Work meetings aren’t always fun, they can put you in front of colleagues, and clients who you may not interact with on a regular basis. Therefore, it is extremely important that you conduct yourself in a professional manner, adhering to all meeting etiquette rules, to ensure that you leave the correct lasting impression.
Meeting etiquette refers to a variety of codes of conduct and behaviours that a professional ought to adhere too while attending meetings in the workplace.
Here are our meeting etiquette do’s and don’ts that we recommend you follow to conduct yourself in a professional manner when attending meetings….
Arrive on time
First things first, make sure that you arrive on time to a meeting. Arriving promptly on time, or even a few minutes before ensures that you won’t waste anyone’s time.
Dress to impress
When attending a meeting, attempt to find out the dress code for the event to make sure that your clothing falls within the guidelines. Correct clothing can help to enhance your professional reputation, you don’t want to arrive at a strictly formal meeting in jeans and a t-shirt.
Nice to meet you...
Once you’ve arrived at the meeting promptly and in the correct dress code, the first step is to introduce those who don’t know one another in the room. Our recommendation would be to ensure that you stand for introductions, and initiate a handshake to enhance your professional image.
Preparation is key
Preparation for a meeting is essential, we recommend that you arrive prepared with a strong agenda to ensure that the meeting stays on track.
Speak appropriately
When speaking in meetings, make sure that you speak up so that all attendees can hear you clearly. Following on from this, it is also important that you do not interrupt others.
Mobile Phones
Although it may be difficult to do, we recommend that you keep your phone hidden during meetings to avoid distractions and the temptation to use it. Leave it in the office, or keep it in your pocket - if you desperately need to take a call, or respond to a text message during a meeting excuse yourself from the room to do so.
Stay alert & attentive
Meetings can often feel like they go on forever, but in order to appear professional, it is key to actively listen, pay attention and remain composed. Ensure that you don’t begin tapping your pen, fidgeting, or fussing with your hair or clothing - this behaviour can be extremely distracting for others.
Question Time
This can be a tricky thing to perfect, some professionals prefer questions to be left until the end of the meeting. However, we recommend that you ask questions at appropriate times throughout the meeting. This will show that you are actively listening and engaging with the meeting leader, it will also allow the meeting to finish as promptly as possible. At the end of a meeting people are eager to head off, you don’t want to be that one person who starts asking hundreds of questions in the final moments.
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