WATER COOLER CHAT: Meetings Without Resistance
Meeting etiquette relies upon careful planning to encourage meetings without resistance require planning and meeting etiquette guidelines to keep them successful and productive. Conference rooms and huddle spaces provide shared areas that are meant to be used as collaboration hubs between coworkers, clients and sometimes as private spaces for employees and employers. They perform some important functions in offices, especially with open plan spaces. As with any shared space, there are certain unwritten rules that apply to keep everyone happy.
Be proactive in planning your meeting. As soon as you know you’re going to need a meeting room—book it! The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be for you to get the room you want, and you don’t want to be put in a situation where you need to ask coworkers to move their meetings. In addition, if a meeting gets canceled, make sure you cancel your room reservation immediately. This will ensure that others will have time to reserve it for themselves.
When booking your conference room, respect you’re allotted time for the meeting. Whether you successfully hit all the talk- ing points needed or not, evacuate the space when your time slot has ended. Taking up your coworkers’ time by running your meeting into theirs is usually not appreciated.
These seven tips to meetings without resistance can help assure your office meeting etiquette aligns:
- Book your time
- Don’t double book
- Book early, cancel early
- Clean up behind yourself
- Leave promptly
- Accommodate others
- Keep door closed
