I wrote this week about how much I hate pointless meetings.

That Bookkeeper @thatbookkeeper What I learned today. I don't hate meetings. I hate pointless meetings. And so many meetings are pointless, It makes me hate the good meetings too. 5:0 AM • Dec 7, 2023 0 Retweets 8 Likes Read 1 replies

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The only thing worse than a pointless meeting is when it’s your fault.

Here’s my assumption about the people reading this.

You love numbers.

You love digging into reports and finding hidden stories.

You prefer spreadsheets to slide decks.

This shouldn’t be a problem. In fact, it should be celebrated.

The problem?

Most of the people you meet with don’t feel the same way.

The bigger problem?

The ones who aren’t interested are the ones paying you.

So when we do have to lead a meeting, there are a few steps we need to take so we don’t lose our audience.

Pre-meeting prep

Most of the work happens before the meeting ever starts. The people attending need a clear picture of why they need to be there and what you’re going to discuss.

My big mistake?

Since I was so excited about sharing these exciting financial insights, I would treat the reports like a surprise gift.

I’d wait until the meeting to show them the numbers and wait five minutes while everyone’s shock and delight wore off. This is a terrible plan.

Do this instead.

Add notes to the reports to highlight key areas you’d like to discuss.

This is a big reason I love working in Google Sheets. You can add notes and comments in columns to the right of the numbers, and the clients can do the same.

Share the reports a few days in advance.

You’ve had days or weeks to review the information in the reports. They haven’t.

Give everyone a chance to review the information. Let them read through your notes so they can understand what you’re trying to share.

Ask them to add notes of their own.

Someone always spots something I missed. And these notes and questions always spark much more engaged conversations.

Don’t forget to review the document again before the meeting.

If they have added questions, you need to be prepared to answer them. If they haven’t, make sure you’ve got topics and questions of your own.

If you rely on their input pre-meeting and you end up staring at a blank comment section, you’ll look very unprepared.

Include an agenda.

If it’s just the financial report, say that.

If there are other topics, include an agenda and links to anything else you want to discuss.

This helps them prepare and gives them time to add items of their own.

It’s way better to sort this out in advance. There’s nothing worse than getting to minute 58 of a 60-minute meeting and finding out your clients have five topics of their own.

Avoid unforced errors

You spent a long time on the reports. You’re ready to present your findings.

But you’re in the one part of the house with bad WiFi.

You pushed the wrong button, and now you’ve unblurred the messy kitchen in the background.

All the prep in the world can be undone by silly technical difficulties.

Give yourself every chance at success by learning the tools and testing out your environment.

Sometimes, you’ll be in a noisy airport, or your dogs will be barking as though a parade of squirrels was marching past the window. That’s life.

But when possible, do your best to test out a few key aspects before the meeting starts.

• Test out the internet connection.
• Make sure the correct camera, mic, and speakers are selected in Zoom, Meet, Teams, etc.
  • It sucks when you’re staring at the webcam on your monitor and then realize Zoom is using the laptop camera that’s pointing up your nose.
• Find a quick way to mute/unmute yourself during the call.
  • I use buttons on my StreamDeck for this. If your kids decide now is a great time to blast death metal from their room, searching with your mouse for the mute button on the app is too slow.

Communicate on their terms.

Ok, the meeting has started.

Let’s assume everyone has had a chance to review the reports and has added questions to the document.

Make sure you allow enough time to cover everyone’s questions while still covering the big takeaways.

I’ve done it wrong in both directions several times.

I have gone on too long with my points and forgot to cover everyone’s questions.

And I’ve spent too long on low-value questions and left the meeting without providing any meaningful insights.

Here are 3 truths about most meeting attendees.

1. They want to feel as though their opinions were heard.
2. They don’t want to feel the meeting was a waste of their time.
3. Most people don’t think #2 is true unless #1 is true.

Finally, make sure you keep the technical terms and jargon to a minimum.

I’m not saying talk down to them.

We’ve all been in meetings where someone was using a term we didn’t understand.

I remember being asked about KPIs and OKRs during a call and trying to frantically search what those meant before giving my answer.

Terms that we take for granted are new to most clients. I have long-term clients who still get tripped up on the difference between gross and net profit.

But the most important part of any meeting is…

You’ve made it!

You got through your notes and answered everyone’s questions.

In a panic to avoid a disaster, you quickly end the call and breathe a sigh of relief.

And most importantly, you made sure every next action was assigned to the right person.

Right?

Well, $%#&!!!!

The most important part of a client meeting is knowing who owns what task.

Does Amir need to send you a bank statement by Friday?

Does Jennifer need to sign a contract tomorrow?

Did you tell them that?

It’s okay; we can still save this.

There are two ideal times to do this.

1. As the meeting wraps up.
2. After the meeting, in a follow-up email, Slack message, or shared document.
3. Ideally, both.

Send out a summary of the meeting to everyone who attended and anyone who couldn’t make it.

• Include the main points that were discussed.
• Send a link to the recording if one was made.
• Call out who has a next action and when that action is due.
• Add those tasks to your task manager with a note of who it was assigned to.

The last point is optional but super effective. If you and your clients have a shared task manager like Asana, that’s much easier.

If you don’t, add the task to your system with their name and the due date. That will remind you to follow up with them on that date.

Any Getting Things Done nerds reading this will understand the importance of a “Waiting For” list.

To recap:

1. Share the reports before the meeting.
2. Provide a clear agenda on what will be covered.
3. Get your tools and environment ready.
4. Communicate on their terms.
5. Be clear on who owns any next actions.
6. Send out a summary.
7. Track next actions so nothing gets missed.

What did I miss?

I’ve been meeting with clients for decades, but I still feel like a rookie some days.

What are some tips I didn’t cover? Hit reply and let me know.

Until then, have a great week!

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