m sure you’ve successfully “winged it” at a meeting. This tactic may work once in a while (but a broken clock also works twice a day). The key to consistent success lies in your commitment to preparation.

Here are a few preparation tips that can be applied to almost any meeting:

1. Create an agenda. A meeting can go south very quickly without a plan covering discussion topics that’s well thought out. Each meeting — even if it is just a regularly scheduled weekly check in with a client or an internal meeting within your department — should have a purpose. Ask yourself this: “why are we having this meeting?” Does your group need to discuss how a new test performed or how long it may take for a new initiative to be implemented? Write it all down. You will benefit from having a handy list of everything you want to discuss, even if your meeting is informal.

2. Determine what will make the meeting a success. In addition to your agenda, it’s helpful to go into a meeting with a plan for success. Thinking about what you want to achieve in the meeting before it starts will go a long way towards ensuring that your desired result actually occurs. Meetings often go off on tangents and cover items outside of your agenda. So it’s important to make sure you’re aware of what needs to be accomplished. This way, you can get back on track when things wander out of scope.

3. Anticipate potential questions or concerns that may arise. When dealing with clients, preparation is especially valuable. Is revenue unexpectedly down for the month? Are there other results that are hard to explain? I’m pretty sure the client is going to ask WHY? Do your research before the meeting. Maybe the situation isn’t as bad as it seems. Maybe a similar anomaly took place last year. Whatever the question is, do your best to anticipate what your client may ask so you can provide an educated response during the meeting, rather than following up afterwards.

The three tips above may seem time-consuming to put into practice, but in the end they will likely prove to be time savers. Think of the time that will be saved during meetings by having a plan for success and organized agenda, not to mention the time saved after the meeting because you’ve done your research and anticipated the potential questions that arose.

The next time you want to save some time in your hectic day, consider cutting down your Facebook browsing or water cooler chats, and prepare. By doing so you’ll save time, become more effective, and make your day to day work life less hectic and more enjoyable.