It seems like everyone and their brother has a BlackBerry today. I think this might be one of the most annoying inventions in the last 50 years. Why? Simply this: Every time that I’m at a meeting with someone who has one, they inevitably start checking their email with it. This is extremely rude, and I have no idea how people see this to be acceptable. Hence this tip: When at a meeting, treat your BlackBerry just like it was your cell phone. You wouldn’t start talking on your cell phone in the middle of a meeting would you? By the same token, don’t check your email either, it’s just as rude and unacceptable.

The last thing you want to have when you are shaking someone’s hand is sweaty palms. Unfortunately, you don’t always have time to clean up this problem in the restroom before you have to shake someone’s hand. What’s the solution? I’ve seen people use their pants, but this doesn’t usually work that well and it also is rather obvious. I recommend keeping a paper towel in your pocket. That way, right before you shake someone’s hand, you can quickly reach into your pocket and dry off your hand. People reach into their pockets all the time, so this looks entirely natural. Just remember to change this paper towel every once and awhile, especially if you’re the sweaty type.

Ok, now that everything seems to be in order for the meeting, we will explore tips on how to actually act while attending the meeting. Let’s get started.

• Seat Selection - Generally, it is not a huge deal which seat you take at your meeting.  There are a few guidelines however.  For example, you should try not to take a seat where you think the conductor of the meeting will be seating (such as next to the projector where they will be running their presentation from).  Also, if you are meeting with clients, try to sit with your peers.  This facilitates note taking as well as helps whoever is conducting the meeting to direct different parts of their presentation to specific members of the audience.  However, this is not a hard and fast rule and is highly dependent on your situation, so it’s your judgment call.

• Posture - This sounds like a no-brainer, but most people really don’t pay attention to it.  Just like your Mom told you when you were a kid, sit up straight and don’t slouch in your seat.  Don’t put your feet up on another seat, and for god’s sake don’t fall asleep or doze off (I’ve seen this on a number of occasions).  If you think you are going to have trouble staying awake during the meeting, bring a soda or coffee with you.  Drinks are generally acceptable fare at most meetings.  You want to showcase that you are actively involved in the meeting and paying attention to what is going on.

• Making Comments/Asking Questions - This is a highly situational tip.  There are some meetings where you are just there to take notes or be a fly on the wall.  In this case, talking is usually not encouraged.  However, most of the time if you have a question or a comment to make, there are some guidelines you should follow.  For example, make sure that you know what you’re talking about before you comment on something.  Don’t throw out some “buzzword” just to make yourself look good, as most people will see through this.  When asking questions, have the question formulated before you ask it, don’t ramble.  Rambling questions waste everyone’s time.  Also, don’t just talk for the sake of talking.  This will do you no good and just annoy people who want to get things accomplished at the meeting.  Finally, make sure you are “business appropriate” at the meeting.  Don’t think you can throw out an offensive joke just because a client does, it doesn’t work that way.  Even at an internal meeting, think before you speak.

• Paper Rustling/Noise - Try to limit the amount of extraneous noise you make.  For example, don’t rustle your papers loudly, especially near the speaker phone if you are using one.  This just distracts everybody at the meeting and makes you standout for all the wrong reasons.  Another big one is loud gum chewing (you probably shouldn’t be chewing gum anyway), as well as finger or pen/pencil tapping.  You don’t have to be totally silent, just try not to be noticeably obnoxious (read: squeaky chair).

• Take Notes - Remember that pad and pencil/pen you brought? Use it, it’s not for show.  Even if it’s just to put the meeting title and date on the pad, do it.  This shows active interest in the meeting and makes the audience think that you value the goals of the meeting.  Also, these notes could be valuable if the resulting meeting notes are not up to par.  Good meeting notes can help out tremendously when dealing with follow up meeting action items.
• Eating - As stated earlier, taking a drink to a meeting is usually acceptable.  However, you should try and stay away from taking food to a meeting.  This can be distracting to the rest of the meeting attendees and is not appropriate for most formal meetings.  Once again, this is situational, so use your best judgment.

Those are pretty much the big points that I think about when attending a meeting.  Look for a future article on how to facilitate a meeting.

If you missed Part I of this series, see it here: Surviving a Formal Meeting - Part I.

The promised updates:

• Check out my new article in a multiple part series on how to prepare for and survive attending a “Formal” business meeting under the Office Life section.
• Today’s Tip of the Day concerns my most hated grocery store chain, Safeway.  Be sure to read it, it may just save your life (ok, maybe not, but it could save you from an upset stomach or a bad rash…I’m just saying).

Meetings are something that most of us engage in everyday at the workplace.  They could range from an informal chat at a cubicle to a scheduled event in a conference room.  This series of articles will provide tips more geared toward the latter type of meeting, what I call the “Formal” meeting.  A few examples of this type of meeting could be a weekly status team meeting, or possibly a review meeting with your clients.  You’ve most likely experienced this type of meeting before, but the question is:  How did you handle it? 

Let’s get down to the tips.

Here is a quick checklist to run through before you enter your meeting:

• Did you print out all of the meeting materials?  This is important, as you can’t rely on the meeting organizer to always print out copies or even have enough copies of the materials. 

• Did you skim the meeting materials?  This goes hand in hand with the first bullet, before a meeting you should take a look at the materials to see what exactly is going to be discussed. This way you can do any necessary research before the meeting on possible questions you want to ask, as well as identify any possible problems that you can head off before the meeting.  If you don’t have time to take a look at all the materials, at least look at the agenda so you have at least a skeleton of an idea of what is going to be discussed.

• Do you have all the necessary contact information?  This is crucial, as a lot of meetings now are “teleconferences” (telecon’s is a common term for them) where you either dial into a meeting system to join or start a meeting (an example would be Meeting Place).  Making sure this information is on hand before time will ensure that the meeting starts on time.  In my experience it is extremely annoying to be stuck waiting for a meeting to start, listening to elevator music.

• Do you have a speaker phone reserved?  This really applies to teleconferences, but if you are holding one or joining one, you should make sure that you have one ready and reserved for you meeting.  At my office, these things fly off the shelf like they were made of gold, so I always reserve well ahead of time.

• Do you have a room reserved?  This may sound, but you would be surprised how many times you schedule a teleconference, a couple of people get together to dial in, and they discover they have no room.  It’s very distracting to hold a teleconference around your co-workers, so I wouldn’t suggest holding it at your cube.  Get a small room if need be, it’s more private and less prone to background noise getting in the way.

• Do you have a pad of paper and a pen?  This is important, as you never know what is going to come out at a meeting.  You should ALWAYS bring something to write on and something to write with to your meetings.  Otherwise, that tidbit of important information you heard will end up going in one ear and out of the other.

• Do you know where the meeting is?  This is especially true if you are a new hire at your company and may not be familiar with the layout of your office yet.  If the meeting is being held in a conference room that you don’t know the location of, ask beforehand where it is.  This will save you the embarrassment of not only walking into the meeting late, but in the middle of the presentation.

Now that you are ready, it’s time to enter the meeting. Check back for Part II of this series, where I will discuss the finer points of actually attending the meeting.

Update: Continue on to Part II of this series here: Surviving a Formal Meeting - Part II.